Eng 1102 Troy University Trifles by Susan Glaspell Discussion and Analysis Sheet Read pages Trifles by Susan Glaspell in the Backpack Literature (Kennedy &

Eng 1102 Troy University Trifles by Susan Glaspell Discussion and Analysis Sheet Read pages Trifles by Susan Glaspell in the Backpack Literature (Kennedy & Gioia).

Part 1. Explain how the bird is like Minnie, the main character. This time comment on one other response.

Comment:

The Trap of Life

In Trifles by Susan Glaspell, Minnie Wright is just like her little pet bird because they are both trapped, and they both end up victims of their “cages.” Minnie’s life with her abusive husband has no joy or lightheartedness. Her married life is just a continuous existence of hard work, bad treatment by her mean husband, and isolation from life outside the farm. She doesn’t have a way to get out of it. The author says that when Minnie was young, she was happy, and she loved to sing in the choir at church. Now, Minnie has no time to sing and nothing to sing about. The main thing that brought her joy in life has gone away from her life. Minnie got herself a canary bird because canaries are songbirds that make beautiful sounds. The canary was trapped, too, in an actual, physical cage. It couldn’t get out of its cage, so the only thing it could do to escape its frustration and misery was to sing a beautiful song. Minnie found a way to escape her misery by killing her husband after he killed Minnie’s little canary. So, Minnie and her bird are in very similar situations.

Part 2. Analysis Sheet Six

Trifles

Summarize the one act play.
Discuss the male-female relationship during the period.
What are the clues that the women find and the men do not?
What does foreshadowing mean and what is an example?
What do the women find in the box?
What does Mrs. Peters express to Mrs. Hale about guilt?
How does the first entrance establish a distinction between the males and the females? What about the reactions over the preserves?
What is a symbol?
What is symbolic about the broken cage and the dead bird?
How did Minnie kill her husband? What hints lead you to the conclusion?
Who killed the bird?
What is ironic about the men not finding any clues?