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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 bird's song heralds the approach of morning?

2. What technique is used in line 1026, "Whereat she leaps that was but late forlorn"?

3. What technique is used in lines 647 and 648, "My boding heart pants, beats, and takes no rest,/ But like an earthquake, shakes thee on my breast"?

4. How does Venus know that the dogs are barking at a boar, bear, or lion?

5. What is Venus saying when she asks the world "what canst thou boast/ Of things long since, or anything ensuing" (lines 1077 and 1078)?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Describe the details of Venus's vision of Adonis and the boar.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Of the several forms of figurative language Shakespeare employs in Venus and Adonis, metaphors and similes are by far the most frequent. What about this is typical of an epic? Why do epics use so many figures of comparison? Are Shakespeare's metaphors and similes employed in similar ways to those typically found in classical epics, or does he seem to have other purposes in mind? Write an essay that establishes how and why similes and metaphors are commonly used in epic poetry and then compares and contrasts the ways that these figures of comparison are used in Venus and Adonis. Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the poem, making sure to cite any quoted language in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Choose one element of the poem that seems to you to be particularly aimed at creating a broad appeal and might therefore have factored into the poem's commercial success. You might focus on the poem's humor, its relatability, its eroticism, or some other factor not yet discussed in this context--such as the Elizabethan interest in Ancient Greece and Rome, for instance. Write an essay that focuses on your chosen element: offer evidence from throughout Venus and Adonis to support your claim that this element is a notable feature of the poem, and then offer historical and literary evidence that demonstrates why this element was likely to have appealed to a wide audience. Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from throughout the poem, making sure to cite any quoted language and outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Venus and Adonis is notable for its reliance on dialogue, especially long monologues by Venus. Choose one of Venus's monologues to analyze. Write an essay in which you first explicate the meaning of the monologue--including the ideas conveyed in any figurative language--and then contextualize the monologue by analyzing its place in the overall poem. Discuss what this monologue conveys about Venus's character, the relationship between her and Adonis, and the values the poem either endorses or condemns. Support your explication and analysis with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from your chosen monologue. Be sure to cite any quoted material in MLA format.

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