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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 best definition of "eyne" in line 633, "Nor thy soft hands, sweet lips, and crystal eyne"?

2. What technique is used in lines 819 and 820, "Till the wild waves will have him seen no more,/ Whose ridges with the meeting clouds contend"?

3. To whose dismayed surprise does the speaker compare Venus's astonishment when Adonis leaves her?

4. What characteristic of the boar does Venus's description primarily stress?

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

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

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

4. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

You are aware that Shakespeare borrowed from Ovid and that Ovid borrowed from Ancient Greek stories in order to tell the tale of Venus and Adonis. But did the Ancient Greeks also borrow from other sources? Do some research into the Sumarian figures of Dumuzi and Inanna, the Babylonian figures of Tammuz and Ishtar, and the Phoenician figures of Adon and Astarte. What elements of the story stay the same, and what elements change over time? What do you suspect causes the changes in the story as it spreads from society to society? What light does this shed on Shakespeare's choices and the society that he was living in? Write an essay in which you take a position about how the gradual changes in this very old story shed light on the cultures that tell the story--including the culture of Elizabethan England. Support your assertions with evidence from Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and your online historical research. Cite all sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

How would you characterize the speaker of this poem? Is the speaker educated or uneducated? Confident or tentative? Emotional or reserved? Does the speaker seem to have kind intentions toward the characters, to identify with them, and express sincere sympathy--or does the speaker stand at a remove, passing judgment? How closely do you imagine this speaker's voice mimics the voice of the audience that Shakespeare is trying to reach with this poem? Write an essay in which you consider Shakespeare's purposes in writing Venus and Adonis and how these purposes might have influenced the voice of the poem's speaker. 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.

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