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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 is the primary topic of the eighth letter?
2. In letter seven, what does Rilke say that love should be?
3. What does Rilke say about "the dragons of our lives"?
4. What does Rilke say women have more of than men?
5. What does Rilke say in the seventh letter about things that are difficult?
Short Essay Questions
1. 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?
2. What does Rilke mean when he says that humans have no choice in deciding to be solitary?
3. In letter six, what does Rilke tell the young poet he should do if he is lonely?
4. Rilke comments on the young poet's profession and compares the young poet's profession to other professions. What is Rilke's general idea about professions?
5. What is Rilke's definition of love?
6. What does Rilke say that the average person will continue to do in regards to love?
7. What can be inferred about the mental and emotional state of the young poet from Rilke's reply in letter six?
8. Rilke indicates that humans have distanced themselves from the spiritual realm, from God, and from each other. How has this distancing occurred?
9. What advice does Rilke give the young poet for doctoring his sadness?
10. What can be inferred about the young poet's feelings toward his own solitude from Rilke's seventh letter?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
What would the artistic and academic worlds be like without aesthetic criticism, as it seems Rilke would have it? Is Rilke able to reject the idea of aesthetic criticism only because he is an artist himself?
Essay Topic 2
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 3
In letter eight, Rilke compares the sense of security to which individuals cling to the horrors that exist in the homes of the characters of Edgar Allan Poe's stories. Analyze one of Poe's stories or longer poems using the life philosophies of Rilke as a lens through which to view the horrors of Poe's work as personal delusions and securities.
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This section contains 859 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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