PCPA
PACIFIC CONSERVATORY THEATRE
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
presents
Tomás and the Library Lady
Based on the book by Pat Mora
Adapted for the stage by José Cruz Gonzalez
Used by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Copyright ©1997 All Rights reserved.
A TEACHER’S GUIDE
PCPA's Outreach Tour is generously Sponsored by:
Franca Bongi Lockard
The Towbes Foundation
PXP
Santa Barbara Foundation
A TEACHER'S GUIDE
A NOTE TO THE TEACHER
Our actors will present a brief outline of theatre etiquette as part of their
introduction; however, it would make a stronger impression on your students
if you covered the same information prior to the performance. Here are a
few ideas that may help:
*Sometimes we forget when we come into a theatre that we are one of the
most important parts of the production. Without an audience there would be
no performance. Your contribution of laughter, quiet attention and applause
is part of the play.
*When you watch movies or television, you are watching images on a
screen, and what you say or do cannot affect them. In the theatre the actors
are real and present in person, creating an experience with you at that very
moment. They see and hear you and are sensitive to your response. They
know how you feel about the play by how you watch and listen.
*An invisible bond is formed between actors and a good audience, and it
enables the actors to do their best for you. A good audience helps make a
good performance.
SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDENT ETIQUETTE
*You share the performance with everyone in the audience. Your talking,
movement or any other distracting activity, once the show has begun, can
not only disturbs the actors onstage, but the audience around you as well.
* Your comments and ideas about the play are important, but save them for
after the play to discuss them. Or even better, write a letter to the performers.
*Before entering the performance area, get a drink of water or visit the
restroom if you need to.
*Once you are seated, you should remain seated. When the play begins,
because the actors are directed to move all about the room, it's important for
everybody's safety that the walk ways and stage areas remain clear of
students.
PCPA – Pacific Conservatory Theatre is proud that your school has selected
our Outreach Tour performance of Tomás and the Library Lady to be
featured as a part of your school year. We hope that our visit will be
followed by many more. Thank you for hosting
Leo Cortez
Director of Education and Outreach
Tomás and the Library Lady
Directed by Chris Forrer
THE CAST
Ambre Shoneff
Edgar Lopez
Galen Schloming
Tatem Trotter
Stage Manager
Michelle Roberson
Set Designer
Costume Designer
Sound Designer
Props
Abby Hogan
Jane Pivovarnik
Elyse Fink
A J Bradley
THE PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE
This study guide contains suggested activities that will help students
to participate actively in the production. The goal for these pre-performance
activities include the following:
o to stimulate interest and enhance comprehension
o to imagine how the play will be performed by the actors
o to familiarize students with the style of theatre used in this
production and the importance of the collaboration between the actor
on stage
o to identify the physical and personal attributes of the characters in
the book
AFTER THE PRODUCTION
The actors from PCPA – Pacific Conservatory Theatre welcome questions
and comments from students after the show, and encourage students to write
to us at:
PCPA Outreach
800 S. College Dr.
Santa Maria CA 93454
In addition, this study guide contains activities and discussion topics that
may further stimulate your student's interest. The goals for the postperformance activities includ the following:
o to encourage students to use what they have learned from watching
the performance.
o To discuss the students' expectations of the production and talk
about the ways in which the show was presented
o To explore how using the voice differently can produce a different
character
o To find creative ways to tell a story
INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
A Synopsis of the Play
The story begins when Tomás Rivera and his family, Ama Ofelia (his
mother), Apa Florencio (his father), Enrique (his little brother) and Papa
Grande (his grand father) travel from Crystal City, Texas to Hampton, Iowa
to work harvesting corn, beets and spinach (Vamos Para el Norte).
While Tomás sleeps in the back seat on this long voyage, he is haunted by
dreams of a teacher at his school that would punish him for speaking
Spanish in school and day dreaming. His mother worries about his bad
dreams and comforts him with positive thoughts about how smart he is, and
his wonderful imagination. To put Tomás at ease, Ama sings a soothing
lullaby to help him sleep (Duereme Duereme).
Once they arrive in Iowa, Ama is shocked to discover their new home is
nothing more then a chicken coop. Apa helps Ama accept their humble
dwelling by reassuring her that he will turn the little coop into a fine and
livable home for them. That night Tomás dreams of “pan dulce”, sweet
bread, which turns into a nightmare with the mean teacher yelling at him for
not paying attention in class.
The next day, the family begins work in the fields, picking corn (Elotes).
While the adults play, Tomás and little brother Enrique play with a ball Ama
has fashioned out of an old Teddy Bear. Working in the fields is a heard life
but the family hopes that one day life will get better for them.
