Lesson 2(Act I, Scene 1)

Aim: What best characterizes Blanche, Stella, and Stanley individually? Why is Blanche at Stella's home?

Do now: Journal #2

What does the title "A Streetcar Named Desire" mean to you? What possible themes are implied in the play?

Procedures:

Step 1: Read Act I, Scene 1 in the class

Step 2: Draw the setting of the play based on the stage direction in the very beginning of the play. The setting could be viewed from any angle you wish to, and could be drawn from any person's perspective, such as a stage director, an audience, an actor, or the lighting person from above the stage. But first read the stage direction and make --

• A list of objects plus the directional words used in the narrative.
• A list of words describing colors
• A list of words describing the time
• A list of words describing the mood

Step 3: Answer the following questions after finish reading:

• Through the dialogue between Blanche and Stella, what kind of relationship is there between the two sisters?
• What character sketch can we draw of Stella and Blanche as portrayed so vividly in their dialogue?
• What hidden conflicts can we detect through the 1^st scene?
• Why does Blanche lie about many things to Stella?
• Why does Blanche say she wants to stay with Stella?
• What kind of relationship is there between Stella and Stanley?
• How does Blanche feel about the loss of Belle Reve? How did she lose Belle Reve?

Step 4: Understand the poetic reference:

After asking Stella "What on earth are you doing in a place like this?" Blanche claims that "Only Mr. Edgar Allan Poe - could do it justice! Out there, I suppose, is the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir." This reference comes from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem entitled Ulalume-a piece that highlights Poe’s macabre style of writing.

 Homework Assignment #2

Choose only one of the writing activities to do for your homework:

1. On page 20 in Signet Edition of A Streetcar Name Desire, there is a detailed stage direction describing the kind of person Stanley is. Rewrite the narrative by versifying it. In other words, write a poem based on the description of him. Also draw a sketch of Stanley. Post your poem next to the sketch. Remember you do not have to be a poet or an artist to do this assignment. Any drawing including clipped pictures from any magazine is acceptable. You may use the original words from the stage direction in the poem.
2. From Stanley's point of view, write a monologue describing his first impression of Blanche after their first meeting.
3. Write a monologue for Stella when she was in the bathroom weeping. What could she say as her reaction to Blanche's arrival, the news she broke to he, the way she commented on her apartment, the way she was living, and her husband Stanley.