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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What was Mrs. Wright’s response when Mr. Hale asks her, “Weren’t you sleepin’ in the bed with him?”
(a) Yes, but I was on the inside
(b) No, I was sleeping downstairs
(c) No, I was cooking
(d) Yes, but I was on the outside

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

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

4. What is Mrs. Hale’s final line of the play?
(a) Let’s call forth the hounds!
(b) We call it—knot it, Mr. Henderson
(c) Yes sir, let us be out of this place
(d) We call it—quilt it, Mr. Henderson

5. What does Mrs. Hale feel she should take her hand off of once the men reenter, but finds herself unable to do so?
(a) The sewing basket
(b) The birdcage
(c) The preserves
(d) The bread basket

Short Answer Questions

1. In what room of the now abandoned farmhouse is the setting for the opening scene of Trifles?

2. What characters are described as "men in middle life"?

3. What does Mr. Hale say he thinks he hears someone say when he knocks a second time on the Wrights’ door?

4. When speaking to Mrs. Peters what does Mrs. Hale compare Mr. Wright to?

5. What word describing the men in Trifles means to behave in an offensively condescending manner?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What does Mrs. Hale begin doing once the men exit to investigate upstairs? What does she discover in the kitchen?

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

4. What does Mrs. Hale say to Mrs. Peters in disregarding the stitching of the quilt?

5. How is the theme of female loyalty illustrated in the play?

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

7. What scene does Mrs. Hale recreate for Mrs. Wright after the men have exited upstairs?

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

9. What does Mrs. Hale discover in the box in Mrs. Wright's sewing basket? How do the women respond?

10. What memory of brutal loss does Mrs. Peters share from her childhood?

(see the answer keys)

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