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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What city has Rilke departed from to come to the place where he composes the fourth letter?
2. Near the close of the fourth letter, Rilke mentions the positive aspects of the young poet's new profession. What are those positive aspects?
3. What does Rilke advise the poet to do in regard to his efforts to get published?
4. What type of locale is Rilke in as he is writing the fourth letter to the young poet?
5. What has brought Rilke to the place from where he writes the second letter?
Short Essay Questions
1. How does Rilke advise the young poet to approach works of art?
2. What does Rilke claim is more permanent than human life?
3. 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..."?
4. What can be inferred about Rilke's health from letters two and three?
5. 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?
6. What does Rilke mean when, in letter four, he says that the intellect "lags marveling behind" the consciousness?
7. What can the reader infer about the content of the first letter the young poet wrote to Rilke from reading Rilke's response?
8. What does Rilke mean when he says in letter three that sex "is not sufficiently human, [but] is only male"?
9. What does Rilke imply about irony?
10. What does Rilke mean when in letter three he says his books "no longer belong to me"?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
What is Rilke's view of the ideal sexual relationship? The ideal romantic relationship? The ideal parent-child relationship?
Essay Topic 2
Compare and contrast the advice Rilke presents to the young poet and the way Rilke takes his own advice based on research into Rilke's life.
Essay Topic 3
Explain Rilke's ideas about the interrelationship of sex and art. How are sex and art similar? What should the role of sexuality be in the life of the artist?
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This section contains 845 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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