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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 name of the poem about Lord in Book 1, Chapter 1?

2. What is the narrator willing to look in the face in "Requiem for a Friend"?

3. In the poem "Archaic Torso of Apollo," the poet is most similar to __________.

4. What is a result of the discrepancy in translation in "I am the Anxious One"?

5. What is the title of Book 1, Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the differences between the poems in Book 1, Chapter 2 and the poems in Book 1, Chapter 1.

2. How does Rilke describe the gazelle in the poem in which it is the subject?

3. Why is it significant for Rilke to write about the sun in "Archaic Torso of Apollo"?

4. Describe the poem about Rilke's father in Book 1, Chapter 2.

5. What is the message found in "I find you, Lord, in all Things and in all"?

6. Why is it important to know background information about Rainer Marie Rilke before reading the poems?

7. What is the significance of the title "Requiem for a Friend"?

8. Describe the mythical and legendary women that Rilke describes in Book 1, Chapter 2.

9. Why is the first line in the poem about Alcestis significant?

10. How does the author change from the first stanza to the second in "I am the Anxious One"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What are the consequences of translating Rilke's poems from German to English? What is lost in translation? Is anything gained? Why or why not? Give one specific example.

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance of rhyme scheme in a poem? What effect does translation have on rhyming in this book of poems? What is your opinion of the rhyming pattern of the poems?

Essay Topic 3

Why do you think Orpheus is so important to Rilke? How do you know that Orpheus is so important to Rilke? What literary devices are used in Rilke's references to Orpheus? What does the importance of Orpheus to Rilke say about poet?

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