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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay 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) Contraction and simile.
(b) Simile and personification.
(c) Personification and inversion.
(d) Inversion and contraction.

2. To whom is Venus referring when she brags about being courted by the god of war?
(a) Mars.
(b) Mercury.
(c) Apollo.
(d) Jupiter.

3. What does Adonis mean when he tells Venus that she can stop her tears and flattery, because in his heart, "they make no batt’ry" (line 426).
(a) Her tears and flattery do not spark a fire in his heart.
(b) Her tears and flattery are like an assault and can cause him physical harm.
(c) Her tears and flattery are incapable of sustaining love in any lasting way.
(d) Her tears and flattery cannot break down the walls around his heart.

4. What does Venus compare Adonis to in line 8?
(a) A flower.
(b) A stag.
(c) A stallion.
(d) The sun.

5. 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.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Venus shakes her head and then Adonis's hand, looks at him and then at the ground, what is it most reasonable to infer about her motivation?

2. What technique is used in lines 401 and 402, "Who is so faint that dare not be so bold/ To touch the fire, the weather being cold?"

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

4. What technique is used in line 470, "For sharply he did think to reprehend her"?

5. Which is the best definition of "even" in Venus's question "What hour is this? or morn or weary even" (line 495)?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Adonis eventually end up kissing Venus?

2. Explain the conceit that Venus uses when she compares herself to a park.

3. What does Venus tell Adonis would happen if their positions were reversed?

4. How do Venus and Adonis end up on the ground together?

5. How does the mare react to the stallion at first, and how does her reaction change?

6. What plan does Adonis share with Venus just as she is finally about to let him leave her, and how does Venus react?

7. What does Venus tell Adonis will "buy" her heart (line 514), and how does she propose that he "seal" the bargain (line 516)?

8. What point is Adonis making with the metaphor "Who plucks the bud before one leaf put forth?" (line 416)?

9. Throughout the first 36 stanzas, how is Adonis depicted?

10. Throughout the passage, which participants in a trial is Venus compared to?

(see the answer keys)

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