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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 promise does Mary Todd extract from Lincoln before agreeing to marry him?
(a) He will submit to a thorough psychiatric evaluation.
(b) He promises to take her advice in every situation.
(c) He vows to work day and night to become President for her.
(d) He will never again falter or run away from her.

2. How old is Lincoln as he leaves Illinois for the White House?
(a) 52.
(b) 47.
(c) 65.
(d) 71.

3. What is the mood of the crowd surging around Lincoln at the railroad station?
(a) Disapproving and sullen.
(b) Happy and admiring.
(c) Hostile and silent.
(d) There was no crowd, it was pouring rain.

4. What is the name of Seth Gale's young son?
(a) Jonathon.
(b) Joshua.
(c) Jimmy.
(d) Jeremy.

5. What is Mary Todd's reaction to word of Lincoln's arrival at her home In Act 2, Scene 8?
(a) She is startled, but agrees to see him.
(b) She is surprised; tears pour down her cheeks.
(c) She is shocked because she is now married to someone else.
(d) She is enraged and slams the door.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are the railroad workers in Illinois doing, according to Douglas, to protest their low wages?

2. Who is fetching water for Seth Gale's sick son in Act 2, Scene 7?

3. What does Seth Gale's wife want for her sick son, besides the help of a doctor?

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

5. What has Mary Todd been doing while Lincoln entertains his guests?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Act 2, Scene 7, it has been two years since Lincoln broke off his engagement. He has been drifting since then, but has returned to New Salem in time to meet his old friend, Seth Gale. The Gale family is heading west, to Oregon. Gale has had a hard journey and now his young son is suffering from swamp fever. What does he want from Lincoln at this time?

2. 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?

3. 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?

4. Almost at the moment he learns of his election, Lincoln's life changes in a way he doesn't like. In the play, who or want is the sign of this change? And which of the play's themes does this change fit into?

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. In Act 3, Scene 9, Stephen Douglas says the question of equal rights for slaves has been legally settled. How was the issue settled and what was the decision?

7. 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?

8. 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.

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

10. Lincoln, says Douglas in the debate, is stirring up rebellion against authority. What is the danger that Douglas foresees? And what is the solution he proposes?

(see the answer keys)

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