Classroom Activities
The following activities could be used in combination with teaching the play. There are eleven scenes in the play, and because they are all nearly equal in length, each individual scene could be covered in one 50-minute class period. Additionally, to support student comprehension, some of the other days’ work in the unit should focus necessarily on questions about characterization, setting, and dramatic technique, among other topics. Below, I have outlined four activities to support the teaching of the aforementioned subjects. It is my hope that the “Who Are You?” and “Literary Sociogram” activities detailed below will help students to form a basis for argumentation that asserts one character as the stand-alone main character of the play. Students must be able to demonstrate contextual understanding in order to demonstrate mastery.
Characterization
Who Are You?
Assign one of the four central characters from the play (Stanley, Stella, Blanche, or Mitch) to each student. Create a Google Sheet within your Google Classroom. List each character’s name in the “A” column, skipping row 1. Along row 1, starting with column “B,” enter the following questions (one per column): cell B1—How is your character introduced into the play?; cell C1—What clues do the stage directions give about costume and physical appearance?; cell D1—What does your character do? How does she or he behave? Are his or her actions consistent?; cell E1—What do other characters say about him/her?; cell F1—What is your character’s position/state of mind at the start of the play?; cell G1—In what ways does your character change during the drama?; cell H1—How does your character end up?; cell I1—How does your character use language?; cell J1—What key themes and ideas are developed through your character?; and cell K1—What things are associated with your character (e.g. the blue piano and Stanley)?13 Students will work together to populate these cells with information about each character. Students can use this Google sheet, developing it over time organically as the characters themselves develop. With regard to IB Paper 2, this activity will help students develop criteria A (knowledge and understanding of the play) and C (appreciation of the literary conventions of drama).
Literary Sociogram
In addition to analyzing characters using the activity above, students should also consider characters’ roles toward one another. This consideration can happen very readily with the construction of a literary sociogram, a type of graphic organizer that shows relationships among characters in a text. There are many ready-made templates available for free on the web if the teacher does not already have a template of his or her own. This activity will help students develop their knowledge and understanding of the play (criterion A for IB Paper 2).
Staging the Set
While it is important for students to engage in lecture and discussion about the larger setting of New Orleans and the French Quarter, it is also imperative that students do not lose sight of the smaller settings of the Kowalski residence. This activity invites students to consider an author’s unique choices with regard to settings in the genre of drama; it requires students to show appreciation of the literary conventions of the genre (criterion C for IB Paper 2).
Divide students into four groups, assigning each group one location within the play: the bedroom; the kitchen; the outside of the house; and the street outside of the house.14 Students should read the stage directions to gather first an idea of their assigned settings. Students should explain the setting in as much detail as possible, citing the text. Students should also incorporate any dialogue in which characters mention the setting; students should explain how the stage directions and dialogue influence visualization of the settings. Students ultimately will share their thoughts through a visual representation such as a diorama.
Motif
Students will be encouraged to explore the motifs of Blanche’s baths, alcohol, and paper lanterns and light, among any other motifs that they themselves select. Students can use the graphic organizer, “Analyzing Motifs and Recurring Images,” to guide their exploration of the topic.15 While they are looking at these motifs, I will encourage students to consider the commentary that Williams might be making about gender through his use of them.
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