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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. When Venus and Adonis are on the ground kissing in lines 547-558, what is Venus being compared to?
(a) A soldier on the field of battle.
(b) A greedy child at the table.
(c) A destructive storm at sea.
(d) A predatory wild animal.

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

3. Toward the end of the passage, what does Venus say Adonis must do in order for her to release his hand?
(a) Kiss her willingly.
(b) Admit that he desires her.
(c) Give back her heart.
(d) Promise not to leave.

4. 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"?
(a) Metaphor and alliteration.
(b) Diacope and onomatopoeia.
(c) Alliteration and diacope.
(d) Onomatopoeia and metaphor.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which is the best characterization of the connotations of Venus's description of "fountains" (line 234) and "rising hillocks" in her description of the park (line 237)?

2. Which is the best interpretation of line 600, in which Venus is said "To clip Elysium and to lack her joy"?

3. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of Venus's characterization of Adonis as having a "mermaid's voice" (line 429)?

4. 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)?

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. How does the mare react to the stallion at first, and how does her reaction change?

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

9. How does Adonis eventually end up kissing Venus?

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

(see the answer keys)

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