Streetcar Scene Nine-Ten comparison

How to tackle guiding questions

Every Individual Oral Commentary-fragment is accompanied by guiding questions. It is not required to answer them directly and explicitly, although you can of course do so; their function is to help you structure your commentary.

Always make sure to decide first what the question expects of you. Let's take the two guiding questions from the Heart of Darkness practice fragment as an example:

1) How are some of the motifs from the story presented here?
2) How does Conrad create tension in this fragment?

What do you have to know?
1) what the motifs in HoD are
2) what devices an author can use to create tension

What information does the question provide you with?
1) This fragment contains clear motifs.
2) There is tension in this fragment; you just have to find it.

What do you have to do?
1) Find the motifs; identify them; then analyze them: what effect do they have on the fragment/story?
2) Identify the tension in the fragment; explain how it is create and how it affects the fragment.

The planning till the end...of the year

07/05 09/05 11/05	1) Streetcar Scene Six 2) Discuss writing assignment Language & Racism 3) Examentekst 2007-1; news report Streetcar ready
14/05 16/05	1) Streetcar Scene Seven & Eight 2) Practice Individual Oral text (HoD)
21/05 23/05 25/05	1) Streetcar Scene Nine & Ten 2) Examentekst 2007-1 3) Discuss exam text 2007-1, 5; work on portfolio
28/05 30/05 01/06	1) X (free day) 2) Streetcar Scene Eleven; start on summary 3) Practice Individual Oral text (Macbeth); planning orals
04/06 06/06 08/06	1) DEADLINE PORTFOLIO 3 - no lesson 2) Examentekst 2007-1 finished 3) Last lesson

The requirements for Portfolio 3

Deadline: Monday 4 June, 2012

Contents:
1) your notes about A Streetcar Named Desire
2) your practice Type of Text (some were short, some were véry creative!)
3) your magazine article/editorial about Language & Racism
4) your mini-essay on Scene Five of Streetcar
5) your news report about Scene Six of Streetcar

That is not too bad, is it?

Written Task: News report "Streetcar"

Write a short (max. 200 words) news report about the suicide of Blanche's young husband Allan Grey as discussed in Scene Six of the play.

This report has to be written "in the context" of the play, so put yourself in the shoes of a newspaper reporter in the late 1940s. Decide for yourself whether the paper you write for is a serious paper or a more gossipy tabloid!

Keep in mind the two-fold purpose of the Written Task:
1) to show your knowledge of the topic you are writing about (in this case "Streetcar")
2) to show your understanding of a particular type of text by applying the right register and stylistic devices in your writing.

Mini-essay Streetcar Scene Five

Essay question: How is Blanche's character represented in relation to the themes of the play?
Use examples from Scene 5 to support your arguments.
Step 1: collect examples
Step 2: make a plan for your essay
Step 3: write it! Min. 200 words; this is part of portfolio 3.

Pay attention: IB essays are all about analysis, not about opinion. Your answer to the essay question must be supported by arguments/examples.

Streetcar Scene Four

Analyse your assigned fragment from Scene Four. Pay attention to stylistic devices, imagery, style of dialogue, references to themes. Select one quote from your fragment that you think is most significant.

Fragment from the moment when Stella wakes up until the top of page 42

In this fragment Stella and Blanche are discussing the fact that Stanley hit Stella. Stella is smoothing things over for Stanley and says good things about him: ‘He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself.’ She gives us the impression that she does not mind the fact that Stanley hit her. She even mentions the night of her wedding when Stanley smashed light-bulbs with Stella’s slipperàlight bulb symbolic+light and dark. She even laughs about itàmental instability

Page 43-44

Blanche is dependent: P.43 ''meet someone with a million dollars''

P.44 ''I can't dial,''

Blanche also is nervous and uneasy: P.43 ''shakily'', ''twists'', ''shakes''

P.44 ''bites'', ''smashes''

Blanche doesn't realize that Stella doesn't want to leave: P.44 'Blanche: ''Darling Shep. Siter and I in desperate situation. Stella: I beg your Pardon! Blanche: Sister and I in desperate situation''

Stella doesn't take Blanche seriously shown by her reaction:

P.43 ''well, well''

''my, my''

P.44 ''with a laugh: Don't be so ridiculous, darling!''

"It brought me here. - Where i'm not wanted and where i'm ashamed to be..."
It explains that "Desire" brought Blanche to stella, litteraly in the "Streetcar named Desire" and by what we later on will encounter her trouble back in laurel. Her huntingground in Laurel was not sufficient enough to keep up her appearance, the major asked her to leave. but she didn't want to quit her game. So she moved to Stella to keep up her appearance and keep playing her game.

It also shows the controversy, Blanche is trying to save Stella, But actually she's the one that has to be saved...

Blanche’s Monologue, p. 47

-          Exclamation marks at the end of virtually every sentence, indicating that Blanche is shouting, or at least speaking very loud.

-          Cursive words to show that Blanche puts emphasis on these words.

-          Dashes indicate pauses.

-          Blanche gives a metaphorical description of Stanley, in which she compares him with animals, apes and cavemen.

-          She is also drooping with sarcasm, e.g. “Stanley Kowalski – survivor of the Stone Age!” and “That is, if kisses have been discovered yet!”

-          She puts Stanley in contrast with the progress that has been made since the Stone Age, that is, art, poetry and music.

The most important sentence of this fragment is (also indicated by the “. . .” for a dramatic pause and that the entire sentence is emphasized (cursive)):

“. . . Don’t – don’t hang back with the brutes!”