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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Mrs. Peters exclaims to Mrs. Hale, “My, it’s a good thing the men couldn’t hear us. Wouldn’t they just laugh! Getting all stirred up over a little things like a” what?
(a) Dead canary
(b) Dead kitten
(c) Birdcage
(d) Broken jar

2. In what region of the United States is Trifles set?
(a) The Midwest
(b) The South
(c) The Northeast
(d) The West

3. What does Mrs. Peters use to wrap around a jar to take to Mrs. Wright?
(a) A bath towel
(b) A petticoat
(c) A dish cloth
(d) A shawl

4. Where does Mrs. Hale begin to sit but then steps back while the women are alone downstairs?
(a) The kitchen table
(b) The rocking chair
(c) The sofa
(d) The bed

5. Whom does George Henderson say “doesn’t need supervising”?
(a) Mrs. Hale
(b) Bessie
(c) Mrs. Peters
(d) Lewis Hale

6. Near the end of the play, where does Mrs. Peters attempt to hide the jeweled box?
(a) Her coat pocket
(b) Her handbag
(c) Her shawl
(d) Her hat

7. Where does Mr. Hale say Mrs. Wright pointed when he asks her where Mr. Wright is?
(a) Upstairs
(b) To the barn
(c) Toward town
(d) To the kitchen

8. The women at the end of Trifles illustrate which of the following concepts?
(a) Animosity
(b) Insolence
(c) Arbitration
(d) Solidarity

9. After the men reenter from upstairs, who says he is going to stay at the Wright home by himself?
(a) Dr. Lloyd
(b) George Henderson
(c) Lewis Hale
(d) Henry Peters

10. Mrs. Peters claims that “[t]he law has got to” do what?
(a) Uphold itself
(b) Be right
(c) Collect taxes
(d) Punish crime

11. What is located under the sink in the opening scene of Trifles?
(a) A birdcage
(b) Dog dishes
(c) Clean towels
(d) Dirty pans

12. How does Mr. Hale claim Mrs. Wright looks when the day he discovers the murder?
(a) Happy
(b) Serene
(c) Queer
(d) Jovial

13. What character in the play is based on the real-life figure of Margaret Hossack?
(a) Bessie
(b) Mrs. Wright
(c) Mrs. Hale
(d) Mrs. Peters

14. What character is described as “a slight wiry woman” with “a thin nervous face”?
(a) Mrs. Wright
(b) Mrs. Peters
(c) Mrs. Hale
(d) Bessie

15. As the men reenter from upstairs, George Henderson remarks, “But you know juries when it comes to” what?
(a) Men
(b) Abuse
(c) Women
(d) Housewives

Short Answer Questions

1. According to the stage directions in the opening of the play, what is Henry Peters’ profession?

2. Which of the following is a central theme in Trifles?

3. According to Mrs. Peters, who says it looks “bad for” Mrs. Wright?

4. Mrs. Hale remarks when looking at Mrs. Wright’s sewing that she wonders if she was going to do what or “just knot it”?

5. Who asks the County Attorney, "Did you want to see what Mrs. Peters was going to take in?"

(see the answer keys)

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