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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What techniques are used in lines 417 and 418, "If springing things be any jot diminish’d,/ They wither in their prime, prove nothing worth"?
(a) Inversion and contraction.
(b) Simile and personification.
(c) Personification and inversion.
(d) Contraction and simile.

2. When Adonis tells Venus "Remove your siege from my unyielding heart," what metaphor used earlier in the poem does this recall (line 423)?
(a) Venus's comparison of Adonis to Narcissus and her warning about Narcissus's fate.
(b) The comparison of the stallion's steamy breath to a fiery furnace of passion.
(c) The description of the silent struggle between Venus and Adonis as a "war" of looks.
(d) Venus trying to persuade Adonis by bragging about having conquered the god of war.

3. Which is the best definition of "stillitory" in line 443, "For from the stillitory of thy face excelling"?
(a) A vessel used in distillation.
(b) Perfumed breath.
(c) A place where statues are displayed.
(d) A lecture instilling religious belief.

4. What technique is used in line 432, "Ear’s deep sweet music, and heart’s deep sore wounding"?
(a) Antimetabole.
(b) Oxymoron.
(c) Antithesis.
(d) Juxtaposition.

5. What causes Venus to fall to the ground, unconscious?
(a) Adonis pushes her roughly away from him.
(b) Adonis tells her that he will never love her or even desire her.
(c) She has a premonition of the words Adonis is about to speak.
(d) She is overcome by the heat from the sun.

6. What is Adonis planning to do when he is accosted by Venus?
(a) Eat lunch.
(b) Hunt.
(c) Nap.
(d) Pick flowers.

7. Which is the best definition of "bootless" in the context of line 422?
(a) Informal, casual.
(b) Irresponsible, careless.
(c) Unmannerly, rude.
(d) Useless, pointless.

8. When Venus asks Adonis "Is thine own heart to thine own face affected?" whose story is she alluding to (157)?
(a) Pygmalion.
(b) Icarus.
(c) Narcissus.
(d) The Minotaur.

9. How does Adonis react to Venus's comparison of herself to a park?
(a) With laughter.
(b) With contempt.
(c) With desire.
(d) With compassion.

10. In lines 79-84, what bargain does Venus try to strike with Adonis?
(a) She will get off of him if he gives her one voluntary kiss.
(b) She will let him explain his feelings if he speaks nicely to her.
(c) She will ask the gods to make him immortal if he will be her partner.
(d) She will not tell anyone about it if he will have sex with her.

11. What technique is used in line 111, "Strong-temper’d steel his stronger strength obey’d"?
(a) Polyptoton.
(b) Epimone.
(c) Epizeuxis.
(d) Anaphora.

12. How does the speaker characterize Venus's lapse into unconsciousness?
(a) It is unsurprising.
(b) It demonstrates Venus's soft heart.
(c) It demonstrates Venus's sincerity.
(d) It is cunning.

13. What technique is used in line 75, "Still is he sullen, still he lours and frets"?
(a) Parallelism.
(b) Personification.
(c) Synecdoche.
(d) Anaphora.

14. What is Venus referring to when she tells Adonis that "The tender spring upon thy tempting lip/ Shows thee unripe" (lines 127-128)?
(a) The residue of her own tears.
(b) The beginnings of a mustache.
(c) Beads of sweat.
(d) The sickly green shade of his skin.

15. What is Adonis being compared to when the speaker says he is "Like a dive-dapper" (86)?
(a) A swimmer.
(b) An osprey.
(c) A duck.
(d) A fish.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who or what is being described when the word "fetlocks" is used in line 295?

2. What does Adonis tell Venus is the only thing he could love?

3. Which technique is used in line 218, "And swelling passion doth provoke a pause"?

4. According to the speaker, what is the one thing that the horse lacks?

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

(see the answer keys)

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