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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. 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 relishing his solitude.
(d) The young poet is suffering from writer's block.

2. What does Rilke say about fears in the world in letter eight?
(a) Gears must be acknowledged.
(b) We have created the fears.
(c) Fears are natural.
(d) Fears must be ignored.

3. What does Rilke claim a sadness that enters into the body is in actuality?
(a) An unknown.
(b) A realization.
(c) A fear.
(d) Inspiration.

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

5. What type of poem does Rilke enclose with the seventh letter?
(a) An epic.
(b) A sonnet.
(c) An elegy.
(d) An ode.

6. What does Rilke assert about the nature of human existence that he claims is a fact whether we think so or not?
(a) We are made in God's image.
(b) We are built to love.
(c) We are creative beings.
(d) We are solitary.

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

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

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

10. In letter seven, what does Rilke say that love should be?
(a) A selfless act.
(b) A union of one with another.
(c) A balance of mental and physical.
(d) A motivation for each person to become wholly him or herself.

11. Rilke compares the existence of each individual to a room. What portion of that room do most people experience?
(a) A single aspect of that room, such as a corner or a window.
(b) The entire room.
(c) The doorway.
(d) The floor.

12. What does Rilke imply about losing God?
(a) Losing God is necessary if one is to find God.
(b) God does not exist.
(c) Losing God is part of growing up.
(d) Once found, God cannot be lost.

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

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

15. What aspect of human life does Rilke say is most burdened with conventions?
(a) Inspiration.
(b) Love.
(c) Religion.
(d) Marriage.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Rilke advise the young poet to do if he cannot connect with people?

2. What does Rilke say is wrong with men?

3. Rilke tells the young poet that in regard to his sickness, he is a sick man, a convalescent, and what else?

4. In the sixth letter, in what manner does Rilke advise the young poet to be solitary?

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

(see the answer keys)

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