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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At the end of letter eight, what does Rilke remind the young poet of?
(a) His fear of judgment.
(b) How he once longed to emerge from his youth and realize himself.
(c) His parents' love.
(d) His first poems.

2. In what manner does Rilke say people should approach love?
(a) As students.
(b) As teachers.
(c) As apprentices.
(d) As children.

3. To what does Rilke compare people who are preparing for God?
(a) Bees.
(b) Fools.
(c) Roses.
(d) Poems.

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

5. In the sixth letter, in what manner does Rilke advise the young poet to be solitary?
(a) The way a child among adults is solitary.
(b) The way a rose is solitary.
(c) The way a horse is solitary.
(d) The way a bird is solitary.

6. In what manner does Rilke say one must be when one is sad?
(a) Solitary and depressed.
(b) Dutiful and silent.
(c) Angry and vocal.
(d) Lonely and attentive.

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

8. In letter eight, what does Rilke tell the young poet he must be careful with?
(a) Thoughts.
(b) Names.
(c) Sadnesses.
(d) Prayers.

9. From where is Rilke writing the eighth letter?
(a) Jonsered, Sweden.
(b) Rome, Italy.
(c) Paris, France.
(d) Fladie, Sweden.

10. What does Rilke tell the young poet to ask himself regarding his religious beliefs?
(a) Whether the young poet's beliefs are his own.
(b) Whether the young poet has ever truly found God.
(c) Whether the young poet's beliefs are merely conventions.
(d) Whether the young poet truly wants to believe.

11. To what does Rilke compare the realization about the true nature of human existence in letter eight?
(a) A person transported from one country to another.
(b) A single person left after a war.
(c) A person placed in the presence of God.
(d) A person is suddenly taken from his house and placed on top of a mountain.

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

13. What is the young poet's military rank?
(a) Officer.
(b) General.
(c) Soldier.
(d) Doctor.

14. In what season is Rilke writing the seventh letter?
(a) Fall.
(b) Spring.
(c) Winter.
(d) Summer.

15. What famous author does Rilke reference in letter eight?
(a) Edgar Allan Poe.
(b) Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
(c) Nathaniel Hawthorne.
(d) William Shakespeare.

Short Answer Questions

1. What holiday is Rilke marking with his sixth letter?

2. Who does Rilke say in the seventh letter cannot understand love?

3. In whose handwriting does the poem Rilke enclosed with his seventh letter appear?

4. What two aspects of human life does Rilke claim have no explanation?

5. What does Rilke say is wrong with the way most people approach love?

(see the answer keys)

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