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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. Which techniques are used in line 838, "love is wise in folly foolish witty"?
(a) Chiasmus, anthimeria, and analogy.
(b) Analogy, paradox, and anthimeria.
(c) Anthimeria, oxymoron, and paradox.
(d) Paradox, oxymoron, and chiasmus.

2. 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)?
(a) She is asking where she and Adonis were when she first told him that he could leave for the night.
(b) She is asking what she was saying before her train of thought was interrupted.
(c) She is asking Adonis to explain what he means when he accuses her of wanting to leave.
(d) She is asking where Adonis intends to go once he leaves her that evening.

3. Which is the most reasonable interpretation of Venus's motives as she describes hunting a rabbit?
(a) She intends to show Adonis how sympathetic she is toward prey animals.
(b) She intends to make it sound as exciting as hunting a boar.
(c) She intends to shame Adonis into choosing to hunt rabbit instead of boar.
(d) She intends to illustrate how knowledgeable she is about hunting.

4. What colors are emphasized in the description of morning?
(a) Yellow and orange.
(b) Silver and gold.
(c) Red and white.
(d) Blue and green.

5. What is Venus's motive for flattering death?
(a) She fears that death will try to take her life, too.
(b) She hopes it will keep death from taking Adonis.
(c) She is relieved and her natural flirtatiousness returns.
(d) She feels genuinely sorry that she has accused him.

Short Answer Questions

1. What techniques are used in lines 1015 and 1016, "“O love!” quoth she, “how much a fool was I,/ To be of such a weak and silly mind"?

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 line 640, "They that thrive well, take counsel of their friends"?

4. Which is the best summary of the meaning conveyed by the stanza that describes Venus's competing feelings of hope and despair?

5. What is Venus compared to when she hears the sound of the hunting dogs baying?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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. What is the meaning of Venus's comments about veils and bonnets after Adonis's death?

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

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

8. 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."

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

10. How does Adonis contrast love and lust?

(see the answer keys)

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