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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 does line 972 compare to "many clouds consulting for foul weather"?
(a) The howling dogs.
(b) Venus's emotions.
(c) The years Venus will live without Adonis.
(d) The events leading to Adonis's death.

2. What technique is used in lines 629 and 630, "The thorny brambles and embracing bushes/ As fearful of him, part"?
(a) Symbolism.
(b) Personification.
(c) Metaphor.
(d) Allusion.

3. Who is the "flap-mouth’d mourner" referred to in line 920?
(a) The boar.
(b) A hunter.
(c) Venus.
(d) A dog.

4. Which two colors dominate the description of Adonis's body?
(a) Purple and white.
(b) Red and black.
(c) Black and purple.
(d) White and red.

5. What characteristic of the boar does Venus's description primarily stress?
(a) It is divinely protected.
(b) It is well-armed for battle.
(c) It is cunning and deceptive.
(d) It is ugly inside and out.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the simile discussing the impact of an earthquake on a king's subjects, what does the speaker say causes earthquakes?

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

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"?

4. What colors are emphasized in the description of morning?

5. Which techniques are used in line 838, "love is wise in folly foolish witty"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Adonis contrast love and lust?

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

4. How does Venus's attitude toward death change when she believes that Adonis is alive?

5. How does Venus contrast the behavior of fish and birds with the behavior of the boar?

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

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

8. Explain the pun in lines 827 and 828, when after Adonis leaves, the speaker says of Venus, "Even so confounded in the dark she lay,/ Having lost the fair discovery of her way."

9. How does Venus portray Adonis having sex as a kind of selfless action and his choosing chastity as selfishness?

10. What trick do Venus's eyes play on her after she has been looking at Adonis's body for a few minutes?

(see the answer keys)

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