Streetcar named Desire

In-Class Streetcar Essay
Write an essay of about 450 words (no less than 400 words) in response to one of the prompts below. As
always, I recommend working with a tutor in the Writing Center, this time to plan your essay. You
may use the text, as well as your prepared notes. I would strongly suggest you have your one-or-two-
sentence thesis ready along with an outline listing the points you will discuss. You will type your essay
in Word and upload it to Blackboard. Please make sure you leave yourself a few minutes at the end to do
so. I will upload your essay to Turnitin. Please see the syllabus for the course policy on plagiarism.
1. One could argue that, in a sense, Blanche comes into conflict with Stanley even before she even meets
him, but once they do meet, their conflicts become increasingly intense as the play progresses. What are
the reasons/causes why these two continually come into conflict? Your one-or-two sentence
thesis should state the reason(s)/causes, and your essay should include the final outcome. An essay
that simply lists and describes Stanley’s and Blanche’s conflicts will not be very good since it will only
be a summary of parts of the story. You are being asked to explore the conflicts with respect to reasons,
or causes. In other words, reasons or causes should be the focus of your essay.

State the name of the author and the play in your introduction, ideally, in the first sentence. Capitalize
all words in the title. The titles of plays are typically in italics. Since you can’t use italics, underline the
title. After you have stated the full title, you can refer to the name of the play as Streetcar.
*A good thesis statement states the topic and controlling idea(s), and forecasts the direction your essay
will take. It helps the writer to focus his/her essay and the reader to make sense of it. Developmental
(main body) paragraphs argue the thesis.
Each paragraph should contain a topic sentence, which is supported by sub-points, containing
references to the play. Topic sentences can contain words and synonyms from the thesis to help unify
the essay. Since this is an in-class essay, you will not be required to quote; however, properly used
quotations could enrich your work. You will lose ten points for every single quotation that is more
than a sentence in length.
Sentences like, “On page 72, it says….” will result in a loss of points. Tell me your point, then quote or
give specifics from the text, and then move on.
This quote says, explains, means, shows, etc., is to be avoided at all costs.
Avoid the pronoun I. (The essay is about the play, not the writer)
Avoid “In this essay I will discuss. . . .” or This essay will. . . . “; just state your thesis.
Stick to the text. Please do not wander off into the outside world.
If you plan to quote, refer to the quotation handouts, especially, to Avoiding This Quote Proves, which
also contains information on other things. Do not quote and then tell the reader what your quotation
does. Think general/specific. Make your point and, ideally, integrate your quotation or introduce it with
a comma after the tag (tag in quotations are words like says)

2.  Compare and contrast the relationship of Stanley and Stella with that of Mitch and Blanche. If you
choose this essay, you should begin with Stanley and Stella. Begin with Stanley’s and Stella’s
relationship, and move on to that of Blanche and Mitch. In writing this essay, think about the
foundations of the two relationships. What are they based on? Since this is a comparison/contrast
essay, your one-or-two-sentence thesis statement should state the differences and/or
similarities between the two couples.  (If you don’t think, there are any similarities, don’t
mention any!) Since this is a comparison/contrast essay, you will need to refer back to what you
have written about Stella and Stanley in your analysis of Mitch’s and Blanche’s
relationship.
Please avoid losing points (or worse)