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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. In the debate, Lincoln accuses Douglas of pandering to both sides of the slavery issue. What does he mean?
(a) Refusing to take a stand either for or against slavery.
(b) Offering a trip to China to see the giant Pandas if a compromise is reached.
(c) Breathing heavily whenever the issue becomes heated.
(d) Telling the South he's for slavery and the North that it shouldn't be allowed to spread.

2. What does Lincoln do with his notes before he begins speaking in the debate with Douglas?
(a) Puts them in his hat.
(b) Rips them to pieces.
(c) Sticks them under his chair.
(d) Puts them on the podium.

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

4. How is Lincoln's appearance different from Election Day?
(a) He is walking with a cane.
(b) There is a patch over one eye.
(c) He has a beard.
(d) He has shaved his head.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the name of President-elect Lincoln's bodyguard?

2. How many candidates are seeking the presidency?

3. What is the dream from ancient times that Lincoln speaks of in his farewell?

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

5. What is the last line of the play, sung by the crowd?

Short Essay Questions

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

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. 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?

4. 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?

5. 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?

6. Lincoln tells Mary Todd that his encounter with Seth Gale a few days earlier was the spur that brought him to her door. What was the decision Lincoln made while visiting with Gale and how does the playwright convey Lincoln's ambivalence about that decision?

7. 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.

8. 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?

9. 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?

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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