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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 2.

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) Drinking.
(b) Reading contemporary literature.
(c) Reading aesthetic criticism.
(d) Studying science.

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

3. How does Rilke suggest one knows if one should not be a poet?
(a) If one cannot get published after 100 tries.
(b) If one can live without writing.
(c) If one is bored by one's own writing.
(d) If one does not like to read others' poetry.

4. What does Rilke advise the young poet to buy in letter three?
(a) A collection of the complete works of Jens Peter Jacobsen.
(b) A collection of the complete works of William Shakespeare.
(c) A collection of the complete works of Sophocles.
(d) A collection of the complete works of Homer.

5. In the first letter, in what manner does Rilke suggest the young poet can tend to his personal growth?
(a) Publicly.
(b) Quietly and seriously.
(c) Aggressively.
(d) Patiently.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why isn't Rilke able to fill the request the young poet poses in his third letter to Rilke?

2. In what year does Rilke write the third letter?

3. What does Rilke say about Professor Horacek in his first letter?

4. What does the young poet request in his third letter to Rilke?

5. In the first letter the young poet sent to Rilke along with his poems, what does he ask of Rilke?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 347 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample