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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. How does Rilke note that the future change in the role of women affects love?
2. Why has it taken so long for Rilke to reply to the young poet with his seventh letter?
3. In what year is the seventh letter written?
4. Rilke says that as time passes, women will stop doing what?
5. From where is Rilke writing the eighth letter?
Short Essay Questions
1. What does Rilke say about fear?
2. In letter five, Rilke comments on Rome and says that the first few days one is in Rome have "an oppressively sad effect" because everything in Rome is old and looking backward toward the past. How does this sentiment reflect Rilke's life philosophies as he has expressed them thus far in the book?
3. Why does Rilke believe that women are responsible for a future change in humans' approach to romantic love?
4. Rilke indicates that humans have distanced themselves from the spiritual realm, from God, and from each other. How has this distancing occurred?
5. Why does Rilke advise the young poet "to be lonely and attentive when one is sad" in letter eight?
6. What does Rilke mean when, in letter seven, he says that in the future, femininity will not be "merely an opposite of the masculine, but. something in itself"?
7. Rilke says that young people can't understand love. What reason does he give?
8. What does Rilke say about the amount of beauty in Rome?
9. In letter six, Rilke encourages the young poet to maintain what he calls "a child's wise incomprehension" rather than joining in the "defensiveness and disdain" that are shared by the masses. What does he mean by this?
10. What is Rilke's definition of love?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Explain what Rilke meant when he said in letter ten that "Art...is only a way of living". How is this statement developed in other excerpts from the letters?
Essay Topic 2
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?
Essay Topic 3
In the first letter, Rilke suggests that the critical assessment of literary works is not a valuable practice. Do you agree with Rilke's statement? Why or why not? Do you think literary works should not be critically assessed?
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This section contains 889 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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