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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Mrs. Peters tell Mrs. Hale that she knows?
(a) Stillness
(b) Sanity
(c) Grief
(d) Purity

2. The success of Trifles rests largely on what dramatic/literary device that means the audience is aware of facts not grasped by characters in the play?
(a) Metaphor
(b) Irony
(c) Exposition
(d) Alliteration

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

4. Mrs. Peters says that her first baby died when he was how old?
(a) 1 year
(b) 2 years
(c) 3 years
(d) 4 years

5. Mrs. Peters tells Mrs. Hale, “Mr. Henderson said coming out that what was needed for the case was” what?
(a) An alibi
(b) A weapon
(c) Fingerprints
(d) A motive

6. What is Mrs. Wright doing with her apron when Mr. Hale enters?
(a) Drying it
(b) Washing it
(c) Ironing it
(d) Pleating it

7. In what room of the now abandoned farmhouse is the setting for the opening scene of Trifles?
(a) The kitchen
(b) The bedroom
(c) The front porch
(d) The parlor

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

9. At the end of the play, where does Mrs. Hale stash the box?
(a) The bread box
(b) Her coat pocket
(c) The cupboard
(d) Her handbag

10. What does Mr. Hale say he thinks he hears someone say when he knocks a second time on the Wrights’ door?
(a) Who is it?
(b) Come back later
(c) Come in
(d) Go away

11. What refers to direct perception of truth, independent of any reasoning process?
(a) Exposition
(b) Retribution
(c) Intuition
(d) Misogyny

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

13. Near the end of the play, what does Mrs. Peters attempt to take from the box but cannot bring herself to do it?
(a) The parakeet
(b) The canary
(c) The slipper
(d) The scissors

14. Which of the following is a key theme in Trifles?
(a) Sibling rivalry
(b) Isolation
(c) The impact of war
(d) Sexual longing

15. What characters are described as "men in middle life"?
(a) Henry Peters and Lewis Hale
(b) Frank and Harry
(c) Lewis Hale and George Henderson
(d) George Henderson and Dr. Lloyd

Short Answer Questions

1. What character in the play is based on the real-life figure of John Hossack?

2. What type of pet does Mrs. Peters say Mrs. Wright was afraid of?

3. Mrs. Peters remarks to Mrs. Hale that when she was young, a boy killed her kitten with what?

4. What is Mrs. Peters’ response when Mrs. Hale asks, “Do you think she did it?”

5. How do the women determine Mrs. Wright’s pet had been killed?

(see the answer keys)

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