View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does Lincoln surprise Ann Rutledge while she is clearing tables during Act 1, Scene 2?
(a) By delivering a package from her fiance.
(b) By declaring his love for her.
(c) By asking her to dance on the bar.
(d) By bursting into song when she agrees to talk with him.

2. In Act 2, Scene 5, does Lincoln ask Mary Todd to marry him?
(a) Yes, but Elizabeth's objections put the matter on hold.
(b) No, but she plans to pop the question that evening.
(c) Yes, but she says she can't quite decide.
(d) No, but she expects he will ask that evening.

3. What is Lincoln's attitude about people before he meets Ann Rutledge?
(a) Getting close to others is the best antidote in the world to loneliness.
(b) The best thing is to take a vow of silence in order not to be bothered by fools.
(c) It's best not to get too close to people; they see the insanity behind the surface.
(d) All people are to a degree insane, but that shouldn't stop one from getting close to them.

4. In Act 2, Scene 5, Lincoln mentions a woman "foxing" his pants--what does that mean?
(a) The woman was flirting with him outrageously.
(b) Something so scandalous that Mary Todd showed Lincoln the door before he could explain.
(c) Sewing buckskin around the lower legs to keep them from being shredded by underbrush.
(d) Attaching foxskins down the legs as a means of camoflauge.

5. What is happening when Lincoln enters Rutledge Tavern to deliver mail?
(a) The Clancy Groves boys are buying a round of whiskey for everyone.
(b) A local bully is angling for a fight with Ninian Edwards.
(c) The Clancy Groves boys have the judge trapped behind the bar.
(d) Ben Mattling is having a heart attack.

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

7. Billy Herndon, Lincoln's law clerk, arrives in Act 2, Scene 6. What is his condition?
(a) He's debilitated by swamp fever.
(b) He's drunk, as usual.
(c) He has quit drinking and is sober.
(d) He's suffering from an early case of swine flu.

8. Who is President during the time represented in Act 2, Scene 4?
(a) Martin Van Buren.
(b) Thomas Jefferson.
(c) Harrison Ford.
(d) Winston Churchill.

9. When Lincoln suggests he wants to die in Act 1, Scene 3, how do his friends respond?
(a) They fall to their knees and beg him to reconsider.
(b) They insist he stay and try to get some sleep.
(c) They agree that it might be best if he dies.
(d) They promise to introduce him to other women.

10. What is Lincoln's response to a poem he reads regarding life and death?
(a) He likes it: "It sure is good...it's fine!
(b) It depresses him: "Life is sure 'nuff short, why think about death?"
(c) He finds it strange: "I don't get the meaning of it, at all."
(d) He is inspired to write his own poetry: "I've got a thought, Teacher, give me a pencil."

11. How does Mary Todd characterize the life her sister and brother-in-law have chosen?
(a) She says they live in a house with fences, not to keep others out, but to keep themselves from escaping their own narrow lives.
(b) She says they live fearful lives, surrounded by fences designed to keep the world at arm's length.
(c) She recognizes their lives are adventurous, with no boundaries.
(d) She calls them reckless and irresponsible because they have invested in too many rental properties.

12. In Act 2, Scene 6, Lincoln sits at his desk on the day he is to be married. What day of the year is it?
(a) Thanksgiving Day.
(b) New Year's Day.
(c) The Fourth of July.
(d) Christmas Day.

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

14. 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.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who have Bowling Green, Ninian Edwards and Josh Speed come to New Salem to see?

2. What is the plan that Seth Gale and Lincoln have for their futures?

3. What does Mary Todd's sister predict if she marries Lincoln?

4. What is Billy Herndon's attitude toward Mary Todd on the day Lincoln is to be married?

5. Besides debt, what topic often occupies Lincoln's mind?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,007 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample