Prompt: Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles” says a lot in a very short space. Perhaps the most important aspect of the play is the change we see in the attitudes of the two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters. Their attitudes toward the men, toward each other, toward Mrs. Wright, and toward the crime and the law change significantly in a short period of time. In 5-7 pages, trace how Mrs. Hale’s and Mrs. Peter’s attitudes change throughout the play.
Because so much happens in such a short space, you should be thinking of this play the way you thought of the poetry at the beginning of the semester. The lines of dialogue, the movements, and the images are meaningful. This means you need to read closely and be detailed in your use of the play.
NO OUTSIDE RESEARCH
You should NOT use any outside resources. Do NOT go online to see what others have said. This will lead to plagiarism. Just use your own understanding of the play to respond to the prompt.
Your essay should be 5-7 pages and structured like this:
- Begin with an introductory paragraph. This should provide a brief general summary of the play and the context. The introduction should include the title of the play, formatted correctly, and the author’s full name. Your introduction should end with a thesis statement. The thesis is the last sentence of the introduction, and it should be one sentence only. It should state the main divisions of your essay in specific terms.
- Next, your essay should have body paragraphs. The body paragraphs should begin with topic sentences, provide textual evidence, and then provide explanations for how the evidence supports the topic sentences. When you quote the stories, do not forget the page numbers in parentheses, not the word “page,” not the author’s name, just the number. When you quote the characters in a play, you don’t include the character’s name in the quotation, and you can exclude stage directions. Here are a couple of examples: The County Attorney says, “This feels good. Come up to the fire, ladies” (772).
The first thing you should notice here is that the character’s name, the County Attorney, is not part of the quotation. It’s part of the signal phrase that leads into the quotation. You also should note that the page number and nothing else is in parentheses at the end.
Another thing you may want to quote is the stage direction. Here is how you do it: As Hale is speaking, the stage directions say, “They all look at the rocker” (773).
- Your essay should end with a concluding paragraph that summarizes your position. It should be a detailed summary, no fewer than seven sentences.
Keep in mind that you need direct evidence from the play to support your claims, and you need to explain specifically how your evidence supports your claims. Your grade is largely determined by how well you explain your ideas. Remember that you need your own title, one that reflects your thesis. The essay needs to be formatted according to MLA standards (double-spaced, one-inch margins, Times New Roman font, 12-point type). The first line of every paragraph should be indented. Don’t have space between the paragraphs. Check your essay for capitalization mistakes.