Characters, Conflict, and Idioms in "Daughter of Invention" by Julia Alvarez Answers

Read the excerpt from "Daughter of Invention"."iYa, ya!" She waved them out of her room at last. "There is no use trying to drink spilt milk, that's for sure."

Read the excerpt from "Daughter of Invention".The house fell silent a moment, before Yoyo heard, far off, the gun blasts and explosions, the serious, self-important voices of newscasters reporting their TV war.

Read the excerpt from "Daughter of Invention"."Ay, Cuquita." That was her communal pet name for whoever was in her favor. "Cuquita, when I make a million, buy you your very own typewriter." (Yoyo had been nagging her mother for one just like the one her father had bought to do his order forms at home.) "Gravy on the turkey" was what she called it when someone was buttering her up. She buttered and poured. "I'll hire you your very own typist."

Read the excerpt from "Daughter of Invention".Meanwhile, Yoyo was on her knees, weeping wildly, collecting all the little pieces of her speech, hoping that she could put it back together before the assembly tomorrow morning. But not even a sibyl could have made sense of those tiny scraps of paper. All hope was lost. "He broke it, he broke it," Yoyo moaned as she picked up a handful of pieces.