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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Lincoln return to New Salem in Act 1, Scene 3?
(a) The Greens have asked him to mediate in their divorce.
(b) Ann Rutledge is sick.
(c) He has been kicked out of Springfiled for being drunk in public.
(d) Seth Gale summoned him with a letter.

2. What opinion does Elizabeth Edwards have of Abe Lincoln?
(a) Compared to other men, he would be at the top of her list of potential husbands.
(b) She calls him elegant, cultivated and likely to be rich some day soon.
(c) She thinks he's divinely good-looking, but shiftless.
(d) She says he has a simple soul and is a most amiable creature, but not suitable as a husband.

3. Besides debt, what topic often occupies Lincoln's mind?
(a) The prospect of a harsh winter.
(b) The prospect of death.
(c) The prospect of marriage.
(d) The prospect of civil war.

4. What does Lincoln's teacher suggest Lincoln do to improve his life?
(a) Move out of town.
(b) Find a woman to marry.
(c) Get a law degree.
(d) Consider becoming a minister.

5. What last ditch effort does Mary Todd's sister make to prevent a proposal from Lincoln toward the end of Act 2, Scene 5?
(a) She begins yelling at her sister, causing Ninian to slap her and drag her from the room.
(b) She produces a fan and uses it to flirt with Lincoln, to show he wouldn't be a faithful husband.
(c) She spills a pot of hot tea on Lincoln's lap.
(d) She begs Mary to put the children to bed.

6. Who is Ninian Edwards?
(a) Son of the Illinois governor.
(b) A merchant passing through New Salem.
(c) Josh Speed's stepbrother.
(d) Uncle of Elizabeth Edwards.

7. What is the true reason Lincoln wants to end the engagement with Mary Todd?
(a) She has taken to wearing spurs and brandishing a whip when they are alone.
(b) He hates her ambitions for him and doesn't want to be driven to achieve her goals for the rest of his life.
(c) He knows he is losing his mind and wants to spare her from sharing his pain.
(d) He believes she really wants to marry Stephen Douglas.

8. What is the "good joke" Lincoln plans to tell Bowling Green at the end of Act 1, Scene 2 in the Rutledge Tavern?
(a) That a chicken crossed the road to get to the other side.
(b) That Jack Armstrong, of the Clancy Groves boys, will run for the State Assembly.
(c) That Ann Rutledge has run off to marry Josh Speed.
(d) That he will be a candidate for the assembly of the State of Illinois.

9. What are the two professions open to people who fail at everything else, according to Lincoln's teacher?
(a) School teaching and politics.
(b) Politics and prospecting.
(c) School teaching and store keeping.
(d) Journalism and law.

10. What do Josh Speed and Bowling Green think might be the result, if slavery spreads further across the South?
(a) The British would reassert power over the colonies.
(b) Lincoln could be drafted to head the military.
(c) The South could overthrow the existing government and move the Capitol to Virginia.
(d) Civil war might break out.

11. What is Lincoln's attitude toward people?
(a) He is afraid of them, unless he has known them all his life.
(b) He dislikes people because of their inhumanity.
(c) He loves being in a crowd, but feels anxious one-to-one.
(d) He likes them one-to-one, but crowds scare him.

12. What is Lincoln's new attitude toward God after Ann's death?
(a) He knows if he had prayed day and night, Ann would have lived.
(b) He becomes an atheist.
(c) He can't pray to a God that needlessly allowed Ann to die.
(d) He accepts that "the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away."

13. What is it about politics that Lincoln dislikes?
(a) If he loses, a man will be left with many debts.
(b) If not elected, a man will be ashamed in his own community.
(c) If elected, a man is likely to be shot.
(d) If elected, a man has to move to the city.

14. What is the setting of Act 2, Scene 5 and what does it convey about the occupants?
(a) The setting is Lincoln's log cabin and it conveys a feeling of bachelor solitude.
(b) The setting is a grand ballroom and it conveys the gala celebration of political victory.
(c) The setting is Ninian Edwards' home and it conveys a sense of genteel poverty.
(d) The setting is the parlor of Ninian Edwards' home and it conveys a comfortable upper-class life.

15. According to Josh, how is Lincoln doing in the State Assembly?
(a) Great; he's getting kickbacks for legislation he sponsors.
(b) Not well; he sits and draws his three dollars a day without paying attention.
(c) Fabulously well; he's shown himself to be a natural leader.
(d) Not well; he's been rabble-rousing with speeches against slavery.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Lincoln do at the end of Act 2, Scene 6?

2. What does Lincoln do that impresses Ninian Edwards in Act 1, Scene 2?

3. In Act 2, Scene 5, does Lincoln ask Mary Todd to marry him?

4. Lincoln tells Josh Speed to give his letter for Mary Todd to Herndon to deliver. How does Josh respond?

5. What does Mary Todd say when asked in Act. 2, Scene 5, if she is considering marriage to Lincoln?

(see the answer keys)

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