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

2. What type of human does Venus compare the boar to?
(a) A soldier.
(b) A thief.
(c) A butcher.
(d) A hangman.

3. What does Venus mean when she says, in lines 649 and 650, "For where love reigns, disturbing jealousy/ Doth call himself affection’s sentinel"?
(a) When a person is in love, jealousy sounds frequent alarms.
(b) Love is stronger than jealousy and can preserve affection against it.
(c) When a person is ruled by love, other relationships suffer.
(d) Love upsets jealousy because it considers affection more important.

4. What does Adonis tell Venus he primarily objects to about her professions of love?
(a) They are callous.
(b) They are dishonest.
(c) They are unfeminine.
(d) They are embarrassing.

5. What is making the sounds referred to in lines 847 and 848, "For who hath she to spend the night withal,/ But idle sounds resembling parasites"?
(a) Bugs.
(b) The night.
(c) Birds.
(d) Caves.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the most logical definition of "tushes" in the context of line 617, "Whose tushes never sheath’d he whetteth still"?

2. In the context of the comparison of Adonis's departure to the departure of a friend onboard ship, which of the following words functions as a pun?

3. What does Venus refer to as "ugly, meagre, lean"?

4. To what does Venus compare the fear of a person in love?

5. What bird's song heralds the approach of morning?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What happens to Venus's eyes when she first sees Adonis's dead body?

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

5. What does Venus suggest Adonis do if he insists on hunting on the following day?

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

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

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

9. How does Adonis contrast love and lust?

10. Why does Venus say that nature should be convicted of treason, and what is Cynthia's plan to thwart what nature has done?

(see the answer keys)

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