A Streetcar Named Desire
The exam
Spend 70 minutes on this section (10 mins planning)
You will be given a choice of two questions
You must write about two other scenes in the play
The focus will be on conflict of some sort
Aim to write about 3 sides of A4
AO1 (10 marks) - Terminology patterns - stylistic approach
AO2 (10 marks) - Writer's craft - narrative techniques - voice - why?
AO3 (15 marks) - Contextual factors - theories - production & reception - Williams’ background
Planning and Writing
QUESTION
Highlight the question focus and any key words
What is happening in the extract?
Look for patterns - stage directions, kinesics, semantics, dialogue structure
Think about two other scenes that link to the extract
What context is there to explore? - Communication theories, Southern Gothic,
production and reception
INTRO
What has led to the conflict in the given extract?
To what extent is the play about (insert essay theme) ?
Highlight the other scenes you have chosen to write about - how do they link?
Include any brief and relevant context
THINK WILLIAMS’ CRAFT
Paragraphs
Use a bigger quote at the start of the paragraph to prove the pattern, then pick out
individual words
Talk about given extract in one paragraph
A Streetcar Named Desire 1
, Do another two paragraphs, one for each of the other scenes
Remember - how is Williams consciously crafting the play?
KEEP MENTIONING WILLIAMS & TALK ABOUT THE PLAY AS A WHOLE (E.G.,
FORESHADOWING ETC)
No conclusion 😅
What to l👀k for:
patterns of epithets
motifs
foreshadowing
dramatic irony
condescending remark towards...
adjectives out of context (foregrounded)
theories (Goffman, Grice, Lakoff...)
plastic theatre
dramatic monologue
oculesics (face), chronemics (time), haptics (touch), proxemics (space), kinesics
(body language)
emblematic
tragic flaw
mise en scene (arrangements on stage)
Example answers
Past paper mark scheme of scene 4
(June 2019) Indicative content
❓ Referring to these lines and other parts of the play, examine how and why
Williams presents characters’ conflicting desires at different points in the
play.
A Streetcar Named Desire 2
, ❓ Q13: Refer to Scene 4, beginning
‘Blanche, I’d forgotten how excitable you are.’
and ending
‘But he could do it, he could certainly do it!’.
This interaction occurs near the beginning of the scene. It is the morning after the poker
night where Stanley attacked Stella. Blanche has just returned to Stanley and Stella’s
apartment from staying upstairs with Eunice. Referring to these lines and other parts of the
play, examine how and why Williams presents characters’ conflicting desires at different
points in the play.
AO1 Interaction between Blanche and Stella:
Stella’s declaratives creating a matter of fact response to Stanley’s violence: you’re
making much too much fuss about this; there’s some coffee left on the stove.
Blanche’s questioning of Stella’s reactions in interrogatives: am I, And that – that
makes it all right?
Stella’s use of negative politeness to acknowledge Blanche’s reactions to Stanley’s
violence: I’m awful sorry it had to happen
Stella’s excuses for Stanley shown in figurative language: He’s a powder-keg, He was
as good as lamb
Stella’s delight in Stanley’s violence suggested in her use of material verbs to describe
his actions - smashed; snatched; rushed – and the repetition of ‘smashed’ for
reinforcement of her delight
Italics as a stage direction to suggest prosodic emphasis and Blanche’s shock at
Stella’s delight: you let him? Didn’t run, didn’t scream?
Stella’s hedging when admitting her pleasure in Stanley’s violent nature: I was – sort of
-thrilled by it.
Blanche’s horror in Stanley’s behaviour in exclamatories: And you stand there smiling!;
you’re
married to a madman!
Blanche’s use of idiomatic imperatives to Stella in an attempt to make Stella consider
her current life with Stanley: pull yourself together and face the facts.
