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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. Near the end of the play, what does Mr. Hale go outside to tend to?

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

3. What is located under the sink in the opening scene of Trifles?

4. Who does Henry Peters tell that they will be right out as he goes into the other room with George Henderson?

5. What character says, “the law is the law”?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does Mrs. Peters describe her understanding of stillness in the narrative?

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

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

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

7. How do the men in the play respond to Mrs. Wright's worry over her preserves?

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

9. What does Mr. Henderson discover broken in the cupboard? What does Mrs. Peters remark about this?

10. What is the men’s response when they discover the women examining the sewing basket?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze and discuss the relationship between the women in the narrative. How does the relationship develop? Why do the women gain sympathy for Mrs. Wright through the second half of the story?

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