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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Rilke says that there is only one thing that "can grasp and hold and be just toward" art. What is that thing?
(a) Love.
(b) Creativity.
(c) Hope.
(d) Open-mindedness.

2. How does Rilke advise the young poet to view sex?
(a) To fear it.
(b) To see it as a temptation to be avoided.
(c) To distance sex from art.
(d) To rejoice in it but not lose oneself in it.

3. How does the young poet describe the writer and personal acquaintance Rilke mentions?
(a) "Living and writing among the living."
(b) "Living and writing with true passion."
(c) "Living and writing with blood."
(d) "Living and writing in heat."

4. Why does it take Rilke so long to respond to the young poet's second letter?
(a) Rilke has lost the letter.
(b) Rilke has been ill.
(c) Rilke has been busy writing.
(d) Rilke has left it in another city.

5. To what does Rilke compare artistic experience?
(a) Sex.
(b) Epiphany.
(c) Transcendence.
(d) Religion.

Short Answer Questions

1. What writer and personal acquaintance does Rilke discuss in letter three?

2. In letter eight, what does Rilke tell the young poet he must be careful with?

3. What holiday is Rilke marking with his sixth letter?

4. To what does Rilke compare the realization about the true nature of human existence in letter eight?

5. How does Rilke say the young poet's career compares to other careers?

(see the answer key)

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