Summer of the Mariposas Prologue

Where does the story take place?

• Albuquerque, New Mexico

• Mariposas, New Mexico

• Eagle Pass, Texas

• Houston, Texas

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.2

"Mariposas flittered over cultivated gardens as happily as they danced over thorn ridden lots and neglected fields. To them, nothing was safe, nothing was sacred."

What are mariposas?

• Flies

• Birds

• Angels

• Butterflies

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.RL.8.4

Why did the narrator's mother stop being a housewife?

• Because the husband/father left.

• Because she was sick of staying home all day and doing chores.

• Because she got a better job.

• Because she left her family.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.W.8.9A

"Papa had always altered the riddles and personalized them to fit our family. . . One day, right before Papa left, he made up a particularly ominous riddle. . . 'la mujer who wants to take your Papa away!' . . . that day the riddle upset Mama so much. . ."

La mujer means "the woman". What inference can you make about why the narrator's parents were bickering?

• They fought over silly riddles.

• They fought over another woman in the man's life.

• They fought over their daughters.

• They fought over money.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.8.2

CCSS.RL.8.3

CCSS.RL.8.4

"The summer of the mariposas, we abandoned our beloved Loteria for good, neglected our chores, and went completely wild. . . we finally had the freedom to do whatever we wanted."

Why?

• Because they were terrible children that refused to listen to any adults.

• Because their Papa allowed them to get away with anything they wanted.

• Because their mother allowed them to be free during the summer.

• Because they were unsupervised since their Papa was gone and their Mama was working.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

What did the girls find in the waters of the Rio Grande?

• A dead body.

• A sack of money.

• A ghost.

• A mysterious letter.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.W.8.9A

“The waters of the Rio Grande were unruly and loud, but we found an alcove far off El Indio Highway, a pebbled niche where the current swirled in peacefully and stayed for a while. 

 

What word from the excerpt helps you understand the meaning of “unruly”?

• loud

• peacefully

• pebbled

• waters

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.L.8.4B

CCSS.RL.8.4

"With our chubby little sister, Pita, sitting precariously on the handlebars of my bike, we pedaled down to the river, rode through one of the large gaps in the eleven-foot border fence, and swam for hours . . ."

Based on the context of the sentence, what is the meaning of precariously?

• In a way that is quiet 

• 
  In a way that is enjoyable

• 
  In a way that is safe and secure

• In a way that is dangerous or not secure

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.L.8.4B

CCSS.RL.8.4

"My parents were like any other parents, they bickered and made up all the time. But that day the riddle made Mama so upset that the fight it stirred up between them soured the game for papa. "

 

What word from the excerpt helps you understand the meaning of “bickered”?

• riddle

• fight

• soured

• game

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.RL.8.4

"Indiscriminate in taste, the mariposas flittered over cultivated gardens as happily as they danced over thorn-ridden lots and neglected fields."

What is the meaning of flittered?

• 
  To move quickly

• 
  To move slowly

• 
  To move in a zig zag pattern

• 
  To move backwards

Tags

CCSS.L.8.4A

CCSS.L.8.4B

CCSS.RL.8.4