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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Rilke ask the young poet to do for him at the end of the first letter?
(a) Write a letter to the young poet's school informing the school of Rilke's success.
(b) Distribute Rilke's books to the young poet's friends.
(c) Tell Professor Horacek of Rilke's esteem for him.
(d) Visit his mother.

2. What is the name of the young poet who is the recipient of the letters contained in this volume?
(a) Franz Horacek.
(b) Xaver Rilke.
(c) Franz Rilke.
(d) Franz Xaver Kappus.

3. During what decade does the correspondence contained in this volume take place?
(a) 1890s.
(b) 1900s.
(c) 1910s.
(d) 1920s.

4. What does Rilke say the young poet should do if he determines he should not be a poet?
(a) He should pursue the musical arts.
(b) He should quit writing completely.
(c) He should pursue the visual arts.
(d) He should join the military.

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

6. Why does it take Rilke so long to respond to the young poet's second letter?
(a) Rilke has left it in another city.
(b) Rilke has been ill.
(c) Rilke has been busy writing.
(d) Rilke has lost the letter.

7. What type of locale is Rilke in as he is writing the fourth letter to the young poet?
(a) A southern seaside.
(b) A city.
(c) A rural plain.
(d) A farm.

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

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

10. In the first letter, Rilke says he cannot offer critical commentary on the young poet's work. Why?
(a) Rilke believes the young poet's work is flawless.
(b) Rilke says that critical commentary is insufficient for understanding a work of art.
(c) Rilke is ill and does not have the physical stamina to read the young poet's work.
(d) Rilke cannot read the young poet's work because he is blind.

11. Why isn't Rilke able to fill the request the young poet poses in his third letter to Rilke?
(a) Rilke is too poor to afford to buy his books.
(b) Rilke is ill.
(c) Rilk is preparing to move.
(d) Rilke doesn't want to encourage the young poet.

12. What works by the writer who Rilke revers most does Rilke always have accessible to him?
(a) An Endless Summer and Tomorrow.
(b) Winter's Best and On the Way.
(c) Six Stories and Niels Lyhne.
(d) Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles.

13. In letter three, what does Rilke claim to be the most important element of becoming an artist?
(a) Creativity.
(b) Open-mindedness.
(c) Patience.
(d) Love.

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

15. In letter three, how many books does Rilke say he has published?
(a) 20 or 21.
(b) 18.
(c) 25 or 26.
(d) 12 or 13.

Short Answer Questions

1. What city has Rilke departed from to come to the place where he composes the fourth letter?

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

3. In the fourth letter, what does Rilke instruct the young poet to do regarding the poet's unanswered questions?

4. Why has Rilke come to the place where he composes the fourth letter?

5. What acquaintance do Rilke and the young poet have in common?

(see the answer keys)

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