As summer progresses, Ama asks Tomás to deliver a letter (el correo) to the
post office. Along the way, he discovers the Carnegie Public Library.
Mistakenly reading the first part of “Carne-gie” Tomás thinks the building is
a “Meat Library, as carne in Spanish means meat. But he is corrected by the
Library Lady, who then invites him into the building to see what is inside.
Tomás is thrilled and excited to discover shelves full of books about every
topic one could imagine. The Library Lady offers Tomás the chance to
borrow a few library books, which he can read, and return in exchange for
more books.
This is the beginning of Tomás’ journey into the world of the written word
and the magic of printed stories (Big Green Dinosaur). He visits the
Carnegie Library every day and the Library Lady helps him learn how to
read. In exchange Tomás teachers her Spanish words as well. They come to
understand each other very well.
One day while at the dump, while search for coal to keep the family fire
warm, Tomás and Enrique find a few discarded books. The books are dirty
and smelly, but it does not hinder Tomás dreams of starting his own library.
He can’t wait to tell the Library Lady about it (Libros, Libros, Libros).
As Tomás becomes more confident with his reading, his nightmares have
come less regularly. As summer comes to an end and the family must begin
their return to Texas, Tomás realizes that his nightmare teacher no longer
has any power over his fears of school. As a result of becoming an veracious
reader, he now realizes he understands everything that is said to him in
English. He banishes his nightmare teacher forever and no longer has fears
attending school.
The last day in Iowa, Tomás takes pan dulce to the Library Lady as a good
gift for all she has done for him. He teaches her a “sad word” in Spanish
(Adios) which means “goodbye”.
Set design rendering by Abby Hogan
About the real Tomás Rivera
Rivera was born on December 22, 1935, in Crystal City,
Texas, to Spanish-speaking, migrant farmworkers,
Florencio and Josefa Rivera. At eleven years old, Rivera
was in a car accident in Bay City, Michigan. After the
accident, Rivera decided to write his first story about the
wreck and called it "The Accident". In an interview with
Juan D. Bruce-Novoa, Rivera explains: "I felt a sensation I
still get when I write. I wanted to capture something I
would never forget and it happened to be the sensation of
having a wreck". Rivera continued writing throughout high
school, creative pieces as well as essays. He dreamed of
being a sportswriter as an adult, inspired by what he read
most, sports articles and adventure stories. In the same
article, Rivera explains the reality of growing up with
ambitions to be a writer in a migrant worker family. He
explains that "When people asked what I wanted to be, I'd
tell them a writer. They were surprised or indifferent. If
people don't read, what is a writer?". His grandfather was
his main supporter though and provided him with supplies
and encouragement.
As an author, Rivera is best remembered for his 1971
Faulknerian stream-of-consciousness novella ...y no se lo
tragó la tierra, translated into English variously as This
Migrant Earth and as ...and the Earth Did Not Devour Him.
This book won the first Premio Quinto Sol award.
Rivera taught in high schools throughout the Southwest
USA, and later at Sam Houston State University and the
University of Texas at El Paso. From 1979 until his death
in 1984, he was the chancellor of the University of
California, Riverside, the first Mexican-American to hold
such a position at the University of California.
Taken from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomás_Rivera
A Biography for author Pat Mora
In her own words
Born in El Paso Texas
I was born in El Paso, Texas, and grew up in a bilingual
home where books were an important part of my life. I can
speak and write in both English and Spanish am I lucky!
I've always enjoyed reading all kinds of books and now I
get to write them too to sit and play with words on my
computer.
Family, Mexican-American culture, and the desert are all
important themes in my children's books as well as in my
poetry and nonfiction for adults. Many of my book ideas
come from the desert where I grew up the open spaces,
wide sky, all that sun and all those animals that scurry
across the hot sand or fly high over the mountains. I also
like to write about my family, like my aunt who danced on
her 90th birthday, and my mother who wanted to be a
rainbow tulip when she was in grade school.
I take pride in being a Hispanic writer. I will continue to
write and to struggle to say what no other writer can say in
quite the same way. I write, in part, because Hispanic
perspectives need to be part of our literary heritage
including children's literature and juvenile poetry. I have
strong feelings that Chicano children need good children's
books, well illustrated, and from big publishing houses that
is something I would really like to pursue. I want to
establish pride in heritage for young Chicanos.
Pat Mora, the mother of three children, has been a teacher,
university administrator, and consultant. She is the
recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts Poetry
Fellowship, a Kellogg National Leadership Fellowship, and
three Southwest Book Awards. She speaks about
multicultural literature, cultural conservation, creative
writing, and leadership at conferences, schools, and
universities. She enjoys encouraging audiences to view
their cultures, homes, and landscapes as catalysts for
writing and for creativity.
