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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 is the most reasonable interpretation of what Venus means when she asks "Where did I leave?” and Adonis replies “No matter where" (line 715)?

2. 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"?

3. What technique is used in lines 693 and 694, "Ceasing their clamorous cry, till they have singled/ With much ado the cold fault cleanly out"?

4. What is Venus's main criticism of chastity?

5. 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"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Venus's apostrophes to death are not the only apostrophes in the poem. Where else is this technique used in the poem? What impact do the apostrophes have on tone? How is the use of apostrophe related to the way that Helios, Mars, Diana, and other figures are referred to, as if they are nearby but not directly interacting with Venus or Adonis? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the larger purpose of the poem's apostrophes. Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the poem, and be sure to cite any quoted language in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

You have already considered how eroticism and humor make Venus and Adonis relatable to a wide audience. There is a more subtle element of this poem that also increases its relatability: anachronisms. What was the Elizabethan attitude toward historical accuracy in poetry and plays? Which was considered more important--accuracy or relatability? Write an essay in which you identify the anachronisms in this poem and then use historical and literary evidence to demonstrate that, far from being distractions, these elements of the poem would have actually increased its commercial appeal to an Elizabethan 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

In Western literature, red is traditionally associated with beauty, and white is traditionally associated with virtue. Shakespeare uses these colors and their traditional symbolic meanings in many of his works. Does he do so in Venus and Adonis? What statement is this poem making about virtue? Is it related to beauty in any way? Where do the colors red and white occur in the poem, and what does each seem to be associated with? Write an essay in which you take a position on whether the colors red and white represent beauty and virtue in Venus and Adonis. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem; cite any borrowed language in MLA format.

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