A Streetcar Named Desire: Scene 10

This resource is designed for students studying the Edexcel A-level Literature course (8ET0 and 9ET0), though it can be adapted for other exam boards. It will form part of a complete A Streetcar Named Desire bundle, available at a discounted price once all lessons are uploaded.

Lesson Stages:

• Starter: Students are presented with three images representing props in the scene and are asked what they might represent in term’s of Blanche or more broadly.
• Blanche’s costume: Students are given two key quotations from the scene relating to Blanche’s costume. Three discussion and note-making questions are provided to get students to analyse and evaluate Williams’s use of costume.
• Class reading: definitions of relevant key terms are provided on the board.
• Context: an information slide explaining post-war masculinity.
• Sound mapping: students are given a list of the many sounds present in scene 10. They must identify each of them and note down a matching quotation. Next, they carry out a little guided analysis.
• Essay Practice: Students are given a question and success criteria: How does Williams use expressionist techniques in Scene 10 to present Blanche’s mental disintegration?
• Plenary: Through discussion, the class evaluate the statement: “Violence in drama is more psychological than physical.”