P2+Catherine+S+and+Kara+G

By: Catherine Stephens and Kara Grubb
 * Elysian Fields**

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The Elysian Fields were known as a land of perfect happiness where people who lived righteous and generous lives were laid to rest after death. Many mythologists believe that only those favored by the Gods were accepted to rest in the fields and given immortality. However, in the book Odyssey, Homer describes the Elysian Fields as, "The abode of the blessed dead" (Wiik). The Greeks widely believed in the idea of an afterlife and the fact that important people, such as kings, should not experience death on their way to the fields so that they could enjoy immortality. Most spirits however were not as fortunate and there is talk of their passageway into death being very eerie and gloom. The Elysian Fields can be closely linked to people's views of heaven today because they are both described as a type of paradise after death. In Greek Mythology, the son of Zues and Europa, Rhadamanthys, rules the Elysian Fields. The rules of acceptance into the Elysian fields were strict, they often stated that the only people accepted were those who did not drink wine, ate a lot of meat and had abstinence from sex.=====

Works Cited: Wiik, Michael. //Earth to Elysian Fields//. Greek Mythology. 2005. Web. Jan. 6 2010. By: Catherine Stephens Tennessee Williams was the profound author of the novel //A Streetcar Named Desire//. Unfortunately, even though his readers loved his books, the church did not comply with what he was trying to portray. The reaction from the church was widely expected but still harsh in its words of criticism. Tennessee did not take the reaction to heart however because he strongly believed in what he was writing about. Around his teen years, Tennessee stated, “I found life unsatisfactory” (Thirteen). As a result of his feeling of life being unsatisfactory, Tennessee began to write books which eventually became famous works. He won many awards such as a Pulitzer Prize, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter (Wiki). In the 1960’s, Tennessee had a lot of trouble with the press which only worsened his strong addictions to drugs and alcohol. Tennessee Williams died in 1983, at a hotel by choking on the cap of an eye drop bottle. After his death in 1989, Tennessee was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame (Wiki).
 * Tennessee Williams**

Works Cited: Wikipedia. //Tennessee Williams.// 8 Jan. 2010. Web. 10 Jan. 2010.

By: Kara Grubb The opening scenes in the book place the setting of the novel, A Streetcar Named Desire, In New Orleans shortly after World War II. In the 1940's, New Orleans was a prosperous place with the main line of transportation being streetcars. The official inauguration of electric powered streetcars was held many years previous however in February of 1892. The Streetcar in the Novel named "Desire" is actually the name of one of the famous streetcars in New Orleans today that you can ride along the New Orleans and Carrolton Railroads. New Orleans becomes a very important location in this book not only because of the street cars but because, "Not far from West End was the Pontchartrain Beach Amusement Park, the place where Mitch takes Blanche DuBois on a date in Tennessee Williams' //A Streetcar Named Desire//" (Frye). New Orleans was also known for their Jazz music in the 1940's, it was influenced greatly by the perky music even despite the fact that the music went through rapid changes. Jazz music experienced musical changes such as swing and bebop, which made Jazz extremely popular. New Orleans is the setting of this novel and cultural aspects that define the city, such as streetcars and jazz music, help set the theme of this novel.
 * New Orleans 1940- 1950**

Works Cited: Frye, Carrie. //Long ago and far away//. 17 March 2009. Web. Jan. 8 2010.

By:Catherine Stephens
 * Napoleonic Code**



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Napoleonic Code was the surmised version of roman law which originally began in Europe. The code uses information and is based from the Institutes of the Roman Corpus Juris Civilis. The code was enforced in the areas in which Napoléon was in charge of, which were mostly the German states. The Napoleonic code was not the only code that Napoléon published. Among the first, Napoléon made the Code of Civil Procedure (1807), the Commercial Code in 1808, the Code of Criminal Procedure in 1811, and the Penal Code which was also published in 1811 (Law Library). Napoléon had a way with the law and made abiding the law a bit easier since it could be understood. A quote from the Louisiana Law says this, “He therefore took existing law, which was largely based on ancient Roman law, and codified it. That is, he put all the law into writing so it could be understood by everyone” (LA). Napoléonic Code did more than set laws, it made the laws understandable by the people.======

Works Cited: Louisiana Law. //A Short History and The Code Napoleon.// Web. 10 Jan. 2010. Law Library- American Law and Legal Information. //Napoleonic Code.// 2010. Web. 10 Jan. 2010.

By: Kara Grubb Belle Reve is french word translated in English as beautiful dream but correctly the french term is actually Beau Reve. In the book, //A Streetcar Named Desire// by Tennessee Williams, Belle Reve is used to describe Blanche DeBois family's beautiful mansion, which is an ancestral southern plantation in Mississippi. Belle Reve, their family estate, is strongly fought for by Blanche but in the end her family's estate is lost to creditors. Her family simply did not have the money to pay for it any longer due to many family deaths and Blanche could not convince creditors against taking it from her family. After the loss of their home, Blanche is forced to live with her sister and her new husband, which neither sister is pleased about. While confronting her sister about the loss of the estate, Blanche states, "Take into consideration you left. I stayed and struggled. You came to New Orleans and looked out for yourself. I stayed at Belle Reve and tried to hold it together. You were the one that abandoned Belle Reve, not I. I stayed and fought for it, bled for it, almost died for it" (Thayer). Belle Reve is a very important place in this novel because it is the home of the main character and it has such sentimental value to her, so much that she would be willing to do anything to keep it. The loss of Belle Reve affects the characters through out the play and clearly proves its purpose in the novel.
 * Belle Reve**

Works Cited: Thayer, Marion P. //The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire.// 1997. Web. 7 Jan. 2010.

By:Catherine Stephens **
 * The Varsouviana Polka

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For those who are not familiar with Polka music, it is the opposite of “blue piano” music, which represents life. Polka music is as said before, the exact opposite, which in turn says that it represents death. Polka is also known as Varsouviana. This is first heard in the very beginning of the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” when Blanche, a character in the play, tells her husband, Allen, that he disgusted her which he in turn took to heart and decided to take his life. The meaning of Varsouviana Polka completely fits the play since it plays “in Blanche’s head” every time she thinks of her now deceased husband. This represents the fact that Blanche is pretty much going insane due to the death. An article explaining the significance of the Polka says, “To add to the tone of the play is the music that corresponds with the different aspects of Blanche's mental anguish, and increasingly with her emotional deterioration” (Thompson). The Polka in turn is only making matters worse in Blanches own head.======

Works Cited: Thompson, Jennifer. //The Significance of the Music.// 8 Nov. 2007. Web. 10 Jan. 2010. Oakwood Publishing Co. //Nov////el Analysis- Streetcar Named Desire.// 1999. Web. 10 Jan. 2010.

By: Kara Grubb The word tragedy is a term used to describe something disastrous that causes a lot of pain and suffering for those who experience it. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, was the original founder of tragedy and helped to define what it meant and what it was. He often described tragedy through poetry explaining tragedy as "The tragic sense of life" (Aristotle). Some great examples of today's tragedy include the fall of the twin towers on 9/11, which killed thousands of people, and Hurricane Katrina, which left a whole city destroyed and its people homeless. These incidents were pure tragedy because they affected a wide range of people across the U.S. by striking fear and hurt within them. In the novel, //A Streetcar Named Desire// by Tennessee Williams, tragedy comes through many family deaths and losing the family's glorious estate. The Main character Blanch struggles to save her ancestral home but eventually loses it to creditors because her family does not have enough money to keep the house due to the deaths. She is forced to live a life not only of grieving but one living with people whom she does not get along with or enjoy the company of.
 * Tragedy**