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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What are the five indicative moods, as Lincoln knows them?
(a) Sad, Glad, Mad, Grumpy and Giddy.
(b) Commanding, Questioning, Doubting, Inferior and Decisive.
(c) Meditative, Imperial, Possible, Subjective and Infinite.
(d) Indicative, Imperative, Potential, Subjunctive and Infinitive.

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

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

4. What is the wedding gift Ninian has brought Abe?
(a) A silver box of fine cigars.
(b) A slave.
(c) A stovepipe hat that will become Lincon's signature.
(d) A fine, silver-headed cane.

5. What does Mary Todd tell her brother-in-law when he asks why she has chosen him as a husband?
(a) She says she loves Lincoln's political ambitions and his resemblance to Lochinvar.
(b) She can't give him a simple answer, but his is the life and destiny she wants to share.
(c) She believes Lincoln is destined for wealth and fame, which she craves.
(d) She responds that Lincoln will provide a life of stability and security.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Ninian Edwards believe might be instigating the prospect of marriage between Abe Lincoln and Mary Todd?

2. Why can't Lincoln bring himself to shoot a deer?

3. What is Lincoln's attitude toward people?

4. How does Mary Todd respond to Lincoln's proposal at the end of Act 2, Scene 5?

5. What, besides politics, does Lincoln have on his mind during the scene in the Rutledge Tavern?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Act 2, Scene 4, Lincoln has a law clerk who is something of a firebrand--he believes deeply in abolition and tries to get Lincoln involved in the public debate. What is Lincoln's response?

2. When Josh Speed burns Lincoln's letter to Mary Todd, Lincoln tells him the real reasons he doesn't want to go through with the marriage. What are his real reasons?

3. How does Mary Todd characterize the man her sister married and the life they have together? And what is wrong with that life, according to Mary Todd?

4. Josh Speed arrives to visit with Abe at the Greens' house. When Lincoln isn't there, Speed fills them in on Lincoln's activities in the State Assembly. What has Lincoln accomplished in the year since he's been elected?

5. Nancy Green and Bowling Green have a disagreement about whether Ann Rutledge is good for Lincoln. What are their respective opinions?

6. In Act 2, Scene 5, Elizabeth Edwards and her sister, Mary Todd, have a spirited discussion about Abraham Lincoln and whether he would be a good match for Mary Todd. What does their argument tell the audience about the sisters' personalities?

7. Act 1, Scene 2 portrays Lincoln's first step toward a political destiny. The audience (or reader) knows that Lincoln will become one of the country's great Presidents. What symbols does the author use in this scene to heighten that feeling of political destiny?

8. At the end of Act 2, Scene 4, Lincoln is about to attend an event that will change his life. Where is he going and what is going to happen there?

9. As Lincoln contemplates breaking his engagement, Josh Speeds urges him to wait until he, Lincoln, is feeling calmer. Lincoln responds that he is desperate to have the matter settled. What is Josh Speed's larger concern about Lincoln under the circumstances?

10. By Act 2, Scene 4, it is clear that Lincoln's friendship with Ninian Edwards (the governor's son) has advanced. What evidence does Lincoln offer of his popularity?

(see the answer keys)

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