Interpreting a Source Text: A Production of Trifles — Quiz
Question 8 • English Language Arts 11
Read the following scene from Trifles . SHERIFF: Nothing here but kitchen things. ( The County Attorney, after again looking around the kitchen, opens the door of a cupboard closet. He gets up on a chair and looks on a shelf. Pulls his hand away, sticky .) COUNTY ATTORNEY: Here’s a nice mess. (The women draw nearer .) MRS. PETERS ( to the other woman ) : Oh, her fruit; it did freeze. ( To the Lawyer ). She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fire’d go out and her jars would break. SHERIFF: Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worryin’ about her preserves. What would be one advantage of reading this scene as opposed to watching or listening to it?
Answer
A
Readers can focus on the words, rather than the actions, of the characters.
B
Readers do not have to worry about visualizing the characters’ appearances.
C
Readers can creatively interpret and visualize stage directions in their minds.
D
Readers do not have to imagine the sounds that accompany characters’ actions.
Explanation
Reading a play lets you imagine how its stage directions might look and feel. Here, you can picture the attorney climbing onto the chair, finding the sticky preserves, and the women drawing nearer in your own way. That freedom to visualize the action is the advantage described in choice C. Watching a performance shows you the actors’ interpretation instead.
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