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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 3.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why has Rilke come to the place where he composes the fourth letter?
(a) To improve his health.
(b) To meet with his publisher.
(c) To write in solitude.
(d) To visit his family.

2. In the first letter, what does Rilke advise the poet to do to improve his writing?
(a) Examine his inner self to determine what writing means to him.
(b) Begin studying music.
(c) Take a poetry class with Rilke.
(d) Emulate the best classical poets.

3. What is Rilke's salutation at the end of the first letter?
(a) "Yours faithfully."
(b) "Yours faithfully and with all sympathy."
(c) "With gratitude and happiness."
(d) "Warmest regards."

4. 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) Inedependence and self-sufficiency.
(b) Discipline and solitude.
(c) Discipline and self-sufficiency.
(d) Independence and solitude.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How old is the young poet when he begins corresponding with Rilke?

2. What does Rilke advise the young poet to take comfort in if he feels uneasy in his new profession?

3. Rilke challenges the young poet to ask himself a question regarding his writing. What is that question?

4. What does Rilke tell the young poet about irony?

5. How does Rilke suggest one knows if one should not be a poet?

(see the answer key)

This section contains 314 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample