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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 4.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. To what does Rilke compare people who are preparing for God?
(a) Fools.
(b) Bees.
(c) Poems.
(d) Roses.

2. Near the close of the fourth letter, Rilke mentions the positive aspects of the young poet's new profession. What are those positive aspects?
(a) Discipline and solitude.
(b) Inedependence and self-sufficiency.
(c) Discipline and self-sufficiency.
(d) Independence and solitude.

3. What does Rilke ask the young poet to do for him at the end of the first letter?
(a) Tell Professor Horacek of Rilke's esteem for him.
(b) Visit his mother.
(c) Distribute Rilke's books to the young poet's friends.
(d) Write a letter to the young poet's school informing the school of Rilke's success.

4. 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 the professor is a great scholar.
(c) That he holds admiration and gratitude for the professor.
(d) That the professor is a great poet.

5. From where is Rilke's sixth letter written?
(a) Rome, Italy.
(b) Bremen, Germany.
(c) Florence, Italy.
(d) Paris, France.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. How long ago has Rilke departed from the city he has left before arriving at the place where he composes the fourth letter?

3. Rilke writes that "most events are inexpressible," and says that one category of things is more inexpressible than all the rest. What is this category?

4. What does the sixth letter reveal about the state of the young poet?

5. In the fourth letter, what does Rilke instruct the young poet to do regarding the poet's unanswered questions?

(see the answer key)

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