Members of the Renee’ Ramsey’s TJC English classes will  hold a mock trial where the students will play characters from Susan Glaspell’s one-act play “Trifles” this Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. Ramsey has partnered with Coach Bray, whose class will act as an impartial jury during the trial.

“I was searching/reading some teacher blogs and came across the idea of creating a mock trial for literary characters,” Ramsey said. “I immediately thought of “Trifles” since it is about a murder. I think this activity will be an engaging way of connecting with literary characters and being creative at the same time.

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The mock trial will stay true to the structure of an official courtroom trial process. It will begin with opening statements from both the prosecution and defense, witness for each, and then closing arguments for each.

“I am a part of the prosecution team for the trial,” senior Brock Hines said. “[This] means that I and the other member of the team have constructed a case against the defendant and will hopefully convince the jury through the use of witnesses.”

Each student in Ramsey’s class will play a different role either from the play itself, one referenced in the play, or a few others Ramsey included not within the play. Each student is responsible for understanding the background information, whether implicitly stated in the play or inferenced by the student, for the trial.

“I will be playing Mrs. Wright, the defendant in the trial, who has been accused of the murder of her husband, Mr. John Wright,” senior Alison Cheney said. “I am very excited for trial and seeing how it turns out.”