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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. In a poem that Lincoln reads in the first scene, what is it that the poet finds strange about people?
(a) They look forward to death, even when life is good.
(b) They dance through life unaware of pleasure.
(c) They think of death as an awakening.
(d) They are afraid to face death alone.

2. In Act 2, Scene 4, who arrives unexpectedly at Lincoln's office to visit?
(a) Seth Gale and Nancy Green.
(b) Bowling Green and Josh Speed.
(c) Bowling and Nancy Green.
(d) Ann Rutledge and Josh Speed.

3. Why can't Lincoln bring himself to shoot a deer?
(a) Because his mother was an anti-gun lobbyist.
(b) Because he prefers bow-hunting.
(c) Because of the scene in "Bambi," in which his mother was killed.
(d) Because he once saw one running across his mother's grave.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Lincoln's attitude toward people?

2. When Act 2, Scene 4 opens in Lincoln's Springfield law office, how much time has passed since the death of Ann Rutledge?

3. Lincoln and Mary Todd are getting married, yet he seems to be in despair. Why?

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

5. What is it about politics that Lincoln dislikes?

Short Essay Questions

1. Does Lincoln appear to be emotionally stable just after he announces the death of Ann Rutledge?

2. Lincoln is reluctant to consider running for State Assembly. What is his main objection?

3. In Act 2, Scene 4, Lincoln continues to resist running for any office with more authority than the Electoral College. Why?

4. Act 2, Scene 5 is fairly brief, with a heated discussion between Mary Todd and her sister and brother-in-law. While the characters talk about the possibility of Mary Todd marrying Lincoln, the proposal doesn't actually take place. What purpose does the scene serve?

5. Josh Speed and Bowling Green are longtime friends of Lincoln's; they have urged him for years to seek higher political office. In Act 2, Scene 4, what is their attitude toward Lincoln's reluctance to run for an important elected position?

6. What is Webster reacting or responding to in the speech Lincoln reads in Act 1, Scene 1?

7. What sentiment does Daniel Webster express in the speech that Lincoln reads in Act 1, Scene 1?

8. Does Lincoln's teacher agree or disagree with the argument Webster makes for maintaining the Union in the speech Lincoln reads in the first scene of the play?

9. In Act 2, Scene 6, Lincoln decides to jilt Mary Todd on their wedding day. He plans to inform her in a long letter--a plan to which Josh Speed objects. Why does Speed object? In his mind, what does Lincoln's plan say about Lincoln as a man?

10. Why is it that debt is always heavy on Lincoln's mind during his early adulthood, covered by Act 1, Scene 1?

(see the answer keys)

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