Before We Were Free

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. cotorrita (“little parrot”) (Chapter 1)

2. the secret police (SIM) (Chapter 2)

3. Mr. Washburn, the consul from the U.S. Embassy, and his family (Chapter 2)

4. friends of Papi’s who died in an “accident” (Chapter 3)

5. a light in Tío Toni’s casita (Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. Chapter 1 begins in an American-style school in the Dominican Republic in 1960. The narrator (Anita) learns that her cousin Carla and her family have been accepted to immigrate to the US. (Chapter 1)

2. The SIM are monitoring their family because their Tío Toni tried to depose the dictator a few months prior. (Chapter 2)

3. Their teacher, Mrs. Brown, introduces the “Secret Santa” game to Anita’s class. The next day, the students learn that the activity has been cancelled since there were complaints from the Dominican parents that writing secret notes would make the situation even more tense. (Chapter 3)

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. She erases them so they are not found. (Chapter 4)

2. a quinceañera (Chapter 5)

3.