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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. What technique is used when, in line 108, Venus says that Mars made "my arms his field, his tent my bed"?
(a) Metonymy.
(b) Euphemism.
(c) Metaphor.
(d) Personification.

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

3. In lines 79-84, what bargain does Venus try to strike with Adonis?
(a) She will not tell anyone about it if he will have sex with her.
(b) She will let him explain his feelings if he speaks nicely to her.
(c) She will ask the gods to make him immortal if he will be her partner.
(d) She will get off of him if he gives her one voluntary kiss.

4. What does Adonis tell Venus is the only thing he could love?
(a) A boar.
(b) His religious faith.
(c) His horse.
(d) His own purity.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is used in lines 19 and 20, "not cloy thy lips with loath’d satiety,/ But rather famish them amid their plenty"?

2. Which is the best definition of "stillitory" in line 443, "For from the stillitory of thy face excelling"?

3. Toward the end of the passage, what does Venus say Adonis must do in order for her to release his hand?

4. 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?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the comparison made between Adonis's mouth and a "red morn" (line 453).

2. What does Venus tell Adonis will "buy" her heart (line 514), and how does she propose that he "seal" the bargain (line 516)?

3. What does Venus tell Adonis would happen if their positions were reversed?

4. What point is Adonis making with the metaphor "Who plucks the bud before one leaf put forth?" (line 416)?

5. Explain the conceit that Venus uses when she compares herself to a park.

6. What does Venus tell Adonis he can learn from his horse?

7. As Adonis vacillates "’Twixt crimson shame and anger ashy pale" (line 76), what is the speaker saying Venus feels in lines 77 and 78, "Being red she loves him best, and being white, / Her best is better’d with a more delight"?

8. How do Venus and Adonis end up on the ground together?

9. What plan does Adonis share with Venus just as she is finally about to let him leave her, and how does Venus react?

10. Throughout the passage, which participants in a trial is Venus compared to?

(see the answer keys)

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