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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 Venus refer to as "ugly, meagre, lean"?
(a) Death.
(b) Lust.
(c) Love.
(d) Life.

2. 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) Birds.
(b) The night.
(c) Caves.
(d) Bugs.

3. When Venus "sings extemporally a woeful ditty," what is the best definition for "extemporally" in this context (line 836)?
(a) With self-pity that is almost comical.
(b) Displaying great emotion.
(c) Without preparation or prior thought.
(d) At great length.

4. When Venus suddenly has hope that Adonis is alive, who is the "rash suspect" that she "doth extenuate" (line 1009)?
(a) Adonis.
(b) The boar.
(c) Love.
(d) Death.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Venus tell Adonis will be the cause of him tripping and falling?

2. What is the most logical definition of the word "fair" in the context of line 1083, "Having no fair to lose, you need not fear"?

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

4. In line 868, "She hearkens for his hounds and for his horn," which technique best conveys Venus's straining to hear a quiet, far-off sound?

5. 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"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. 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."

8. What conclusion does Venus reach about why the boar killed Adonis, and what does this cause her to reflect about her own behavior?

9. What does Venus suggest Adonis do if he insists on hunting on the following day?

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

(see the answer keys)

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