Roudier 2010
A Streetcar named Desire
Context quiz
Research information on the web in order to answer the following questions
Websites you can use:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans
http://www.neworleansonline.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz
http://web.li.gatech.edu/~rdrury/700/write/sp2_01/jazz/tempforjazz.htm (jazz musicians)
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/famous-jazz-musicians.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams
Type your answers in a WORD document. Save it under a file entitled “English Lit” (document entitled
“streetcar context”). Add pictures. Print. Put inside your notebook.
1) Name famous monuments, buildings or places in New Orleans (at least 6)
2) What is New-Orleans famous for all over the world? (two things)
3) What are the principal economical activities of New-Orleans? (3 types of activities)
4) Where is New Orleans located?
5) Describe the French quarter .
6) When was jazz born and where?
7) What is jazz? Where does it come from? (influences)
8) Quote at least 3 famous jazz players.
9) What are the main instruments used in jazz?
10) Why is the flapper a good symbol for the jazz age?
11) What is Tennessee Williams ' real name?
12) Give examples showing how his life influenced his work.
13) Did he know success in the course of his lifetime? Explain.
14) Give at least 2 reasons why he was depressed most of his life?
15) Describe the end of T. Williams' life.
Roudier 2010
A Streetcar named Desire
Context quiz
1) Name famous monuments, buildings or places in New Orleans (at least 6)
1 point
The Greater New Orleans Bridge - The Louisiana Superdome - The Causeway Bridge - Louis
Armstrong's Park - Preservation Hall - Pat O'Briens - Sydney Bechett's bust - Monumental Hall in the
Holiday Hotel - The Royal Café - St Charles' tramway
2) What is New-Orleans famous for all over the world? (two things)
1 point
It is famous for being the birthplace of jazz and for its French influence.
3) What are the principal economical activities of New-Orleans? (3 types of activities) 2 points
Its principal resources are : trade (it's a big commercial port), industry (yesterday: cotton and sugar
cane, today : gas, oil, food, textile, electricity), and tourism.
4) Where is New Orleans located?
1 point
It is located in the South of the United States, in the gulf of Mexico, in the state of Louisiana, near
the Mississipi River.
5) Describe the French quarter .
2 points
The French quarter is also called le Vieux Carré. It was build by Adrien de Pauger. It is the historical
heart of the city and it hosts a cathedral, a museum, a market, shops and many famous restaurants
and bars. It was built on a swamp and it is very humid. It is very colorful and the architecture is
rather old and refined (fine iron work).
6) When was jazz born and where?
1 point
Jazz was born in New-Orleans at the beginning of the century.
7) What is jazz? Where does it come from? (influences)
2 points
Jazz is a musical movement born at the beginning of the century in America. It was created by
musicians who did not always know how to read a partition and often improvised the lyrics,
particularly by a system of duets, questions and answers. Jazz finds its origins in a wide variety of
influences : Afro-American music (negro spirituals, slave songs, the blues), African, Latino, Creole,
European music.
8) Quote at least 3 famous jazz players.
1 point
Buddy Bolden, Sydney Bechett, Louis Armstrong, K. Oliver, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington.
9) What are the main instruments used in jazz?
1 point
The main instruments used in jazz are : the clarinet, the trumpet and the trombone. (also to a lesser
extend the saxophone and the piano)
10) Why is the flapper a good symbol for the jazz age?
1 point
The flapper is a new type of woman, symbol of a new age. The flapper is a woman from the jazz age
who had a provocative look : she wore short dresses showing her legs and arms, and wore her hair
short or bobbed. She behaved like a man, going out, dancing, drinking, smoking. She is a good
symbol for this period who was a period of freedom, fun, modernity and experimentation.
Roudier 2010
11) What is Tennessee Williams ' real name?
1 point
His real name was Thomas Lanier Williams.
12) Give examples showing how his life influenced his work.
2 points
The plot of "the Glass Menagerie" was inspired by his sister's mental health. His culpability towards his
own homosexuality influenced the character of Mitch in "A Streetcar Named Desire".
13) Did he know success in the course of his lifetime? Explain.
1 point
He did know success during his lifetime and won many prizes such as the Pulitzer Prize.
14) Give at least 2 reasons why he was depressed most of his life?
2 points
He was depressed most of his life because he lived near ill-balanced people, because he did not
assume his homosexuality and becausee he longed for (nostalgie) the age of innocence, the age of
childhood who was forever lost for him.
15) Describe the end of T. Williams' life.
1 point
His longtime lover died of cancer and he became very depressed. He became an alcoholic, a drug
addict and was forgotten by the public. He died in New York in 1983.