Like Water for Chocolate

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

CHAPTERS 1-3

Reading Check

1. What ingredient triggers the narrator’s memory of the story of Tita’s birth?

2. In which room of the house is Tita born?

3. What unanticipated ingredient in the cake’s icing makes Nacha too sick to attend Rosaura’s wedding?

4. What does Pedro give Tita when she becomes the ranch cook?

5. What lie does Tita tell her mother about what happened to Gertrudis?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Nacha end up raising Tita?

2. Why is the sausage for Christmas rolls Tita’s favorite recipe?

3. Why is Tita put in charge of Rosaura and Pedro’s wedding feast preparations?

4. What does Pedro tell Tita about his motive for marrying Rosaura?

5. Why does Tita end up making the quail in rose petal sauce once a year?

Paired Resource

“We Need To Talk About Marianismo”

• In this essay from Luz magazine, Nicaraguan-American author Priscilla Blossom explores the harms of marianismo culture.
• This resource relates to the theme of Repressed Female Desire and Rebellion.
• What is “marianismo,” and how are the expectations of this culture enforced in Like Water for Chocolate? How does marianismo prevent women in the novel from expressing their true selves?