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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 640, "They that thrive well, take counsel of their friends"?
(a) Antimetabole.
(b) Aphorism.
(c) Paralepsis.
(d) Apostrophe.

2. In line 868, "She hearkens for his hounds and for his horn," which technique best conveys Venus's straining to hear a quiet, far-off sound?
(a) Alliteration.
(b) Tone.
(c) Diction.
(d) Imagery.

3. What technique is used in lines 1123 and 1124, "She looks upon his lips, and they are pale;/ She takes him by the hand, and that is cold"?
(a) Metonymy.
(b) Personification.
(c) Symbolism.
(d) Parallelism.

4. In the simile discussing the impact of an earthquake on a king's subjects, what does the speaker say causes earthquakes?
(a) Disturbed rotation of the earth.
(b) Wind trapped in the ground.
(c) Shifting tectonic plates.
(d) God's wrath.

5. Which is the best summary of the meaning conveyed by the stanza that describes Venus's competing feelings of hope and despair?
(a) The fear of loss makes it almost impossible to hold on to hope, but part of being in love is allowing oneself to be vulnerable and take emotional risks.
(b) Because Venus does not know the outcome yet, it is best for her to focus on hope, because at least in the interim she has one last chance to be happy.
(c) Venus is making a spectacle of herself by wildly veering between hope and despair, and her lack of common sense implies that what she calls love is more likely lust.
(d) Both of these extreme emotions are ridiculous and problematic for Venus, but she cannot help vacillating between them because she is in love.

6. What type of human does Venus compare the boar to?
(a) A soldier.
(b) A butcher.
(c) A hangman.
(d) A thief.

7. When Venus "sings extemporally a woeful ditty," what is the best definition for "extemporally" in this context (line 836)?
(a) With self-pity that is almost comical.
(b) Without preparation or prior thought.
(c) Displaying great emotion.
(d) At great length.

8. Whom does Venus address as a "clear god" (line 860)?
(a) The sun.
(b) The wind.
(c) The sky.
(d) The morning.

9. What is Venus compared to when she hears the sound of the hunting dogs baying?
(a) Someone who sees a poisonous snake.
(b) A doe rushing to feed her fawn.
(c) A soldier deserting the battlefield.
(d) A lamp brighter than the sun himself.

10. Which is the most logical interpretation of the phase "her sight dazzling" when Venus is looking at Adonis's body in line 1064?
(a) Venus's eyes still mislead her into thinking lust is love.
(b) Venus's vision has begun to blur and swim.
(c) Venus finds Adonis beautiful even in death.
(d) Venus's eyes seem to glitter like jewels.

11. What techniques are used in lines 1015 and 1016, "“O love!” quoth she, “how much a fool was I,/ To be of such a weak and silly mind"?
(a) Parallelism and euphemism.
(b) Inversion and parallelism.
(c) Apostrophe and inversion.
(d) Euphemism and apostrophe.

12. What does Venus refer to as "ugly, meagre, lean"?
(a) Love.
(b) Death.
(c) Lust.
(d) Life.

13. What is Venus's main criticism of chastity?
(a) It prevents her from getting what she wants.
(b) It is a needlessly joyless practice.
(c) It shows ingratitude toward the gods.
(d) It prevents people from having children.

14. What technique is used in lines 647 and 648, "My boding heart pants, beats, and takes no rest,/ But like an earthquake, shakes thee on my breast"?
(a) Diacope.
(b) Euphony.
(c) Simile.
(d) Malapropism.

15. What technique is used in line 899, "Bids them leave quaking, bids them fear no more"?
(a) Antithesis.
(b) Anaphora.
(c) Anthimeria.
(d) Anadiplosis.

Short Answer Questions

1. In lines 896 and 897, "Till cheering up her senses sore dismay’d,/ She tells them ’tis a causeless fantasy," what is the antecedent of "them"?

2. To what does Venus compare the fear of a person in love?

3. What technique is used in line 1141, "It shall be fickle, false and full of fraud"?

4. Besides being goddess of the moon and the hunt, what significant power was Cynthia believed to possess?

5. What technique is used in lines 629 and 630, "The thorny brambles and embracing bushes/ As fearful of him, part"?

(see the answer keys)

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