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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. How is the crowd outside receiving voting results?
(a) Announcements are made by loudspeaker.
(b) Through their Twitter accounts.
(c) By images flashed by a magic lantern outside the State House.
(d) A crier shouts the results from the roof of the State House.

2. What are Mary's first words to Abe when he arrives after a two-year absence?
(a) "I'm glad to see you again, Mr. Lincoln."
(b) "Mr. Lincoln, you are not my idea of a good man."
(c) "You should be ashamed of yourself, Mr. Lincoln."
(d) "I always knew you would return to me, Abe."

3. Who is Lincoln's main rival for the presidency?
(a) Stephen Douglas.
(b) Uriah Heep.
(c) Andrew Jackson.
(d) William Herndon.

4. To which of Shakespeare's characters does Douglas compare Lincoln?
(a) Macbeth.
(b) Romeo.
(c) Brutus.
(d) Hamlet.

5. What has Lincoln been doing since breaking his engagement to Mary Todd?
(a) Studying to become a missionary preacher.
(b) Practicing law and building a fortune.
(c) Just drifting, down around Kentucky and Indiana.
(d) Teaching down in Kentucky and Indiana.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is it that the visitors to Lincoln's home in Act 3, Scene 10 want to talk about with him?

2. What is Lincoln doing as he waits for the voting results?

3. What song does the band play as Lincoln departs?

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

5. What state delivers the final votes needed for Lincoln's victory?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Act 2, Scene 8, Lincoln apologizes for being a coward. He says he shrank from the marriage because he didn't want or believe in the destiny Mary envisions for him. Now, though, he says he wants to "strive to deserve" her faith. Does the way that Lincoln again asks her to marry him indicate that he loves her or has some other reason for marrying her?

2. In Act 3, Scene 10, which takes place in the Lincolns' home, it is clear that the Lincolns' marriage is not happy, or at the least, has problems. Thus far, the play has made clear Mary's part in creating problems. In this scene, the playwright uses a cigar to show that Lincoln isn't an innocent victim in the matter of the marriage. How does the cigar reveal one of Lincoln's faults?

3. Mary Todd accepts Lincoln's return in Act 2, Scene 8 without much resistance. She extracts a promise from Lincoln that he'll never leave again, then declares her love for him and her determination "to fight by his side" until death parts them. Does Mary Todd truly love Lincoln or is she using him?

4. Stephen Douglas takes the position that "each state should mind its own business," says Lincoln in the debate. It might seem like the safer course, he argues, but there is a danger to following that advice. What is the danger that Lincoln foresees?

5. Where is Gale taking his family as he meets with Lincoln in Act 2, Scene 7? Why is he going?

6. A few days after meeting Seth Gale, Abe Lincoln arrives at the home of Mary Todd. She is still single and Abe plans to ask her, again, to marry him. Does the fact that Mary is still single, two years after the broken engagement to Lincoln, indicate anything about her character? Support your answer with your interpretation of the text, both from Act 2, Scene 8 and from earlier episodes in the play.

7. What is the effect on Lincoln of Gale's idealism, his vow to denounce his American citizenship if the government doesn't ban slavery?

8. As he is leaving Springfield, what is Lincoln's hope regarding his future?

9. Despite Mary Lincoln's and Josh Speed's entreaties that Lincoln treat his visitors seriously because they are influential, Lincoln can't help but give them a little of his backwood's humor. How does he respond when Henry D. Sturveson says they have come to see if Lincoln will be a suitable candidate?

10. While Lincoln asserts that he submits to the will of God, he doesn't belong to any church. What are his objections to organized forms of worship?

(see the answer keys)

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