46 pages • 1 hour read
Anna In The Tropics
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
ACT 1
Reading Check
1. In what activity are Santiago and Cheché participating at the beginning of the play?
2. What do Ofelia and Conchita believe are the most important attributes of the arriving visitor?
3. Why does Santiago ask Cheché to lift up his foot?
4. What is the first book that Juan Julian selects to read?
5. What is Juan Julian’s nickname?
6. According to Ofelia’s mother, what are the “two women” that men marry?
7. Which two novels does Ofelia reference in her example of literature that cigar workers can recite?
8. What does Ofelia say is the only working part on Santiago’s body?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Who are the women waiting for? What will this person’s role be?
2. How does Marela feel about the new arrival? What action indicates the intensity of her emotions?
3. Describe Cheché’s relation to the family as well as the factory. Why does Juan Julian believe that Cheché dislikes him?
4. What does Cheché tell Ofelia regarding the previous night’s cockfight? How does Ofelia respond?
5. Summarize the conversation between Conchita and Palomo. How does the lector’s story inspire her to have this discussion with him?
6. Why did Juan Julian choose the author he did? Summarize Juan Julian’s early interest in becoming a lector.
7. What ritual does Conchita perform on February 2? What suggestion does Juan Julian make to her regarding this ritual?
Paired Resources
“Reminiscences of a Lector: Cuban Cigar Workers in Tampa”
- This 1985 article was published in the University of South Florida’s Tampa Bay History. (A note indicates that it was originally published in Florida Historical Quarterly in 1975.)
- Pérez’s discussion of the lector connects with the themes The Power of Literature and Language and Lost Traditions.
- Based on the text as well as the above resource, how did lectors encourage independent thinking amongst cigar workers?
“The Truth About Gender Equality in Cuba”
- As part of the Junior Year Abroad Network, Georgetown University’s Berkley Center offers a 2015 student commentary that discusses misconceptions about gender equality in Cuba.
- This article relates to the theme The Mutability of Gender Roles.
- Based on this and other sources, how do the characters of Cruz’s play challenge traditional gender roles? In the time that elapsed between the play’s setting and this opinion piece, how might views on gender equality have changed?
“History: Prohibition in Tampa”
- Tampa Magazine offers a history of Prohibition in Tampa.
- How does the setting of Prohibition shape the choices that the characters make in Cruz’s play?
“The Cigar Industry Changes Florida”
- The State Library and Archives of Florida provide this visual and textual overview of cigar production.
- Cigar production in the 19th and 20th century connects with the theme Lost Traditions.
- What is the significance of the play’s setting in Ybor? How does this relate to Florida’s history of cigar production?
ACT 2
Reading Check
1. According to Cheché, what is the factory’s problem?
2. What will be the name of the new cigar brand?
3. What does Cheché do to Marela when he sees her dressed up for the new cigar?
4. Why does Cheché suggest that Palomo take his wife specifically to the city of Trenton?
5. Why is the family celebrating?
6. What does Cheché tell Palomo that lectors do to women?
7. What is Marela wearing to the factory the morning after the party?
8. What does Ofelia proclaim is too loud in the factory?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What is the disagreement between Ofelia and Cheché in the beginning of the act?
2. Compare and contrast Cheché’s and Juan Julian’s views of modernity and progress. According to each character, why is the cigar industry suffering?
3. How does Cheché view the role of the lector? Describe how Cheché's personal life relates to the role of the lector.
4. What do Palomo and Conchita discuss? What do the pair do at the end of their conversation?
5. What is Juan Julian’s interpretation of the novel he is reading? How does this relate to the situation in real life?
6. Describe the scene where Cheché enters the factory. What object does he have with him and what is the outcome?
7. What do the workers decide to do at the end of the play regarding the lector’s book? How does the play end?
Recommended Next Reads
Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams by Nilo Cruz
- Cruz’s 2004 play centers on a Cuban brother and sister who were sent to the US in 1961 as they return to Cuba.
- Shared themes include Lost Traditions.
- Shared topics include Cuba-US migration and cultural differences.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- Tolstoy’s 1877 novel centers on protagonist Anna as she pursues an affair with an aristocratic lover in order to escape her unhappy marriage.
- Shared themes include The Power of Literature and Language, The Mutability of Gender Roles, and Love and Heartache.
- Shared topics include forbidden romance, questioning social norms, and similarities between Tolstoy’s and Cruz’s characters.
