Final answer:
In the play, 'A Doll's House', Mrs. Berger gets Gerda to acknowledge her father's death by mentioning it casually in conversation. Gerda copes with the dreadful knowledge by being shocked into silence.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the play, Mrs. Berger gets Gerda to acknowledge her father's death by mentioning it casually in conversation. She says, "Papa died on the 29th of September." This method is not necessarily kind, as it catches Gerda off guard and forces her to confront her father's death in an unexpected way. However, it does prompt Gerda to acknowledge the truth.
Gerda copes with the dreadful knowledge by initially being shocked into silence, as mentioned in the text. This suggests that learning about her father's death is a traumatic and overwhelming experience for her. Further exploration of Gerda's coping mechanism is not provided in the given information.