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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. In "Requiem for a Friend," which of the following is left unclear?

2. Which of the following best describes the rhyme scheme of the gazelle poem?

3. What name is used in Rilke's poetry that has been passed down through Greek tragedies?

4. Which of the following do not describe a poem in Rilke's book?

5. How does Rilke feel at the beginning of "I am the Anxious One"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the consequences of translating German to English?

2. Why is the "City of Time" a complex translation?

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

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

5. How is the panther portrayed in the poem in which it is the subject?

6. How does Rilke honor ancient Greeks?

7. Describe the rhyming scheme of the poem in which the gazelle is the subject.

8. How does the tone change in "I am the Anxious One"?

9. What does the narrator of "Requiem for a Friend" admire about Paula?

10. What does Rilke proclaim in "I am the Anxious One"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is an elegy? Why do poets write elegies? What are the most common themes and subjects of Rilke's elegies? Why do you think this is so?

Essay Topic 2

What does the "diaphonous girl" represent to Rilke? What part of Rilke does it symbolize? Why does he write about her? What role does she play in Rilke's poems?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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