View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the playwright describe the appearance of Stephen Douglas as he takes the stage to debate Lincoln?
(a) "He is a brief but magnetic man, confident of his power."
(b) "Muscular and tall, Judge Douglas commands attention with his merest glance."
(c) "He is a titan, with a voice that rolls like thunder."
(d) "The judge is an elfin man, with a voice to match."

2. Who is fetching water for Seth Gale's sick son in Act 2, Scene 7?
(a) Gobey, a free negro who works for the family.
(b) Seth Gale's good friend, Gobey.
(c) Gobey, a runaway slave.
(d) The Gale family slave, Gobey.

3. What has Mary Todd been doing while Lincoln entertains his guests?
(a) Hemming a dress.
(b) Listening at the door.
(c) Making tea.
(d) Throwing a tantrum.

4. How does Lincoln frequently begin a sentence after his election?
(a) "Funnily enough..."
(b) "As I live and breath..."
(c) "If I live..."
(d) "Whatever..."

5. What is Mary Todd Lincoln's response to her husband's suggestion that she go home?
(a) She turns silently and leaves the room.
(b) She becomes hysterical and says her husband hates her.
(c) She bursts into tears and slaps him.
(d) She laughs and insists she's staying until the bitter end.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are Lincoln's visitors really looking for in their candidate for President?

2. In the debate, Lincoln accuses Douglas of pandering to both sides of the slavery issue. What does he mean?

3. How does Mary Todd describe her part in the break-up of the engagement to Lincoln?

4. What promise does Mary Todd extract from Lincoln before agreeing to marry him?

5. How old is Lincoln as he leaves Illinois for the White House?

Short Essay Questions

1. As he waits for the election results, Lincoln calls the evening a "death watch." What are Lincoln's feelings about winning the election?

2. At the beginning of the play's final scene, it's clear that national tension have risen as a result of Lincoln's election. What worries Kavanagh as he waits for the Lincolns to board the train for Washington?

3. 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?

4. Lincoln has an outburst of his own, in response to Mary. What are his complaints against her?

5. 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?

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. Until he was elected, Lincoln was clean-shaven. But, as he heads to Washington to take office, he is bearded. Why did he grow a beard?

8. Josh Speed is awaiting Lincoln's visitors, too. He is clearly aware of the tensions between Mary and Abe. How does Speed respond when Mary suggests that Speed, among others, probably thinks of her as a bitter, nagging woman?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,357 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample