Question

Read the following scene from Trifles.

COUNTY ATTORNEY (preoccupied). Is there a cat?
(Mrs. Hale glances in a quick covert way at Mrs. Peters.)

MRS. PETERS. Well, not now. They’re superstitious, you know. They leave.

COUNTY ATTORNEY (to Sheriff Peters, continuing an interrupted conversation.) No sign at all of anyone having come from the outside. Their own rope. Now let’s go up again and go over it piece by piece. (They start upstairs.) It would have to have been someone who knew just the—
(Mrs. Peters sits down. The two women sit there not looking at one another, but as if peering into something and at the same time holding back. When they talk now, it is the manner of feeling their way over strange ground, as if afraid of what they are saying, but as if they cannot help saying it.)

How would an audio recording most likely convey the characters’ actions during this scene?
A.with a change in each character’s tone of voice
B.with the reading of the written stage directions
C.with a change in the volume of the characters’ voices
D.with the lines of dialogue spoken by each character

Answer 1

Well, we can eliminate B because there are very few plays where they read out the stage directions. This play just by reading it wouldn't be one of them. So, B is now eliminated.

C can be eliminated too. The volume seems to stay calm throughout all of the passage.

D I feel we can eliminate too.

Therefore A is your best answer.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

An audio recording would most likely convey the characters’ actions during this scene with a change in the volume of the characters' voices

Step-by-step explanation:

This excerpt of a play is written with a lot of changes in tone, it makes general comments and other that may look like inner voice, changes in volume is a technique than clearly help to emphasize what the characters are saying as we naturally use the stress and intonation in our way of speak, so option C is the best answer for this.