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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 does Rilke believe is wrong with sex?
2. During what decade does the correspondence contained in this volume take place?
3. In the first letter, in what manner does Rilke suggest the young poet can tend to his personal growth?
4. In the third letter, what does Rilke say he wishes he could do for the young poet but is unable to do?
5. In the first letter, what does Rilke advise the poet to do to improve his writing?
Short Essay Questions
1. What can be inferred about Rilke's health from letters two and three?
2. In letter four, Rilke says that "even the best err in words when they are meant to mean most delicate and almost inexpressible things." What does this mean?
3. Rilke advises the young poet to be cautious about the way sex can change behavior. In what way does he suggest that sex changes people?
4. What reason does Rilke give for advising the young poet against writing love poems?
5. What can the reader infer about the content of the first letter the young poet wrote to Rilke from reading Rilke's response?
6. How does Rilke advise the young poet to approach works of art?
7. 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..."?
8. 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?
9. What are Rilke's views on aesthetic criticism?
10. What do letters two and three suggest about the young poet's interest in Rilke's advice?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
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 2
Throughout the letters, and especially in letter eight, Rilke suggests that people are not truly living their lives--that their experiences are dulled from familiarity and security. What type of living is Rilke advocating? What is this type of living like?
Essay Topic 3
In what ways can Rilke's tenth letter be viewed as a sendoff of sorts to the young poet?
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This section contains 840 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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