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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are Mary's first words to Abe when he arrives after a two-year absence?

2. What has Lincoln been doing since breaking his engagement to Mary Todd?

3. What is Lincoln doing as he waits for the voting results?

4. At the beginning of Act 3, Scene 10, Lincoln is sitting in his parlor with his sons. How many did he have?

5. What is the sentence that Lincoln tells his farewell crowd is true and appropriate for all times and occasions?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. 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?

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

4. 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?

5. The cheering crowd chants for Lincoln to make a speech from the back of the railroad car. He begins by naming the problems facing the nation. But he finishes on a note of hope. What outcome is Lincoln hoping to achieve?

6. 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?

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. 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?

9. 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?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

From the opening scene, Lincoln is preoccupied with the specter of premature death. Even as he bids farewell to the people of Springfield, he seems melancholy and doubtful that he will ever return to the town. Trace the line of Lincoln's fatalism through the play. Explain its origins and describe what effect, if any, it had on Lincoln's initial reluctance to take a step onto the national stage.

Essay Topic 2

Early on, Lincoln tells his backers that--if he does decide to seek elected office--they won't find him arguing for change or progress or revolution. He continues to hold to this conservatism now that he is a lawyer--he describes himself as someone who "keeps his mouth shut and abides by the Constitution." How does Lincoln explain his aversion to getting involved and arguing for change in which he believes?

Essay Topic 3

Seth Gale and his family are moving West, accompanied by Gobey, a free negro who works for them. What route West does Gale choose? What was happening in the nation that caused him to choose that route and to want to settle in Oregon?

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