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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 lines 693 and 694, "Ceasing their clamorous cry, till they have singled/ With much ado the cold fault cleanly out"?

2. What does Venus tell Adonis is usually unlike her?

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

4. In line 1043, what is the speaker comparing to "a king perplexed in his throne"?

5. 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"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is conveyed by the personification and the simile in the passage where Venus runs through the brush toward the sounds of Adonis's hunting party?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Venus and Adonis ironically dismisses many of the religious values of Ancient Greece and Rome. But does it express the Christian worldview of Renaissance England in other ways, as well? What values and beliefs does the poem seem to endorse--either explicitly or implicitly? Does the poem contain any religious symbolism, allusions, metaphors, or similes? Write an essay in which you analyze the extent to which Venus and Adonis actively promotes the Christian worldview, as opposed to simply denying the Classical worldview. Support your arguments with evidence from throughout the poem, making sure to cite any quoted language and outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

How does the stanzaic structure of Venus and Adonis support the poem's tone and meaning? What is the relationship between the couplets and the quatrains within each stanza? How does this relationship impact the poem's tone? When the couplets become aphorisms or epigrams, what contribution does this make to tone? How does this packaging of ideas contribute to the poem's wit and the speaker's authority? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the contribution that the stanzaic form of Venus and Adonis makes to the poem's tone and overall impact. Show how this helps the poem convey one or more ideas. Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from throughout the poem; cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

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