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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. Billy Herndon, Lincoln's law clerk, arrives in Act 2, Scene 6. What is his condition?
(a) He has quit drinking and is sober.
(b) He's debilitated by swamp fever.
(c) He's drunk, as usual.
(d) He's suffering from an early case of swine flu.

2. What do Josh Speed and Bowling Green think might be the result, if slavery spreads further across the South?
(a) The British would reassert power over the colonies.
(b) Lincoln could be drafted to head the military.
(c) Civil war might break out.
(d) The South could overthrow the existing government and move the Capitol to Virginia.

3. Lincoln and Mary Todd are getting married, yet he seems to be in despair. Why?
(a) He discovers he loves Elizabeth Edwards, not Mary Todd.
(b) Mary Todd has written him a letter, breaking their engagement.
(c) Mary Todd has run off with Billy Herndon.
(d) He wants to break the engagement and leave Mary Todd at the altar.

4. Does Lincoln agree, in Act 2, Scene 6, with Josh's suggestion about his mental health?
(a) Yes, he says he's at the end of his rope and must have release from the wedding.
(b) Yes, he knows he is losing his mind--that's why he wants to run away.
(c) No, he believes he has good reasons for his decision.
(d) He isn't sure, but he admits having hallucinations.

5. Lincoln tells Josh Speed to give his letter for Mary Todd to Herndon to deliver. How does Josh respond?
(a) He rips the letter into tiny pieces and throws them on the floor.
(b) He runs out the door with the letter.
(c) He throws the letter into the fire in the stove.
(d) He gives the letter to Herndon.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Mary Todd characterize the life her sister and brother-in-law have chosen?

2. Who does Ninian Edwards believe might be instigating the prospect of marriage between Abe Lincoln and Mary Todd?

3. What is the plan that Seth Gale and Lincoln have for their futures?

4. How does Mary Todd respond to Lincoln's proposal at the end of Act 2, Scene 5?

5. Why is Ann's death such a setback to Lincoln?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is Josh Speed's opinion of Lincoln's personality and prospects, now that Lincoln is in the State Assembly?

2. Why does Lincoln decide to run for office after talking to Ann, at the end of Act 1, Scene 2? Did she encourage him?

3. As Lincoln contemplates breaking his engagement, Josh Speeds urges him to wait until he, Lincoln, is feeling calmer. Lincoln responds that he is desperate to have the matter settled. What is Josh Speed's larger concern about Lincoln under the circumstances?

4. How desperate is Lincoln and what is the event that seems to have caused his emotional outbreak?

5. How does Mary Todd characterize the man her sister married and the life they have together? And what is wrong with that life, according to Mary Todd?

6. Lincoln is reluctant to consider running for State Assembly. What is his main objection?

7. At the end of Act 2, Scene 4, Lincoln is about to attend an event that will change his life. Where is he going and what is going to happen there?

8. What is Webster reacting or responding to in the speech Lincoln reads in Act 1, Scene 1?

9. Ninian Edwards is Lincoln's friend and an admirer, he tells Mary Todd. And yet, he is still unsure what she sees in Lincoln as a potential husband. What does Mary Todd tell her brother-in-law in response to that question?

10. At the beginning of Act 2, Scene 5, Elizabeth Edwards is responding to a bit of news which surprises her--even though she might have seen it coming. What is the news and who brought it to her attention?

(see the answer keys)

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