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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 "Ariel" which stanza is the longest?

2. In Book 1, Chapter 5, what does Rilke intentionally use to describe a short scene from real life?

3. In what years were the "Uncollected Poems" written?

4. In the elegy about angels, "Every angel is ______."

5. In the first elegy, what happens to the images as the poem continues?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the message behind "For the Sake of a Single Poem"?

2. What is "Faces" about?

3. Describe "To Music."

4. Which elegy is the most emotional and why?

5. What is the distinction between a poem and an elegy?

6. Describe Orpheus as Rilke describes him in his sonnets.

7. How did the editors connect praise and grief when putting together Rilke's sonnets?

8. What frustrations does Rilke mention in his sonnets?

9. What does Rilke mean by "Every angel is terrifying"?

10. What does Rilke mean when he refers to "pampered favorites"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the significance behind the organization of the poems? How are they organized and why? Does this contribute to the quality of the reading or the message of the poems?

Essay Topic 2

What is the message of "For the Sake of a Single Poem"? What literary devices are used in the poem, and what effect do they have?

Essay Topic 3

Of the poems in the book, which is your favorite? Why? What literary devices set the tone for that poem? Why is this pleasing?

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