- Anna Karenina on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
ACT 1
Reading Check
1. Cockfighting (Act 1, Scene 1)
2. That he “has good vocal cords, deep lungs and a strong voice” and “good diction when he reads” (Act 1, Scene 1)
3. So that he can sign his shoe as proof he will pay him back (Act 1, Scene 1)
4. Anna Karenina (Act 1, Scene 2)
5. “[T]he Persian Canary” (Act 1, Scene 3)
6. “‘[H]is bride and his cigar’” (Act 1, Scene 3)
7. Don Quixote and Jane Eyre (Act 1, Scene 3)
8. “Just his rotten teeth to chew away money.” (Act 1, Scene 4)
Short Answer
1. Conchita, Marela, and Ofelia are waiting for the new lector who is arriving on the ship from Cuba. They are eager to meet him as he is rumored to be “the best lector west of Havana,” and they discuss the types of books he will hopefully bring, as well as his manner of reading. (Act 1, Scene 1)
2. Marela is very excited to meet the new lector, Juan Julian. As a result, she urinates on herself. (Act 1, Scene 1)
3. Cheché is Santiago’s half-brother who believes he is entitled to some portion of the factory. He dislikes the tradition of the lector in the factory; he thinks they “cause trouble” since his wife left him for a lector. (Act 1, Scene 2)
4. Cheché tells Ofelia that the previous night her husband promised him another share in the business; however, Ofelia ignores her husband’s process, and tells Cheché to fix his shoes. (Act 1, Scene 2)
5. At the end of their workday, Conchita remarks to her husband, Palomo, that she enjoys the contents of Anna Karenina as it makes her think and allows her to draw parallels with their own marriage. She finds the courage to broach the subject of her husband’s infidelity and shares with him that she would like to have an affair with a lover as well. (Act 1, Scene 3)
6. Juan Julian tells Conchita that he chose Tolstoy “[b]ecause Tolstoy understands humanity like no other writer does.” He then shares that he became a lector after listening to his mother tell stories when they were locked in their house hiding from debt collector. (Act 1, Scene 5)
7. On the 2nd of February every year, Conchita has her father, Santiago, bury a piece of her hair that she cut. Juan Julian wonders why her husband does not do this act, and they share a kiss. (Act 1, Scene 5)
ACT 2
Reading Check
1. The factory is “stuck in time.” (Act 2, Scene 1)
2. Anna Karenina (Act 2, Scene 1)
3. He touches her against her will and tries to kiss her. (Act 2, Scene 1)
4. Because there are many cigar factories there (Act 2, Scene 3)
5. They are launching their new cigar brand. (Act 2, Scene 3)
6. Lectors “put ideas into women’s heads and ants inside their pants.” (Act 2, Scene 3)
7. A long coat (Act 2, Scene 4)
8. The silence (Act 2, Scene 5)
Short Answer
1. Cheché and Ofelia enter the factory arguing about the factory’s production output. Ofelia insists that they roll cigars better than their competitors, while Cheché believes that it is the quantity versus the quality that is more important in growing their business. He wants to adopt a modern approach with machines. (Act 2, Scene 1)
2. Cheché believes that the family business is suffering because their factory is not adapting to faster production processes such as machines. Conversely, Juan Julian notes that the fast-paced lifestyle itself is killing the cigar, as cigarettes are for quicker consumption, while cigars are more leisurely. (Act 2, Scene 1)
3. Cheché views the role of the lector as an unnecessary piece of the past that can be cut with the introduction of machine production. The reader learns from this scene that Cheché’s wife, Mildred, left him for a previous cigar factory lector. (Act 2, Scene 1)
4. While at work, Palomo asks about Conchita’s affair with Juan Julian. She answers him frankly, explaining in detail many of their meetings. When Palomo asks Conchita to show him what her lover does to her, they leave together. (Act 2, Scene 2)
5. Upon inquiry, Juan Julian states that Anna Karenina has an affair because “[w]ith the lover she learns a new way of loving.” Juan Julian is also referring to Conchita, with himself in the role of the lover. (Act 2, Scene 3)
6. Cheché enters the factory with a gun and shoots Juan Julian, killing him. (Act 2, Scene 4)
7. At the end of the play, the characters decide to keep reading Anna Karenina together, despite the lector’s death. The play ends with Palomo reading from the text. (Act 2, Scene 5)
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