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

2. What is the essential element Lincoln's party is seeking in a presidential candidate when they ask him to run?
(a) A strong military policy.
(b) A willingness to raise taxes.
(c) An anti-slavery attitude.
(d) The ability to get elected.

3. What are the railroad workers in Illinois doing, according to Douglas, to protest their low wages?
(a) They are striking, refusing to work.
(b) They are marching, singing "I've been working on the railroad."
(c) Looking for jobs in other industries.
(d) Nothing--they can't afford to offend their employers.

4. What is Mary Todd's mood when she finds out--at the last minute--that important men are coming to talk to her husband?
(a) Furious.
(b) Irritated.
(c) Mournful.
(d) Gleeful.

5. In Act 2, Scene 7, what is the fear Seth Gale has about traveling with Gobey?
(a) He's afraid to take Gobey across state borders because he doesn't have a passport.
(b) He's fearful Gobey's previous owner will appear to reclaim him.
(c) He's careful to stay in free territory to avoid Gobey being kidnapped and sold into slavery.
(d) He believes Gobey is planning to escape on the Underground Railroad.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Asked how he'll feel if he loses, how does Lincoln predict he will feel?

3. What distinction does Lincoln draw between the slaves and downtrodden workers in the North?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

4. 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?

5. 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?

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

7. 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?

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. In his prayer for Seth Gale's son, Lincoln also prays for something else. What is it?

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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