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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 is the "good joke" Lincoln plans to tell Bowling Green at the end of Act 1, Scene 2 in the Rutledge Tavern?
(a) That a chicken crossed the road to get to the other side.
(b) That Jack Armstrong, of the Clancy Groves boys, will run for the State Assembly.
(c) That Ann Rutledge has run off to marry Josh Speed.
(d) That he will be a candidate for the assembly of the State of Illinois.

2. Who does Ninian Edwards believe might be instigating the prospect of marriage between Abe Lincoln and Mary Todd?
(a) Abe Lincoln.
(b) Judge Bowling Green.
(c) Mary Todd.
(d) Elizabeth Edwards' father.

3. What happens to Ann Rutledge?
(a) She meets a wealthy man, marries him and moves West.
(b) She runs away to Chicago to attend law school.
(c) Bitten by a mosquito, she is paralzyed and left speechless.
(d) She dies of a brain sickness.

4. Lincoln and Mary Todd are getting married, yet he seems to be in despair. Why?
(a) Mary Todd has written him a letter, breaking their engagement.
(b) Mary Todd has run off with Billy Herndon.
(c) He discovers he loves Elizabeth Edwards, not Mary Todd.
(d) He wants to break the engagement and leave Mary Todd at the altar.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the wedding gift Ninian has brought Abe?

2. What are the two professions open to people who fail at everything else, according to Lincoln's teacher?

3. Why does Lincoln return to New Salem in Act 1, Scene 3?

4. How does the weather complement Lincoln's mood when he arrives at the home of the Greens' with news of Ann's death?

5. What does Mary Todd tell her brother-in-law when he asks why she has chosen him as a husband?

Short Essay Questions

1. Ninian Edwards, Lincoln's friend and brother-in-law of Mary Todd, enters with a gift and a wedding day message to Lincoln. What do the gift and the message tell the audience about Mary Todd?

2. Ninian Edwards is Lincoln's friend and an admirer, he tells Mary Todd. And yet, he is still unsure what she sees in Lincoln as a potential husband. What does Mary Todd tell her brother-in-law in response to that question?

3. 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?

4. 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?

5. 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?

6. 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?

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

8. How desperate is Lincoln and what is the event that seems to have caused his emotional outbreak?

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

10. Why does Lincoln decide to run for office after talking to Ann, at the end of Act 1, Scene 2? Did she encourage him?

(see the answer keys)

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