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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 7.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At the close of letter eight, what does Rilke tell the poet about people who give him advice?
(a) The young poet should avoid people who give him advice.
(b) People who give the young poet advice have had troubled times in their lives, as well.
(c) People who give the young poet advice should look to their own troubles.
(d) The young poet should be skeptical of people who give him advice.

2. What is Rilke's primary criticism of the young poet's writing in the first letter?
(a) It is shallow.
(b) It has no individual style.
(c) It lacks creativity.
(d) It does not rhyme.

3. On what holiday does the young poet write his third letter to Rilke?
(a) Valentine's Day.
(b) Easter.
(c) Christmas.
(d) Epiphany.

4. In what year does Rilke write the third letter?
(a) 1905.
(b) 1903.
(c) 1908.
(d) 1902.

5. What does the sixth letter reveal about the state of the young poet?
(a) The young poet is relishing his solitude.
(b) The young poet is suffering from writer's block.
(c) The young poet is sad and lonely.
(d) The young poet is enjoying his new career.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Rilke say is "the most difficult of all our tasks"?

2. In letter eight, what does Rilke say the young poet "overvalues"?

3. How does Rilke note that the future change in the role of women affects love?

4. According to Rilke in letter eight, where does destiny originate?

5. Rilke says that there is only one thing that "can grasp and hold and be just toward" art. What is that thing?

(see the answer key)

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