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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What does Rilke send to the young poet in reply to the poet's first letter?
(a) Money.
(b) A list of potential publishers.
(c) A letter and the poet's poems.
(d) A volume of Rilke's poetry.

3. Rilke indicates that in the future, men and women will approach each other differently than they do at the time of his writing. How will they approach each other?
(a) Not as opposites, but as human beings.
(b) Not as enemies, but as friends.
(c) Not as lovers, but as friends.
(d) Not as sexual objects, but as human beings.

4. In the fourth letter, what does Rilke instruct the young poet to do regarding the poet's unanswered questions?
(a) Seek answers from poetry.
(b) Seek answers in solitude.
(c) Seek answers from artists.
(d) Love the questions.

5. In what year is the first letter from Rilke to the young poet written?
(a) 1903.
(b) 1909.
(c) 1910.
(d) 1902.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. In the second letter, who does Rilke cite as his artistic influences?

4. How does Rilke advise the young poet to view sex?

5. What works by the writer who Rilke revers most does Rilke always have accessible to him?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 360 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample