Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key plot points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Reading Check

1. Who dies in the story?

2. How did they die? 

3. What clue do Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters find?

4. Where is Mrs. Wright throughout the story?

5. What do the police need to bring charges against their suspect? 

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does a quilt help the other women to understand Mrs. Wright’s state of mind?

2. What does Martha Hale lament about her relationship with Minnie Foster Wright?

3. How does Mrs. Hale describe John Wright?

4. What realization do the women share about the canary's fate?

Paired Resource

Trifles by Susan Glaspell

• Trifles is the original play that Glaspell adapted into a short story.
• Consequently, the themes of Gender Roles, Duty of Neighbors to Help One Another, and The Law Versus Justice can be found.
• Trifles on SuperSummary
• How do the two versions of the story differ? Why might Glaspell have decided to present this story in two different mediums?

Recommended Next Reads 

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin