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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In what year is Rilke writing the eighth letter?
(a) 1908.
(b) 1904.
(c) 1902.
(d) 1903.

2. What does Rilke say about "the dragons of our lives"?
(a) That they may in fact be princesses.
(b) That they are necessary to make us strong.
(c) That they should be cast out of our lives.
(d) That they can be slain.

3. In letter eight, what does Rilke say the young poet "overvalues"?
(a) Solitude.
(b) Victory.
(c) Sex.
(d) Sadness.

4. From where is the seventh letter written?
(a) Bremen, Germany.
(b) Paris, France.
(c) Rome, Italy.
(d) Athens, Greece.

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

6. How does Rilke say individuals can help prepare for God's coming?
(a) Through religious rituals.
(b) Through art.
(c) Through acts of love.
(d) Through prayer.

7. How does Rilke say the young poet's career compares to other careers?
(a) Rilke says that the young poet's career is essentially the same as all other careers.
(b) Rilke says that the young poet's career is better than other careers because it allows more solitude.
(c) Rilke says the young poet's career is more distinguished than other careers.
(d) Rilke says that the young poet's career has more conventions than other careers.

8. What type of sadness does Rilke call "dangerous"?
(a) Sadnesses that are caused by love.
(b) Sadnesses that are caused by helplessness.
(c) Sadnesses that are caused by feelings of inferiority.
(d) Sadnesses that one suppresses rather than lives.

9. What does Rilke say is wrong with men?
(a) Men oppress women.
(b) Men undervalue what they love.
(c) Men are too focused on the physical.
(d) Men are too dominant.

10. What two aspects of human life does Rilke claim have no explanation?
(a) Love and art.
(b) Death and love.
(c) Forgiveness and hatred.
(d) Birth and death.

11. In what year is the seventh letter written?
(a) 1908.
(b) 1904.
(c) 1912.
(d) 1903.

12. To what does Rilke compare humans' misunderstanding of destiny in letter eight?
(a) Humans' previous misunderstanding of the motion of the sun.
(b) Humans' misunderstanding of love.
(c) Humans' misunderstanding of human nature.
(d) Humans' misunderstanding of God.

13. In what year does Rilke write the fifth letter?
(a) 1903.
(b) 1912.
(c) 1904.
(d) 1908.

14. What is the primary topic of the eighth letter?
(a) Sadness.
(b) Nature.
(c) Solitude.
(d) Creativity.

15. In whose handwriting does the poem Rilke enclosed with his seventh letter appear?
(a) Professor Horacek's.
(b) Rilke's wife's.
(c) Kappus'.
(d) Rilke's.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the young poet's military rank?

2. At the close of letter seven, what love does Rilke tell the young poet to remember?

3. Why has it taken so long for Rilke to reply to the young poet with his seventh letter?

4. At the close of the sixth letter, what does Rilke advise the young poet to do in regards to the coming holiday?

5. What famous author does Rilke reference in letter eight?

(see the answer keys)

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