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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. From where does Rilke write the fourth letter?
(a) Paris, France.
(b) Worpswede, near Bremen, Germany.
(c) Viareggio, near Pisa, Italy.
(d) Berlin, Germany.

2. Rilke challenges the young poet to ask himself a question regarding his writing. What is that question?
(a) "Must I write?"
(b) "Is my writing truly reflective of myself?"
(c) "Is my writing genuine?"
(d) "Must all of these words be part of the work?"

3. Where is the young poet who is the recipient of the letters studying when he begins to receive correspondence from Rilke?
(a) A military academy in Germany.
(b) A military academy in Paris.
(c) A military acdemy in Oslo.
(d) A military academy in Prague.

4. What writer and personal acquaintance does Rilke discuss in letter three?
(a) Professor Horacek.
(b) Richard Strauss.
(c) Thomas Hardy.
(d) Richard Dehmel.

5. What does Rilke say is bad about physical pleasure?
(a) Its ability to keep artists away from their work.
(b) Its ability to bring happiness.
(c) Its temptation.
(d) Humans' misuse and waste of it.

Short Answer Questions

1. Near the close of the fourth letter, Rilke mentions the positive aspects of the young poet's new profession. What are those positive aspects?

2. How does Rilke advise the young poet to view sex?

3. What does Rilke enclose with his third letter to the young poet?

4. Why isn't Rilke able to fill the request the young poet poses in his third letter to Rilke?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rilke mean when, in letter four, he says that man "might be more reverent toward his fruitfulness, which is but one, whether it seems mental or physical..."?

2. What can be inferred about Rilke's health from letters two and three?

3. What does Rilke mean when, in the first letter, he suggests that critical commentary on art results in "happy misunderstandings"?

4. Rilke tells the young poet in the first letter that the only way for the poet to improve his writing is to "go into yourself". What does this mean?

5. What does Rilke mean when, in letter four, he says that physical pleasure is not bad, but that physical pleasure is often "misuse[d] and squander[ed]"?

6. What do letters two and three suggest about the young poet's interest in Rilke's advice?

7. Rilke places emphasis on the importance of solitude. Why is solitude so important?

8. At the end of letter four, Rilke mentions the young poet's new profession. What is this profession?

9. What does Rilke mean when, in letter four, he says that the intellect "lags marveling behind" the consciousness?

10. What does Rilke imply about irony?

(see the answer keys)

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