the general sees the fields of sugarcane, lashed by rain and streaming. He sees his mother’s smile, the teethgnawed to arrowheads. He hearsthe Haitians sing with R’sas they swing the great machetes:Katalina, they sing, Katalina, We encounter a lot of repetition (anaphora) again, why?

On Tuesday, May 30, 1961 Trujillo was shot and killed when his blue Chevrolet Bel Air was ambushed on a road outside the Dominican capital.

dusted with sugar on a bed of lace. The knot in his throat starts to twitch; he sees his boots the first day in battlesplashed with blood and urineas a soldier falls at his feet amazed—how stupid he looked!—at the soundof artillery. I never thought it would singthe soldier said, and died. Now What contrast can “dusted with sugar on a bed of lace” represent in the context?

Trujillo ruled with an iron hand persecuting anyone who opposed his regime.

What does “palace” represent?

The price, however, was high–civil liberties were more or less nonexistent.

Supporters of Trujillo claim that he reorganized both the state and the economy, and left vast infrastructure to the country.

What can the general be compared to in the line “he laughs, teeth shining out of swamp?”

Trujillo ordered the massacre of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic in retaliation for the discovery and execution by the Haitian government of his most valued covert agents in that country.

It’s fall now and the general is thinking about his mother. Why does Rita Dove use this maneuver?