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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. Which of the following is a recurring motif in Trifles?

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

3. What refers to direct perception of truth, independent of any reasoning process?

4. What was Mrs. Wright’s name before she got married?

5. In the narrative, Mrs. Peters says, “Somehow we just don’t see how it is with other folks until” what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What causes Mr. Hale to backtrack in his description of Mrs. Wright's demeanor in his interview with the County Attorney?

2. What does Mrs. Hale remark to Mrs. Peters about the signs of anger in the Wrights' house?

3. What leads Mr. Henderson to the conclusion that Mrs. Wright is a bad housekeeper?

4. How does Trifles reflect women’s roles during Susan Glaspell’s lifetime?

5. What happens after Mr. Hale finishes his story of the previous day's events?

6. How does Mrs. Peters attempt to maintain objectiveness with Mrs. Hale when she concludes Minnie's innocence?

7. When does Mrs. Hale ask Mrs. Peters her opinion on the guilt of Mrs. Wright? What is her reply?

8. When George Henderson asks if Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Wright had been friends, how does Mrs. Hale reply?

9. What does Mrs. Peters say in response to Mrs. Hale berating herself for not visiting Minnie?

10. What does Mrs. Hale remark to Mrs. Peters about the lack of children in the home and Mr. Wright's personality?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the character of Minnie Wright in comparison to Margaret Hossack. How, in the articles about the Hossack trial, was Margaret Hossack described? What was Margaret Hossack’s sentence? How does this relate to the play?

(see the answer keys)

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