Sorry, Wrong Number

The setting of the drama can be summarized as

• Police headquarters.

• An operator’s switchboard in the busy workday hours.

• An office building clearing out at the end of the day.

• A lonely woman’s bedroom near a bridge off of Second Avenue in New York.

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CCSS.RL.7.3

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Which statement best describes the main conflict in the play?

• Mrs. Stevenson is trying to call her husband’s office, but the line is busy.

• Mrs. Stevenson has overheard a murder plot, but she can’t get anyone to do anything about it.

• Mrs. Stevenson is expecting her husband to come home, but he has gone away on a business trip.

• Mrs. Stevenson wants to hire a nurse, but the hospital won’t send one without a doctor’s order.

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CCSS.RL.7.3

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Which element shows that this is a drama and separate from literature?

• problem or conflict

• setting

• stage directions

• major characters

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In lines 28–29, Mrs. Stevenson is described as “a querulous, self-centered neurotic.” What effect does her character’s personality have on the plot?

• It makes others less likely to take her seriously.

• It is the reason behind the plan to murder her.

• It is the reason why her husband is working late.

• It makes others try especially hard to help her.

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CCSS.RL.2.10

CCSS.RL.2.2

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What evidence supports the inference that the “client” is Mrs. Stevenson’s husband?

• He wanted the lights to be out.

• He knew that the coast would be clear that night.

• He said that a knife would be okay.

• He wants to make the murder look like a robbery.

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CCSS.RL.7.2

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How does phone technology in the 1940s add to the conflict of the drama?

• Operators had a high-pitched, nasal voice that was irritating.

• Western Union telegrams were in competition with the operating systems.

• Calls could not be traced in an effective way.

• It was annoying that the operator could listen to your private conversations.

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CCSS.RL.7.3

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Why does the author include the scene between Sergeant Duffy and the Lunch Counter Attendant?

• To increase the tension

• To add humor (comedic relief)

• To advance the plot

• To develop character

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CCSS.RL.7.3

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When the stage directions say that Duffy, upon initially hearing that someone is reporting a murder, “double-takes” (line 334), it means that he is

• Angry

• Attentive

• Hungry

• Unconcerned

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CCSS.RL.7.3

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Which line first suggests that Mrs. Stevenson might be the intended victim?

• “It was a perfectly definite murder. I heard their plans distinctly.”

• “Well, it’s unnerved me dreadfully—and I’m not well.”

• “That’s near a bridge…And we have a private patrolman on our street.”

• “Second Avenue is a very long street, ma’am.”

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CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.5.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

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CCSS.RL.9-10.4

What do the following stage directions indicate? (On stage, there is the swift rush of a shadow advancing to the bed—the sound of her voice is choked out as.)

• The hospital should have sent a nurse as soon as possible for this sick woman.

• The hired killer rushes toward Mrs. Stevenson and does away with her.

• Mr. Stevenson swiftly approaches his wife to surprise her and she is so relieved she gets all choked up and cries in his embrace.

• Mrs. Stevenson slowly awakens from a terrifying dream.

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