Assignment Instructions

Trifles is a one-act play. For the final exam, you will write act two (and acts three, four, five, and more, if you want).

As act one of the play ends, Mr. and Mrs. Peters (the sheriff and his wife) and Mr. and Mrs. Hale (the Wright’s neighbors) are leaving the Wright’s house. Mr. Henderson, the country prosecutor, has stayed behind at the Wright’s house because he’s “not satisfied,” and he wants to go over everything again.

Think: start your act two exactly where act one ends and answer the question: what happens next? You decide.

Your assignment must be 12-point Times New Roman, at least two pages long, single–spaced.

This is creative writing (yay!), not research paper writing, so you do not have to pay much attention to sentences and grammar. Write like you speak.
However, when you write your act two, you must follow the same format as act one and the sample assignment attached. This means:

1. You must use three different versions 12-point Times New Roman.
2. Italics are to show everything except the characters’ lines. The italics tell readers what happens, where, when, how, and why. You are like a god. You can make anything happen in your act two, but you must explain it. In many ways, the italics are the most important part of the play. All of the information, except for the character’s words, is in the italics.
3. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are to show only the characters’ names: who is speaking.
4. Regular font is to show only the characters’ lines: the things they say.
5. Do not just copy the sample. (You can do better than that!) It’s only to give you ideas and show you how to format your assignment.

You’re the writer. You have the power to make anything happen, but you must explain it by properly using 12-point Times New Roman in italics, ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, and regular font.

Veryimportant: you must remember that the play takes place 120 years ago in Iowa, in the country, in the winter: no cell phones, no computers, no Internet, no radios, no airplanes, no cars (just horses and wagons), only dirt roads, no electricity, it’s very cold, and nobody is around. You can change all of that if you want to–the time-warp thing–but you must explain how it happens.

Attached below are the documents needed to complete this assignment:

-the play “trifles”, which you will read and write its following act

-a sample assignment for how it should be done

-Handouts about the author and the play to better understand them