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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Act 2, Scene 9.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the Bowling Greens reading when Josh Speed arrives at their home in Act 1, Scene 3?
(a) The New York Review of Books.
(b) The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.
(c) The Federalist Papers.
(d) The Bourne Chronicles.

2. Who is the moderator of the debate between Lincoln and Douglas?
(a) Ninian Edwards.
(b) Whoopi Goldberg.
(c) Bowling Green.
(d) Elizabeth Edwards.

3. How does Lincoln define his "own great duty?"
(a) He needs to go West and seize California from the Mexican government.
(b) He doesn't know what it is and he's tired of people nagging him about it.
(c) His duty is to mind his own business and he doesn't care what other people think.
(d) His duty is to defend the Constitution to the best of his understanding.

4. Why is Ann's death such a setback to Lincoln?
(a) Ann wrote his speeches; without her, he has nothing to say.
(b) He doesn't feel he will be taken seriously as a candidate if he is single.
(c) He depended on Ann's connections to the politically powerful in Washington.
(d) He fears any woman who loves him is doomed to an early death, like his mother.

5. How does Lincoln feel after Ann's death?
(a) He is relieved because he had begun to doubt her love.
(b) He knows her death is for the best, and that he will be able to concentrate better without her.
(c) He feels he should die to be with her again or he will go crazy.
(d) He feels guilty because she got brain sickness and he did not.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the debate, Douglas says Lincoln appears innocent but is very good at doing something dangerous with his words. What is it?

2. How does Act 1, Scene 3, in which Ann Rutledge dies, come to an end?

3. To which of Shakespeare's characters does Douglas compare Lincoln?

4. How does the playwright describe the appearance of Stephen Douglas as he takes the stage to debate Lincoln?

5. What does Ann's love do for Lincoln?

(see the answer key)

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