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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is Mary Todd's mood when she finds out--at the last minute--that important men are coming to talk to her husband?
(a) Irritated.
(b) Furious.
(c) Mournful.
(d) Gleeful.

2. What is the last line of the play, sung by the crowd?
(a) "He stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni."
(b) "God bless America."
(c) "His soul goes marching on."
(d) "Happy days are here again."

3. How does the playwright describe the appearance of Stephen Douglas as he takes the stage to debate Lincoln?
(a) "He is a titan, with a voice that rolls like thunder."
(b) "The judge is an elfin man, with a voice to match."
(c) "He is a brief but magnetic man, confident of his power."
(d) "Muscular and tall, Judge Douglas commands attention with his merest glance."

4. What does Jack Armstrong tell Seth Gale about Lincoln while they wait for Lincoln's arrival in Act 2, Scene 7?
(a) Lincoln "is his same comical old self."
(b) Lincoln "ain't the same since he married Mary Todd."
(c) Lincoln has "come up in town and thinks too much of himself."
(d) Lincoln has "slipped down and ain't much like his comical self."

5. The influential men visiting Lincoln ask about his views on which two topics?
(a) Slavery and bank regulation.
(b) Workers rights and religious faith.
(c) Religion and interstate commerce.
(d) Taxes and slavery.

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

7. What does Lincoln do with his notes before he begins speaking in the debate with Douglas?
(a) Puts them on the podium.
(b) Rips them to pieces.
(c) Puts them in his hat.
(d) Sticks them under his chair.

8. What are the issues on Lincoln's mind as he addresses the crowd?
(a) A strike by factory workers in New Jersey.
(b) The cost of maintaining the railroads.
(c) The break-up of the Union because 11 states have promised to secede.
(d) His wife's mental health.

9. What's the first thing one of the guests in Act 3, Scene 10 does after sitting down in the Lincolns' parlor?
(a) Offers Lincoln a job running his company.
(b) Spills tea on the sofa.
(c) Congratulates Lincoln on the beauty of the house.
(d) Asks permission to smoke a cigar.

10. What does Seth Gale's wife want for her sick son, besides the help of a doctor?
(a) A minister to say a prayer.
(b) A minister to drive the evil spirits from his soul.
(c) A college scholarship so he won't have to live on the prairie.
(d) A bathtub full of cool water to calm his fever.

11. Who, in Lincoln's headquarters, is the most anxious about the voting returns?
(a) Ninian Edwards.
(b) Robert Lincoln.
(c) Josh Speed.
(d) Mary Todd Lincoln.

12. Why has Lincoln come to see Mary Todd in Act 2, Scene 8?
(a) He has come to apologize for breaking their engagement.
(b) He has come for dinner, at the invitation of her brother-in-law.
(c) He has hopes she will revive his political career.
(d) He has come to give word of his engagement to another woman.

13. What distinction does Lincoln draw between the slaves and downtrodden workers in the North?
(a) Slaves live on plantations, workers live in cities.
(b) The slaves can run away, the workers cannot.
(c) The workers live with harsh winters, the slaves do not.
(d) The workers have the right to strike, slaves do not.

14. At the beginning of Act 3, Scene 10, Lincoln is sitting in his parlor with his sons. How many did he have?
(a) Three.
(b) Four.
(c) Seven.
(d) Two.

15. Douglas accuses Lincoln of having sympathy for slaves but no sympathy for another suffering group of people. Who are they?
(a) Textile workers in the North.
(b) Windsurfers in Hawaii.
(c) Auto workers in Detroit.
(d) Seamstresses on the East Coast.

Short Answer Questions

1. In Act 2, Scene 7, what is the fear Seth Gale has about traveling with Gobey?

2. How does Mary Todd describe her part in the break-up of the engagement to Lincoln?

3. What plans are afoot in South Carolina in case of a Lincoln victory?

4. What are the railroad workers in Illinois doing, according to Douglas, to protest their low wages?

5. When Lincoln leaves the parlor for a moment, how does one of his visitors in Act 3, Scene 9 describe him?

(see the answer keys)

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