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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What character did Susan Glaspell portray in the original production of Trifles?

2. When was Trifles first performed?

3. Where was the theatrical collaboration that Susan Glaspell and George Cram Cook formed originated?

4. According to the Introduction, where was Trifles first performed?

5. For how many months did Susan Glaspell cover the John Hossack murder case?

Short Essay Questions

1. What themes are central in the play? Which characters are the focus of the play?

2. How does Henry Peters begin the investigation after arriving at the Wright home? What does Mr. Henderson interrupt to ask?

3. When was Susan Glaspell inspired to write Trifles? Who encouraged her to write it and why?

4. When and where was Trifles first performed?

5. What does Mr. Hale respond when questioned about how Mrs. Wright appears when he arrives the previous day?

6. What indicates the time period of the narrative?

7. What was the outcome of the murder trial upon which the events in Trifles are based?

8. Why has Trifles been associated with feminist writing and theory?

9. How does Mrs. Hale recall Mrs. Wright? What can the reader/audience discern of Mrs. Wright’s character by Mrs. Hale’s recollections?

10. How is the kitchen staging set up? Where are the entrances and exits?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the relationship between Sheriff Peters and Mrs. Peters in comparison to the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Hale. What are the similarities? What are the differences?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the lives of women in rural American communities at the turn of the century. What were typical tasks assigned to women? How did the requirements of frontier life determine the role women played in the family? How were women’s and men’s roles differ?

Essay Topic 3

Define and analyze the theme of guilt in the narrative. What character is racked with guilt and why? In what different ways does “guilt” apply to the story? Is Minnie Wright guilty? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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