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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 does Mary Todd's sister predict if she marries Lincoln?
(a) A wanderer's life, as Lincoln can't seem to hold a decent job.
(b) A life in a miserable cabin, without servants and without decent clothing.
(c) A glittering life in the nation's capital, dancing with elegant Europeans.
(d) A life in a quaint cabin, stitching buckskin clothing and raising a passel of children.

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

3. What is Billy Herndon's flaw?
(a) He drinks too much and too often.
(b) He cheats at cards.
(c) He is a womanizer.
(d) He kills compulsively.

4. One of Lincoln's clients can't pay her bill; why does Lincoln think she is right not to pay?
(a) Lincoln took a horse from her late husband in payment.
(b) She is a poor widow and Lincoln doesn't take money from widows.
(c) He believes she is going to inherit a lot of money, so he can wait for payment.
(d) Lincoln defended her husband unsuccessfully and he was hanged.

5. What does Lincoln's teacher suggest Lincoln do to improve his life?
(a) Get a law degree.
(b) Consider becoming a minister.
(c) Move out of town.
(d) Find a woman to marry.

Short Answer Questions

1. What characteristics make Mary Todd a good catch in the eyes of most people?

2. 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?

3. What is Lincoln's new attitude toward God after Ann's death?

4. In Act 2, Scene 5, Lincoln mentions a woman "foxing" his pants--what does that mean?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Nancy Green describe Lincoln's fear of falling in love in Act 1, Scene 3?

2. What does Lincoln tell his friends in Act 2, Scene 4, in the discussion about his lack of political ambition and his unwillingness to speak publicly against slavery?

3. According to Act 1, Scene 3, what is the relationship of Lincoln to Nancy and Bowling Green?

4. 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?

5. What is Josh Speed's opinion of Lincoln's personality and prospects, now that Lincoln is in the State Assembly?

6. Lincoln tries to draw Ann out about her sadness, but she resists. However, he continues. Does this change Ann's perception of Lincoln?

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

9. At the beginning of Act 2, Scene 5, Elizabeth Edwards is responding to a bit of news which surprises her--even though she might have seen it coming. What is the news and who brought it to her attention?

10. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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