View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the "jennet" that appears in line 260?
(a) A fox.
(b) A flower.
(c) A bird.
(d) A horse.

2. What does Venus mean when she says that the stallion stood "like a jade" when he was tied to the tree (line 391)?
(a) He was like a broken-down cart horse.
(b) He was more valuable before he revealed his rebellious streak.
(c) He was beautiful but not useful.
(d) He was as still as a statue.

3. Which technique is used in lines 221 and 222, "And now she weeps, and now she fain would speak/ And now her sobs do her intendments break"?
(a) Paralepsis.
(b) Anaphora.
(c) Anadiplosis.
(d) Chiasmus.

4. What causes Venus to fall to the ground, unconscious?
(a) Adonis pushes her roughly away from him.
(b) She has a premonition of the words Adonis is about to speak.
(c) She is overcome by the heat from the sun.
(d) Adonis tells her that he will never love her or even desire her.

5. To what does Venus compare her own lips when she says that Adonis's lips are "sweet seals in my soft lips imprinted" (line 511)?
(a) A stamp.
(b) Wax.
(c) The ocean.
(d) Sand.

6. Which is the best definition of "stillitory" in line 443, "For from the stillitory of thy face excelling"?
(a) A lecture instilling religious belief.
(b) A place where statues are displayed.
(c) Perfumed breath.
(d) A vessel used in distillation.

7. What is the definition of "recketh" in the line "What recketh he his rider’s angry stir" (line 283)?
(a) Angers.
(b) Considers.
(c) Ruins.
(d) Ignores.

8. What event causes the speaker to say that "The night of sorrow now is turn’d to day" (line 481)?
(a) The stallion returns to Adonis.
(b) Adonis kisses Venus.
(c) Venus agrees to let Adonis leave.
(d) Helios feels jealous of Adonis.

9. What does the speaker compare to caves?
(a) Venus's eyes.
(b) Adonis's heart and mind.
(c) Adonis's dimples.
(d) Venus's arguments.

10. How does Adonis feel after Venus falls unconscious?
(a) Satisfied.
(b) Amused.
(c) Skeptical.
(d) Guilty.

11. What does the speaker compare to a grinning wolf and a bullet?
(a) Adonis's stallion's seduction of the mare.
(b) The words Adonis intends to say.
(c) Cupid drawing his bow.
(d) Venus's lustful thoughts.

12. To what does the speaker compare Venus finally opening her eyes after her faint?
(a) A leaf unfurling.
(b) A flower blooming.
(c) The sunrise.
(d) Lightning.

13. Which of the poem's motifs is most clearly illustrated by line 41, "Backward she push’d him, as she would be thrust"?
(a) The difference between lust and love.
(b) Adonis's unnatural lack of desire.
(c) The reversal of expected gender roles.
(d) The contrast between passion and virtue.

14. Which is the best definition of "even" in Venus's question "What hour is this? or morn or weary even" (line 495)?
(a) At the same time.
(b) Equal.
(c) Evening.
(d) Level.

15. What does Adonis accuse Venus of in line 53?
(a) Impulsiveness.
(b) Callousness.
(c) Immodesty.
(d) Violence.

Short Answer Questions

1. What metaphorical comparison is introduced when the horse crushes the bit?

2. What technique is used when, in line 108, Venus says that Mars made "my arms his field, his tent my bed"?

3. Which technique is used in line 219, "Red cheeks and fiery eyes blaze forth her wrong"?

4. Which is the best definition for "Fondling" as used in line 229?

5. What color is most prominent in the description of Venus kneeling before Adonis and putting her hand on his cheek?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 564 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample