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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. Mary Todd enters Act 2, Scene 10 while Lincoln is talking with his sons and objects to something the oldest son is doing. What is it?
(a) Playing the piano with sticky fingers.
(b) Putting his feet on the furniture.
(c) Smoking in the parlor.
(d) Scratching under his arm.

2. What does Jack Armstrong tell Seth Gale about Lincoln while they wait for Lincoln's arrival in Act 2, Scene 7?
(a) Lincoln has "come up in town and thinks too much of himself."
(b) Lincoln has "slipped down and ain't much like his comical self."
(c) Lincoln "ain't the same since he married Mary Todd."
(d) Lincoln "is his same comical old self."

3. Seth Gale tells Abe he's feeling "pretty scared" about his son's health. What does Lincoln tell him?
(a) He tells Gale that he, too, is scared but he will go West with the Gale family.
(b) He urges Gale not to be scared, that he is doing a "big thing" and shouldn't let anything beat him down.
(c) He offers to burn some incense and herbs to smoke out the boy's fever.
(d) He agrees Gale should be scared and urges him to turn back.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What is the fear of those assigned to protect Lincoln on his way to Washington?

3. What's the first thing one of the guests in Act 3, Scene 10 does after sitting down in the Lincolns' parlor?

4. What do the red flags mean in the map of states in Lincoln's campaign headquarters?

5. What legal case established that slaves should be considered property?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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.

2. 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?

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

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

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

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

7. In their debate, Lincoln compares Douglas to a woman watching her husband fight for his life with a bear. When asked by her husband for an encouraging word, the woman says, "Go husband. Go bear." What was Lincoln saying about Douglas in that comparison?

8. 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?

9. 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?

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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