Before We Were Free: Chapters 8–11

by Julia Alvarez
Twelve-year-old Anita has grown up in the Dominican Republic during the brutal Trujillo regime. When her family gets caught up in an attempt to overthrow the dictator, Anita must find her own path to freedom.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–11

Here are links to our lists for other works by Julia Alvarez: How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, Names/Nombres
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
    From the balcony, María de los Santos waves her languid good-byes as my brother climbs in.
  2. vacate
    leave behind empty; move out of
    A few days ago, Mr. Washburn was issued revised orders to vacate the compound and have no further dealings with any dissident elements.
  3. composure
    steadiness of mind under stress
    Mami’s eye falls on me, and her face struggles for composure.
  4. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    Out in the hall, Mami and Mundín are racing to the door as the men come trooping in, brandishing guns.
  5. alms
    money or goods contributed to the poor
    It’s strange to think that now we are the beggars, but instead of asking for alms, we’re asking for help so as not to lose our lives.
  6. rosary
    a string of beads used in counting prayers
    I look over at Mami, hoping she’ll say that everything’s going to be all right. But her hand is shaking so badly that she can’t even finger the beads on her rosary.
  7. atrocity
    an act of shocking cruelty
    Prisoners complain of atrocities to OAS investigation committee.
  8. accommodation
    living quarters provided for public convenience
    When we got to the Mancinis’ bedroom that first night, Tía Mari showed us “the accommodations.” Here is the dining room, she said, pointing to her bedside table with magazines, and here is your bedroom, she added, showing us the walk-in closet, then crossing the narrow hallway, here is your bathroom-living room-patio.
  9. finicky
    fussy, especially about details
    I was going to remind Tío Pepe how El Jefe was real finicky about what he wore, too, and look at what a monster he was...but I decided I better keep my mouth shut.
  10. incriminating
    charging or suggestive of guilt or blame
    I couldn’t believe my own mother with her bad nerves was part of a secret plot! But suddenly, like one of those lamps you click one more turn and it throws an even brighter light, I saw her at Papi’s old Remington, typing up declarations, or out in the yard, burning incriminating stuff, or in the garden shed, covering a sack of guns with an old tarp.
  11. farfetched
    highly imaginative but unlikely
    Maybe the grocery store man had planned an ambush beforehand with the State Department? But even as I entertain these farfetched possibilities, I know that I’m just trying not to think of the obvious reason Mr. Washburn would be here, a reason more horrible than any angry store manager or policeman coming to report me for getting into trouble.
  12. brunt
    the main part, especially of a force or shock
    Mundín says that our uncle has been feeling bad that he got out just in time, leaving my father and Tío Toni and others to bear the brunt of the dictator’s son’s wrath.
  13. lackluster
    not having brilliance or vitality
    “It’s okay.” Sammy used to brag that this was the greatest country on earth. I hoped I wasn’t offending him with my lackluster response.
  14. sophisticated
    having worldly knowledge and refinement
    I had told her about Sammy, making him sound like an old boyfriend in order to keep up with my cousin’s sophisticated life of seventh-grade romance.
  15. captivity
    the state of being imprisoned
    After all, as Chucha herself would say, what good is it to escape captivity only to be imprisoned in your own misery?
Created on Thu Feb 21 15:55:46 EST 2019 (updated Mon Jul 28 14:51:39 EDT 2025)

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