Taken from the Scholastic Reader’s page: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/pat-mora
About the Playwright José Cruz Gonzalez
José Cruz González's plays (in addition to Tomas and the Library Lady )
include The Sun Serpent, Super Cowgirl and Mighty Miracle, Invierno,
Sunsets and Margaritas, The Heart's Desire, The Blue House and September
Shoes. A collection of his plays, Nine Plays by José Cruz González: Magical
Realism and Mature Themes in Theatre for Young Audiences, was published
by the University of Texas Press in 2008. González has written for The PAZ
Show, the Emmy Award-nominated television series produced by Discovery
Kids for The Learning Channel. He was a recipient of a 2004 TCG/Pew
National Theatre Residency grant. In 1997, he was awarded an NEA/TCG
Theatre Residency for Playwrights. González teaches theatre at California
State University, Los Angeles. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild of
America and TYA/USA. He is a playwright-in-residence with South Coast
Repertory (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Childsplay (Tempe, Ariz.) and an
associate artist with Cornerstone Theater Company (Los Angeles, Calif.).
Photo: Cory González.
Taken from Dramatic Publishing: http://www.dramaticpublishing.com/AuthorBio.php?titlelink=10081
About Migrant Workers
Migrant farm workers are predominantly Mexican-born
sons, husbands, and fathers who leave what is familiar and
comfortable with the hopes and dreams of making enough
money to support their families back home; feed
themselves; purchase land and a home; and – like many
immigrants who came before them – ultimately return to
their homeland.
A host of push-pull factors contribute to the
overwhelmingly immigrant farm worker labor pool. Some
push factors in farm workers’ countries of origin are
economic instability, political unrest, population growth,
land reform shortcomings in rural areas, and scarce
employment opportunities. Push factors that impact
immigration patterns vary from country to country and
from individual to individual. This is to say that the
circumstances that cause an individual to emigrate from
Colombia, South America may be different from those that
cause an indigenous person from the states of Michoacán,
Oaxaca, or Guanajuato in Mexico to come to the United
States. A Colombian immigrant fleeing political
persecution and civil unrest seeks asylum as a political
refugee, while the indigenous Mexican treks across the
desert into the US in search of work and income to support
their family back home or just to be able to eat.
Pull factors within the United States include the ongoing
desire for a low cost labor force to fill jobs no longer
attractive to US citizens due to low pay, limited or no
benefits and/or substandard work conditions. Other more
direct pull factors have included federally enacted and
administered farm labor programs such as the Bracero
contract labor program that recruited workers from Mexico
to harvest crops in the Southwestern United States from
1942 - 1964. Today, larger numbers of Mexican farm
workers have moved into other regions of the country,
including the Northeast, through a similar farm labor
contract program known as the H-2A agricultural guest
worker program enacted by Congress in 1952 and more
widely used when the Bracero program ended in 1964.
One of the key dynamics that detrimentally impacts the
lives of migrant farm workers is their lack of legal status
within the U.S. Unlike other immigrant groups that came
before them these workers have not been granted legal
status to live in the U.S. The undocumented status of an
overwhelming number of farm workers has given way to
increasing injustice and abuse against them. While not
always making headlines, reports of injustice and abuse
against farm workers abound including those of
opportunistic crew leaders, substandard housing, violence
against farm workers by community members of the
dominant culture, exclusion from labor laws, inadequate
housing, pesticide violations, and the inferior education of
children of farm workers. Out of fear of displacement and
deportation, farm workers often remain unable to protest
inadequate conditions or report employer’s violation of
labor, health or safety laws to state authorities.
Furthermore, despite their overwhelming representation
and contribution to the agricultural community, farm
workers lack political leverage, therefore remaining a
disenfranchised population. This lack of legal status sets
the stage for farm workers’ lack of voice, agency and
advocacy – in essence it creates their invisibility.
Taken in parts from Extention.org: http://www.extension.org/pages/9960/migrant-farm-workers:-our-nations-invisiblepopulation#.VDcQAkubERE
Terms that are used in the show and their
meaning:
Migrant worker: a person who moves away from their
home to find work in another city, state or country.
Chicano: a term used to refer to Mexican people who grow
up in the United States. Mexican American or Hispanic are
also terms that are used today.
Crops: plants and agricultural produce. Tomás and his
family travel to pick crops, including corn.
Coop: a small hand made shed to keep or house small
animals such as chickens.
Borrow: to take or receive with the intention of returning it.
