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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Rilke say is bad about physical pleasure?
(a) Humans' misuse and waste of it.
(b) Its ability to keep artists away from their work.
(c) Its ability to bring happiness.
(d) Its temptation.

2. How old is the young poet when he begins corresponding with Rilke?
(a) 12.
(b) 25.
(c) 19.
(d) 28.

3. Where is Rilke when he writes the second letter?
(a) Berlin, Germany.
(b) Florence, Italy.
(c) Athens, Greece.
(d) Viareggio, near Pisa, Italy.

4. What writer does Rilke revere most?
(a) Alfred Lord Tennyson.
(b) Jens Peter Jacobsen.
(c) Thomas Hardy.
(d) Ovid.

5. What does Rilke say about Professor Horacek in his first letter?
(a) That the professor helps to nurse Rilke back to health as a boy.
(b) That he holds admiration and gratitude for the professor.
(c) That the professor is a great scholar.
(d) That the professor is a great poet.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the first letter, what does Rilke advise the poet to do to improve his writing?

2. In the third letter, Rilke requests that the young poet avoid something. What is it that he asks the poet to avoid?

3. How does Rilke suggest one knows if one should not be a poet?

4. In the third letter, what does Rilke say he wishes he could do for the young poet but is unable to do?

5. How does the young poet describe the writer and personal acquaintance Rilke mentions?

(see the answer key)

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