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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is used in line 111, "Strong-temper’d steel his stronger strength obey’d"?

2. What technique is used in line 59, " Even so she kiss’d his brow, his cheek, his chin"?

3. Which is the best definition of "stillitory" in line 443, "For from the stillitory of thy face excelling"?

4. What techniques are used in lines 25 and 26, "With this she seizeth on his sweating palm,/ The precedent of pith and livelihood"?

5. What technique is used in lines 19 and 20, "not cloy thy lips with loath’d satiety,/ But rather famish them amid their plenty"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Venus tell Adonis he can learn from his horse?

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

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. Why does the speaker compare Venus's eyes to "the moon in water seen by night" (line 492)?

5. Explain the comparison the speaker makes between Adonis's horse and one created by an artist.

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

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

8. Explain the epic simile about an eagle in lines 55-60.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Adonis shift the power dynamic between himself and Venus in his favor? Does he do this deliberately, or is it an unconscious byproduct of his assertion of his own values? Is the poem portraying his chastity--and thus his power--as natural or unnatural? How do your answers to these questions shed light on the manner of his death? Why would Adonis refuse to heed the prophecy of a goddess--is it arrogance, mistrust of her motives, or an uncontrollable desire to hunt? What is conveyed about Adonis and his power when he is killed by the boar? Write an essay in which you consider the source of Adonis's power over Venus and the messages the poem conveys about this power. Support your analysis with evidence from the poem, citing any quoted material in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Venus certainly believes that Adonis should act on his feelings exactly as his horse does. But does the poem itself convey this message? Consider some of the hidden premises in Venus's argument: she is assuming that Adonis feels the same kind of lust for her that the stallion feels for the jennet, and that the situation between herself and Adonis is no more complex than the situation between the stallion and the jennet. What evidence in the poem tells you that Venus may be deliberately misunderstanding the parallel between her and Adonis and the jennet and the stallion? On the other hand, if this is the case, why do you think the speaker spends so many stanzas extolling the stallion and its behavior? Is the poem sending mixed messages about acting on lustful thoughts, or is there a way to logically reconcile the flaws in Venus's argument with the idealization of the horse's behavior? Write an essay in which you analyze this question, supporting your analysis with evidence from the poem. Cite any quoted material in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

What is the impact of the repetition and parallelism used in Venus and Adonis? The poem is notable both for the variety of these techniques--anaphora, alliteration, assonance, antanaclasis, epistrophe, polyptoton, chiasmus, antimetabole, and antithesis, among others--and for their frequency. How do these techniques create emphasis and highlight the relationships among ideas? In a broader sense, how do they establish ethos and impact the poem's tone? Write an essay in which you analyze the impact that the frequent and varied use of techniques of repetition and parallelism has on the poem's overall effect. Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the poem, making sure to cite any quoted language in MLA format.

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