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

2. Where does Venus go first thing in the morning?
(a) A copse of oaks.
(b) A mossy hillock.
(c) A myrtle grove.
(d) A garden pond.

3. What is making the sounds referred to in lines 847 and 848, "For who hath she to spend the night withal,/ But idle sounds resembling parasites"?
(a) Caves.
(b) Birds.
(c) Bugs.
(d) The night.

4. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of Venus's motives as she describes hunting a rabbit?
(a) She intends to shame Adonis into choosing to hunt rabbit instead of boar.
(b) She intends to illustrate how knowledgeable she is about hunting.
(c) She intends to make it sound as exciting as hunting a boar.
(d) She intends to show Adonis how sympathetic she is toward prey animals.

5. Which techniques are used in line 838, "love is wise in folly foolish witty"?
(a) Analogy, paradox, and anthimeria.
(b) Chiasmus, anthimeria, and analogy.
(c) Paradox, oxymoron, and chiasmus.
(d) Anthimeria, oxymoron, and paradox.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. 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"?

3. What is the best definition of "eyne" in line 633, "Nor thy soft hands, sweet lips, and crystal eyne"?

4. What technique is used in line 1138, "Find sweet beginning, but unsavoury end"?

5. What is the best definition of "sepulchres" in line 622, "His snout digs sepulchres where’er he goes"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the meaning of Venus's comments about veils and bonnets after Adonis's death?

2. What does Venus tell Adonis about his beauty and the boar?

3. After Adonis's death, what does Venus predict about love?

4. How does the construction of line 832, "Passion on passion deeply is redoubled," mimic the sense of what is happening in this passage?

5. What is ironic about the description of the colors around the boar's mouth?

6. What does Venus say about death when she thinks that Adonis has died?

7. What happens to Venus's eyes when she first sees Adonis's dead body?

8. What is conveyed by the personification and the simile in the passage where Venus runs through the brush toward the sounds of Adonis's hunting party?

9. What happens to Adonis's body at the end of the poem, and how does Venus respond?

10. Why does Venus say that nature should be convicted of treason, and what is Cynthia's plan to thwart what nature has done?

(see the answer keys)

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