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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. What does Rilke view as a challenge of the young poet's new profession?
(a) Its lack of creativity.
(b) Its adherence to convention.
(c) Its rigorous hours.
(d) Its lack of free time.

2. In the fourth letter, who does Rilke say is more similar than people think?
(a) Men and women.
(b) Officers and prisoners.
(c) Artists and farmers.
(d) Humans and animals.

3. In what year does Rilke write the third letter?
(a) 1902.
(b) 1908.
(c) 1903.
(d) 1905.

4. Rilke says that there is only one thing that "can grasp and hold and be just toward" art. What is that thing?
(a) Love.
(b) Creativity.
(c) Hope.
(d) Open-mindedness.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In the fourth letter, what does Rilke say he wishes human beings are more reverent toward?

2. Rilke writes that "most events are inexpressible," and says that one category of things is more inexpressible than all the rest. What is this category?

3. What is the name of the young poet who is the recipient of the letters contained in this volume?

4. How does Rilke say that humans should approach physical pleasure?

5. What does Rilke tell the young poet about irony?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Rilke say about the reading and re-reading of works by Jens Peter Jacobsen?

2. What are Rilke's views on aesthetic criticism?

3. Rilke places considerable emphasis on the necessary nature of art. What does he mean when he says that a poet is only a poet if he would die if he didn't write?

4. 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..."?

5. What does Rilke mean when he says in letter three that sex "is not sufficiently human, [but] is only male"?

6. 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?

7. What does Rilke mean when he tells the young poet in the first letter that the poet's work has "no individual style"?

8. What does Rilke mean when, in the fourth letter, he tells the young poet to "live" his unanswered questions?

9. Rilke says that artists remains unaware of their best qualities. Why is this?

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

(see the answer keys)

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