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

2. When Venus asks Adonis "Is thine own heart to thine own face affected?" whose story is she alluding to (157)?
(a) The Minotaur.
(b) Pygmalion.
(c) Narcissus.
(d) Icarus.

3. Which technique is used in line 218, "And swelling passion doth provoke a pause"?
(a) Parallelism.
(b) Inversion.
(c) Antistrophe.
(d) Alliteration.

4. What technique is used in line 111, "Strong-temper’d steel his stronger strength obey’d"?
(a) Anaphora.
(b) Polyptoton.
(c) Epizeuxis.
(d) Epimone.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. 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"?

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 colors are most prominent in the first 36 stanzas of the poem?

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

5. When Adonis tells Venus "Remove your siege from my unyielding heart," what metaphor used earlier in the poem does this recall (line 423)?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Explain the epic simile about an eagle in lines 55-60.

3. Explain the comparison the speaker makes between Adonis's horse and one created by an artist.

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 is Venus's purpose in talking about her relationship with the god of war?

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

8. 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"?

9. Describe the stanza form in Venus and Adonis.

10. What happens when Adonis tries to get back on his horse and leave?

(see the answer keys)

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