In the Time of Butterflies – Self-Expression

In the Time of Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, is a great novel with which to explore the theme of self-expression; in it four sisters navigate dictatorship in Latin America, fighting back to different degrees and in different ways. The Audre Lorde conversation on self-expression, silence and justice is a great one to have before reading the novel, so that students will be sensitive to how complicated questions of speaking up or being silent are, in the novel and in their own lives.