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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Who is Ann Rutledge?
(a) The woman Abe Lincoln wants to court.
(b) A nun who has taken up the monastic life in Illinois.
(c) Lincoln's aunt.
(d) The postmistress of New Salem.

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

4. Where has Lincoln been, just before he arrives at the Edwards' home in Act 2, Scene 5?
(a) At the Statehouse, lobbying against gun registration.
(b) Visiting another woman, to whom he plans to propose.
(c) Fox hunting.
(d) Visiting a potential client in jail.

5. How does Lincoln jokingly describe, in Act 2, Scene 5, the act of defending a murder suspect?
(a) "Spinning doubt as thick as a black widow's web."
(b) "Whipping such a blizzard of words as to keep justice slipping and sliding."
(c) "Tossing enough hot potatos to keep a judge from telling which one is rotten."
(d) "Doing what I can to obstruct the orderly processes of justice."

6. What is Lincoln studying in the opening scene?
(a) The moods of the English language.
(b) The plays of Shakespeare.
(c) Punctuation marks.
(d) The moods of a woman he would like to court.

7. In Scene 2, Act 4, what office is Lincoln seeking?
(a) Member of the Electoral College.
(b) President of the United States.
(c) President of the Springfield School Board.
(d) Springfield's combined office of dogcatcher and postmaster.

8. What is Mary Todd's lifelong dream for herself?
(a) That she will become President of the United States.
(b) That she will be able to nominate Supreme Court justices.
(c) That she will live a simple life, raising children.
(d) That she will marry the President of the United States.

9. When Act 2, Scene 4 opens in Lincoln's Springfield law office, how much time has passed since the death of Ann Rutledge?
(a) Two years.
(b) Thirteen years.
(c) Six months.
(d) Five years.

10. What does Lincoln do that impresses Ninian Edwards in Act 1, Scene 2?
(a) Lincoln diffuses the tension with the Clancy Groves boys.
(b) Lincoln gets everyone's attention by firing his pistol at the ceiling.
(c) Lincoln punches a bully who is threatening Ann Rutledge.
(d) Lincoln announces there is free pie in the town square.

11. What, besides politics, does Lincoln have on his mind during the scene in the Rutledge Tavern?
(a) Taking over the family farm from his sick father.
(b) Asking Ann Rutledge to consider him as a suitor.
(c) Running down to the town picnic for a piece of pie.
(d) Asking town officials for a raise in his wages as postmaster.

12. Who is with Lincoln at the beginning of Act 2, Scene 6?
(a) Seth Gale.
(b) Ann Rutledge.
(c) Josh Speed.
(d) Bowling Green.

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

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

15. In a poem given to Lincoln by his teacher in the first scene, life is compared to what?
(a) A dream, a vision, a phantom.
(b) A nightmare, a hallucination, a ghost.
(c) A river, a meadow, the wide horizon.
(d) A fairy tale, a legend, a lie.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. What is Bowling Green's attitude toward the possibility of Lincoln marrying Ann Rutledge?

4. What does Lincoln see on the boat from Quincy to Alton that shocks him?

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?

(see the answer keys)

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