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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After the men reenter from upstairs, what character says, “Well, I’ve got the team around. Pretty cold out there”?
(a) Henry Peters
(b) Harry
(c) George Henderson
(d) Lewis Hale

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. Hale says to Mrs. Peters, “I tell you, it’s queer, Mrs. Peters. We live close together and we live” what?
(a) In blindness
(b) Far apart
(c) In ignorance
(d) In faith

4. What is located on the table in the opening scene of Trifles?
(a) Fresh fruit
(b) A dish-towel
(c) A birdcage
(d) A cake

5. Mrs. Peters remarks to Mrs. Hale that when she was young, a boy killed her kitten with what?
(a) A rock
(b) A rope
(c) A gun
(d) A hatchet

6. Where does Mr. Hale’s companion go to use the telephone after discovering Mr. Wright’s body?
(a) The Bean’s place
(b) The Rivers’ place
(c) The Walton’s place
(d) The Montagues’ place

7. What word does Mrs. Hale refer to Mr. Wright as, which indicates that he was tight with money?
(a) Stingy
(b) Close
(c) Tight
(d) Seedy

8. Who claims “Somebody should have been left here yesterday”?
(a) John Wright
(b) Lewis Hale
(c) Henry Peters
(d) George Henderson

9. Which of the following is a recurring motif in Trifles?
(a) Strangulation
(b) Hanging
(c) Gunshots
(d) The color blue

10. In what county is the play set?
(a) Dickson
(b) Williams
(c) Anderson
(d) Clark

11. What word from the stage directions means dashing courage or heroic bravery?
(a) Gallantry
(b) Insurgence
(c) Abstinence
(d) Altruism

12. Mr. Hale says that he stops by the Wrights’ home to ask John Wright about sharing what?
(a) A barnyard
(b) A telephone line
(c) A fence
(d) Winter firewood

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

14. At the end of the play, what does Mrs. Hale have her hand over?
(a) Her purse
(b) The bread box
(c) The sewing basket
(d) Her pocket

15. Mrs. Hale remarks when looking at Mrs. Wright’s sewing that she wonders if she was going to do what or “just knot it”?
(a) Stitch it
(b) Loop it
(c) Quilt it
(d) Double it

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of the short story that Susan Glaspell adapted Trifles into?

2. Where do the characters go first upon entering the house?

3. Where do the women go to gather some things to take to Mrs. Wright in jail?

4. What character is described as “a young man”?

5. Mrs. Hale tells Mrs. Peters, “She used to ____. He killed that too.”

(see the answer keys)

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