Edgar Lopez, Galen Schloming, Amber Shoneff
Words that are spoken in Spanish and what they
mean:
Adiós : goodbye
Carbón: coal
Carro: car
Cuento: story
Elote: ear of corn
Escuela: school
Español: Spanish
Luna: moon
Libro: book
Maestra: teacher
Mañana: tomorrow
No entiendo: I don’t understand
Pan dulce: sweet bread
Prestar: to borrow
Tejas: Texas
Pre-show Activities and Discussions
Read “Tomás and the Library Lady” by Pat Mora.
1. What are the 2 states that are mentioned in this story?
2. Papa Grande was the best storyteller in the family. True
or False
3. What are the 2 things that Tomas’ family picked in the
winter?
4. How do you say the following in Spanish: “goodbye”?
How do you say book?
5. What are the 2 things that Tomas and Enrique did when
their parents worked
in the fields?
6. How did Tomas feel when he was at the library?
7.What did Tomas give the librarian when he went there to
say good-bye?
Who made it?
8. What did Tomas and Enrique look for at the town dump?
What did they find as
well?
9.Tomas got to check out 3 library books at a time. True or
False
Spanish was Tomás’ first language. Ask students: How
many different languages are spoken in your home?
Identify the state of Texas and the state of Iowa on the
United States map.
Ask: How long is the trip between Texas and Iowa. How
many days would it take to drive that distance?
Ask: What is the longest trip your students ever took in a
car? Was it comfortable?
Imagine what it would have been like for Tomás and his
family driving that distance in 1945 in an old beat up car
with no air conditioning.
Ask: Has there ever been a time you were scared about
going to school? What was it that made you afraid? How
did you handle it?
Ask: Have you ever read a book that was so good you
could imagine it was you in the story? What was that book
and what was it about?
Tomás made friends with a Library Lady that helped him
find love for reading and books.
Ask: Is there an adult that has influenced your life or
helped you to learn about something new in your life?
Tomás has nightmares about his teacher back in Texas.
Ask: Do you have bad dreams when you are facing certain
challenges? What is the best way to make those bad dreams
go away?
Post show Assessment
All stories have a beginning a middle and an end.
How did the play begin?
What happned in the middle of the story?
How did the play end?
Themes
The Library Lady taught Tomás how to love the written
word. What did Tomás teach the Library Lady?
What are other ways young people can teach the older
generation?
Papa Grande tells Tomás that in order to be a good reader
and English speaker, he must practice.
What is something you have spent a great deal of time
practicing to become better at?
Tomás dreams of having his own library and writing his
own stories. What are you dreams for your future? What do
you want to be in life?
Tomás over comes his fears of his teacher in Texas. What
is it that helped him over come that fear? Is there
something that was very frightening you that you had to
over come?
Visit Your Local Library!
By: Colorín Colorado (2007)
Many communities in the United States have a public
library. Libraries are a wonderful resource for everyone
because they have books, videos, music, newspapers,
computers, and much more for children and adults — and
these resources are available to the public for free!
You can take books and other materials out of the library
by signing up for a free library card. Usually you will be
able to check out materials for a few weeks at a time. When
you're done with those books, you return them to the
library, and exchange them for more. If you forget to return
books and materials on time, you may need to pay a small
fine.
Many libraries now offer books for children and adults in
both English and Spanish, and have employees who can
answer your questions in Spanish. Most libraries also have
sections for children and teens. The library is often a
special place for children, especially during the long
summer, and visiting the library regularly can help them
develop an early love of reading.
Here are a few thoughts for getting started:
• To find your local library, check your telephone book for
listings under "Libraries" in the municipal section
(city, county, and state information).
• To get a free library card, bring in one proof of
identification that has your current address, such as a
driver's license or phone bill. Many libraries offer
library card applications in Spanish.
• Many libraries will issue a library card to any children
who can print their names and whose parent will
countersign for them. See that your children get their
own library cards as soon as possible so that they can
check out their own books — it's a big step for
children and young adults!
• During your first visit to the library, introduce yourself
and your child to the librarian and ask for a tour. Don't
be shy — it's part of the librarian's job!
• A librarian can also recommend books that you or your
child might like if you ask for suggestions.
• Libraries provide year-round activities such as author
discussions and story times. Some events are for
children, while others are for families, teens, or adults.
Many are at night or on weekends for parents who
work. Ask the librarian if there are any events in
Spanish.
• Libraries may also have books on tape or CDs, Internet
access, movies and educational DVDs, games,
computers you can use, ESL classes, homework help,
and more. Visit your closest library to see what is
available!
There are usually summer reading programs at the library.
This can be an important and fun way to keep kids reading
through the summer, which will help them from falling
behind once they go back to school in the fall.
Taken from colorincolorado.org:
http://www.colorincolorado.org/families/letsread/libraryvisit/
Draw a picture of your favorite part of this
story.
Write 2 sentences about your picture.
Be sure to color your picture.