Mr. Sudol
3/4/09 (Day 93)
LESSON PLAN (JR): A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE TEST
OBJECTIVE: To assess students’ understandings of the major themes and concepts in A Streetcar Named
Desire.
PRAYER
DISCUSSION/ACTIVITY
Students will complete a test covering all major themes, concepts, and plot points of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Name:_______________________________
Date: 3/4/10
TEST: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
Part 1: Multiple Choice – Circle the answer that makes the most sense (1 point per question)
1. Blanche’s lines to Stella “You came to New Orleans to look out for yourself. I stayed at Belle Reve and tried to hold it all
together!” most clearly indicates Blanche’s way of being both:
a). Arrogant & disingenuous
b). Elitist & volatile
c). Self-absorbed & melodramatic
d). Elitist & melodramatic
2. Of all of the following descriptions of Stanley, choose the one that clearly does not apply to him:
a). He is possessed of an “animal magnetism”
b). He drinks to repress bad memories of the past
c). His primary goal in life is asserting himself over others d). He is blunt to the point of being rude
3. In pursuing her relationship with Mitch, Blanche is not specifically seeking:
a). Sexual pleasure
b). A source of constant attention
c). A way or recapturing her youth/innocence
d). The “magic” of a romantic relationship
4. When she was younger (before the events of the play unfold), the tragedy Blanche experienced was that:
a). Her husband turned out to be gay and shot himself
b). Her best friend tried to kill her
c). Her parents threw her out of Belle Reve and she had to live on the streets
d). She was raped by her stepfather
5. Of all the ways in which Blanche deceives Mitch, she does not try to convince him that she is:
a). Independent
b). Young
c). Old-fashioned
d). Refined
6. In contrasting Blanche and Stanley, one could most validly claim that Blanche is _______ while Stanley is ________:
a). disingenuous…honest
b). self-centered…generous
c). humble…arrogant
d). stable…volatile
7. After experiencing the tragedy in her youth, Blanche:
a). Tried to kill her best friend
c). Began leading a sexually promiscuous lifestyle
b). Tried to kill her stepfather
d). Hired a lawyer to sue her parents for neglect
8. Stanley reveals Blanche’s secret past to Mitch for all of the following reasons except because:
a). He doesn’t want this friend marrying a liar
b). He dislikes Blanche personally
c). It is a way for him to assert himself over her
d). He is jealous of Mitch and Blanche’s relationship
9. According to Blanche, the opposite of “desire” is:
a). Success
b). Death
c). Terror
10. The event that causes Blanche to go fully insane is:
a). Stanley’s beating of Stella
b). Her loss of Belle Reve
d). Happiness
c). Her rape by Stanley
d). Her rejection by Mitch
Part 2: Essay (10 points total)
On the back of this paper, write an approximately half-page response to one of the following questions. Be sure to give
specific examples from the text to support your response. On this page, circle the essay choice you have picked.
1. Assess the moral responsibility of the actions of either Stanley or Blanche. For whichever character you pick, make sure
you explain a). if that character is aware of the consequences of his/her actions, b). if that character has lived through
experiences that would allow the audience to excuse his or her actions and why (or why not), and c). if, in either case, the
audience can feel sympathy for that character and why (or why not).
2. Explain how Blanche fulfills the role of the play’s anti-heroine. In doing do, explain a). how she gains or wields power
over others in the play through nontraditional, imperfect, or undesirable means, b). what physical, emotional, or mental
imperfections she displays in the play, and c). how she justifies her “bad” actions in claiming that she had good intentions
for taking them.
3. Describe the irony of Blanche’s final line of the play: “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”