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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 left it in another city.
(c) Rilke has been ill.
(d) Rilke has been busy writing.

2. How does Professor Horacek know Rilke?
(a) Professor Horacek raises Rilke.
(b) Professor Horacek teaches Rilke at a military academy.
(c) Professor Horacek is Rilke's editor.
(d) Professor Horacek knows Rilke's grandfather.

3. What does Rilke say about Professor Horacek in his first letter?
(a) That the professor is a great scholar.
(b) That he holds admiration and gratitude for the professor.
(c) That the professor is a great poet.
(d) That the professor helps to nurse Rilke back to health as a boy.

4. From where is the first letter from Rilke to the young poet postmarked?
(a) Prague.
(b) Berlin.
(c) Paris.
(d) Munich.

5. What does Rilke advise the poet to do in regard to his efforts to get published?
(a) Send his poems to as many magazines as possible.
(b) Send his poems to Rilke's publisher.
(c) Send his poems to the United States.
(d) Discontinue his efforts to receive feedback from publishers and other external parties.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. If the young poet discovers he should not be a poet, Rilke suggests that his inner examination will not be worthless. Why not?

3. From where does Rilke instruct the young poet to derive inspiration?

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

5. What writer does Rilke revere most?

(see the answer key)

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