Adverbs in stage directions to represent Stella’s explicit rejection of Blanche’s
suggestions and
Blanche’s surprise: [Slowly and emphatically], [Incredulously]
Repetition of same phrasal verb by Stella and Blanche to express their conflicting
desires: get out of
A Streetcar Named Desire 3
The exam
Spend 70 minutes on this section (10 mins planning)
You will be given a choice of two questions
You must write about two other scenes in the play
The focus will be on conflict of some sort
Aim to write about 3 sides of A4
AO1 (10 marks) - Terminology patterns - stylistic approach
AO2 (10 marks) - Writer's craft - narrative techniques - voice - why?
AO3 (15 marks) - Contextual factors - theories - production & reception - Williams’ background
Planning and Writing
QUESTION
Highlight the question focus and any key words
What is happening in the extract?
Look for patterns - stage directions, kinesics, semantics, dialogue structure
Think about two other scenes that link to the extract
What context is there to explore? - Communication theories, Southern Gothic,
production and reception
INTRO
What has led to the conflict in the given extract?
To what extent is the play about (insert essay theme) ?
Highlight the other scenes you have chosen to write about - how do they link?
Include any brief and relevant context
THINK WILLIAMS’ CRAFT
Paragraphs
Use a bigger quote at the start of the paragraph to prove the pattern, then pick out
individual words
Talk about given extract in one paragraph
A Streetcar Named Desire 1
, Do another two paragraphs, one for each of the other scenes
Remember - how is Williams consciously crafting the play?
KEEP MENTIONING WILLIAMS & TALK ABOUT THE PLAY AS A WHOLE (E.G.,
FORESHADOWING ETC)
No conclusion 😅
What to l👀k for:
patterns of epithets
motifs
foreshadowing
dramatic irony
condescending remark towards...
adjectives out of context (foregrounded)
theories (Goffman, Grice, Lakoff...)
plastic theatre
dramatic monologue
oculesics (face), chronemics (time), haptics (touch), proxemics (space), kinesics
(body language)
emblematic
tragic flaw
mise en scene (arrangements on stage)
Example answers
Past paper mark scheme of scene 4
(June 2019) Indicative content
❓ Referring to these lines and other parts of the play, examine how and why
Williams presents characters’ conflicting desires at different points in the
play.
A Streetcar Named Desire 2
, ❓ Q13: Refer to Scene 4, beginning
‘Blanche, I’d forgotten how excitable you are.’
and ending
‘But he could do it, he could certainly do it!’.
This interaction occurs near the beginning of the scene. It is the morning after the poker
night where Stanley attacked Stella. Blanche has just returned to Stanley and Stella’s
apartment from staying upstairs with Eunice. Referring to these lines and other parts of the
play, examine how and why Williams presents characters’ conflicting desires at different
points in the play.
AO1 Interaction between Blanche and Stella:
Stella’s declaratives creating a matter of fact response to Stanley’s violence: you’re
making much too much fuss about this; there’s some coffee left on the stove.
Blanche’s questioning of Stella’s reactions in interrogatives: am I, And that – that
makes it all right?
Stella’s use of negative politeness to acknowledge Blanche’s reactions to Stanley’s
violence: I’m awful sorry it had to happen
Stella’s excuses for Stanley shown in figurative language: He’s a powder-keg, He was
as good as lamb
Stella’s delight in Stanley’s violence suggested in her use of material verbs to describe
his actions - smashed; snatched; rushed – and the repetition of ‘smashed’ for
reinforcement of her delight
Italics as a stage direction to suggest prosodic emphasis and Blanche’s shock at
Stella’s delight: you let him? Didn’t run, didn’t scream?
Stella’s hedging when admitting her pleasure in Stanley’s violent nature: I was – sort of
-thrilled by it.
Blanche’s horror in Stanley’s behaviour in exclamatories: And you stand there smiling!;
you’re
married to a madman!
Blanche’s use of idiomatic imperatives to Stella in an attempt to make Stella consider
her current life with Stanley: pull yourself together and face the facts.
Adverbs in stage directions to represent Stella’s explicit rejection of Blanche’s
suggestions and
Blanche’s surprise: [Slowly and emphatically], [Incredulously]
Repetition of same phrasal verb by Stella and Blanche to express their conflicting
desires: get out of
A Streetcar Named Desire 3
