The Color of My Words

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

Chapters 1-3

Reading Check

1. Why is wash day the best day of the week?

2. How does Ana Rosa describe Mami’s words?

3. What does Ana Rosa want “more than anything”?

4. Why does the family give Guario money?

5. What is one way that Guario thinks Ana Rosa should prepare for her future?

6. Fill in the blanks of the following quote in Chapter 3: “When Dominicans get together and decide to make a ____, watch out[.]”

Short Answer

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

1. Review the poem that Ana Rosa writes at the beginning of Chapter 1. What is the rhyming pattern? What does the poem describe?

2. Review Ana’s poem at the beginning of Chapter 2. What is the title? What is the main concern of the poem? Identify the literary term that Ana Rosa predominantly uses in this poem.

3. Describe what Ana Rosa cannot resist in Chapter 2. What are the consequences of her actions?

4. Analyze the rhyming pattern of the poem at the beginning of Chapter 3. According to the poem, where is the writer’s favorite location?

5. What does Ana Rosa see one day while sitting in the gri gri tree? What are her neighbor’s reactions and concerns? Describe how this situation ultimately helps Ana Rosa’s future goals.

Paired Resource

“Go Dominican Republic”

• The official tourism site of the Dominican Republic
• Based on the text as well as the above resource, in which ways is the Dominican Republic an attractive destination for tourists?

Female Writers from the Dominican Republic

• A list of female writers from the Dominican Republic and their brief biographies
• Is Papi correct in his assertion that only the President writes books? Why or why not?

Chapters 4-6

Reading Check

1. According to Ana Rosa, who loves to dance most of all in her community?

2. Why does Ana Rosa “hate the fiestas”?

3. Who is the one person who distracts Ana Rosa from her writing?

4. What does Papi do on Sundays?

Short Answer

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

1. What does Papi teach Ana Rosa how to do in Chapter 4? Describe how this interaction affects her.

2. What does Ana Rosa decide to do the night of Roco’s Christmas fiesta? Describe what unforeseen obstacles challenge Ana Rosa’s plans and how Ana Rosa responds.

3. Who is “the man on the mule”? Summarize what information Ana Rosa learns about this stranger, as well as how this information impacts her.

4. What does Ana Rosa decide to do at the end of Chapter 6?

Paired Resource

“Lesson 1: Merengue”

• A step-by-step video from “Go Dominican Republic” on the merengue dance
• How does the theme of Family Relationships and How They Affect People link with Ana Rosa’s desire to learn the merengue?

“USAID 'Dominican Republic'”

• USAID.gov’s website on the Dominican Republic discusses the unemployment data for men and women in 2017.
• How does Papi’s unemployment affect Ana Rosa’s family? How does this situation relate to the theme of Family Relationships and How They Affect People?

Chapters 7-8

Reading Check

1. What primary incident “broke the silence” between the family at the beginning of Chapter 7?

2. Who are the “painters” during election season?

3. How does Ana Rosa help the rebellion?

4. Why does Ana Rosa believe Guario is the future?

5. Where does Ana Rosa seek shelter when the chaos starts?

6. What is the color of Ana Rosa’s words in Chapter 8?

Short Answer

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

1. What is the name of Ana Rosa’s poem in Chapter 7? What is this title referring to?

2. Which gesture of Guario causes “the history of [their] neighborhood [to] pivot”? What does this pivot translate to in terms of community action?

3. Summarize Ana Rosa’s internal dilemma in Chapter 7. What does she ultimately decide to do?

4. Summarize the chaotic invasion at the end of Chapter 7. What is the shocking outcome?

5. How has Ana Rosa’s village changed in the six months from Chapter 7?

6. What gift does Ana Rosa receive in Chapter 8? What does she decide to do with this gift?

Recommended Next Reads 

Flowers in the Sky by Lynn Joseph

• Lynn Joseph’s 2013 novel centers on a young girl from the Dominican Republic moving to New York City.      
• The story includes connections to the theme of Family Relationships and How They Affect People.

Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez

• Julia Alvarez’s 2002 novel follows Anita, a young girl from the Dominican Republic, in a coming-of-age story during the Trujillo dictatorship.
• The story includes connections to the themes of Family Relationships and How They Affect People and The Government Versus the People.    
• Before We Were Free on SuperSummary