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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 6.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Rilke claim a sadness indicates about a person's life or self?
(a) A fear.
(b) A realization.
(c) A loss.
(d) A transition.

2. What does Rilke say about careers in the sixth letter?
(a) They distance the individual from his or her true self.
(b) They show individuals their true selves.
(c) They provide inspiration for poetry.
(d) They help to discipline the individual.

3. In the third letter, Rilke requests that the young poet avoid something. What is it that he asks the poet to avoid?
(a) Studying science.
(b) Reading aesthetic criticism.
(c) Reading contemporary literature.
(d) Drinking.

4. What famous author does Rilke reference in letter eight?
(a) Nathaniel Hawthorne.
(b) Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
(c) Edgar Allan Poe.
(d) William Shakespeare.

5. Why does Rilke delay so long in replying to the young poet's fifth letter?
(a) Rilke has been ill.
(b) Rilke does not like to write letters when he is traveling.
(c) The young poet's fifth letter has angered Rilke.
(d) Rilke leaves the young poet's letter in another city.

Short Answer Questions

1. What has brought Rilke to the place from where he writes the second letter?

2. According to Rilke in letter eight, where does destiny originate?

3. In letter three, how many books does Rilke say he has published?

4. What does Rilke say about "the dragons of our lives"?

5. In the sixth letter, in what manner does Rilke advise the young poet to be solitary?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 323 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample