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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What technique is used in line 470, "For sharply he did think to reprehend her"?
(a) Epigram.
(b) Cacophony.
(c) Euphemism.
(d) Inversion.

2. What technique is used in lines 19 and 20, "not cloy thy lips with loath’d satiety,/ But rather famish them amid their plenty"?
(a) Inversion.
(b) Malapropism.
(c) Paradox.
(d) Polysyndeton.

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

4. How does the speaker characterize Venus's lapse into unconsciousness?
(a) It is cunning.
(b) It is unsurprising.
(c) It demonstrates Venus's soft heart.
(d) It demonstrates Venus's sincerity.

5. Which is the best interpretation of "sick-thoughted Venus" in line 5?
(a) Venus's thoughts are evil.
(b) Venus cannot think clearly because she is ill.
(c) Venus's thoughts are unnatural.
(d) Venus is sick with love for Adonis.

6. What technique is used in lines 432 and 433, "my ears would love/ That inward beauty and invisible"?
(a) Anadiplosis.
(b) Anthimeria.
(c) Paraprosdokian.
(d) Personification.

7. What "circuit" is Venus referring to when she tells Adonis "I have hemm’d thee here/ Within the circuit of this ivory pale" (lines 229-230)?
(a) The field.
(b) Her arms.
(c) A ring of flowers.
(d) Her heart.

8. What metaphorical comparison is introduced when the horse crushes the bit?
(a) The horse is compared to an escaped slave.
(b) The bit is compared to logic and reason.
(c) The horse is compared to an unruly child.
(d) The bit is compared to an unjust law.

9. What is Adonis planning to do when he is accosted by Venus?
(a) Hunt.
(b) Nap.
(c) Eat lunch.
(d) Pick flowers.

10. What technique is used in line 432, "Ear’s deep sweet music, and heart’s deep sore wounding"?
(a) Oxymoron.
(b) Juxtaposition.
(c) Antimetabole.
(d) Antithesis.

11. How does Adonis react to Venus's comparison of herself to a park?
(a) With laughter.
(b) With contempt.
(c) With desire.
(d) With compassion.

12. What color is most prominent in the description of Venus kneeling before Adonis and putting her hand on his cheek?
(a) White.
(b) Purple.
(c) Red.
(d) Blue.

13. According to the speaker, what is the one thing that the horse lacks?
(a) Humility.
(b) A proud rider.
(c) Independence.
(d) Rich trappings.

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

15. When Venus shakes her head and then Adonis's hand, looks at him and then at the ground, what is it most reasonable to infer about her motivation?
(a) She is having second thoughts about her confession of love.
(b) She is too distraught to know how to proceed.
(c) She is attempting to distract Adonis from her real intentions.
(d) She is too shy to explain to Adonis exactly what she wants from him.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which techniques are used in lines 267-268, "The bearing earth with his hard hoof he wounds/ Whose hollow womb resounds like heaven’s thunder"?

2. Which of the poem's motifs is most clearly illustrated by line 41, "Backward she push’d him, as she would be thrust"?

3. What does Adonis mean when he tells Venus that she can stop her tears and flattery, because in his heart, "they make no batt’ry" (line 426).

4. Who is the author of the poem's epigraph?

5. What technique is used in lines 254 and 255, "Her words are done, her woes the more increasing;/ The time is spent, her object will away"?

(see the answer keys)

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