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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 is Venus saying when she asks the world "what canst thou boast/ Of things long since, or anything ensuing" (lines 1077 and 1078)?
(a) Any time before Adonis's birth or after his death is worthless.
(b) The relationship between the past and the present is not as clear as people pretend.
(c) The world is a cruel place that does not allow love to grow naturally.
(d) The world has no right to brag about itself if it would allow Adonis to die.

2. What technique is used in line 720, "'In night,' quoth she, 'desire sees best of all.'"?
(a) Epigram.
(b) Allusion.
(c) Hyperbole.
(d) Apostrophe.

3. What is the most reasonable interpretation of what Venus means when she asks "Where did I leave?” and Adonis replies “No matter where" (line 715)?
(a) She is asking what she was saying before her train of thought was interrupted.
(b) She is asking where Adonis intends to go once he leaves her that evening.
(c) She is asking Adonis to explain what he means when he accuses her of wanting to leave.
(d) She is asking where she and Adonis were when she first told him that he could leave for the night.

4. What techniques are used in lines 1015 and 1016, "“O love!” quoth she, “how much a fool was I,/ To be of such a weak and silly mind"?
(a) Euphemism and apostrophe.
(b) Apostrophe and inversion.
(c) Parallelism and euphemism.
(d) Inversion and parallelism.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. When Venus "sings extemporally a woeful ditty," what is the best definition for "extemporally" in this context (line 836)?

2. Whom does Venus address as a "clear god" (line 860)?

3. What technique is used in lines 815 and 816, "Look how a bright star shooteth from the sky,/ So glides he in the night from Venus’ eye"?

4. What is Venus's motive for flattering death?

5. What does Venus mean when she says, in lines 649 and 650, "For where love reigns, disturbing jealousy/ Doth call himself affection’s sentinel"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What criticism does the speaker make of lovers' stories?

3. What does Venus tell Adonis about the relationship between jealousy and her foreboding?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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