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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 does Rilke refer to as "pampered favorites"?

2. Who is Rilke describing with the following line: "Praising is what matters! He was summoned for that"?

3. What is "For the Sake of a Single Poem" about?

4. How many poems are in Book 1, Chapter 6?

5. What is sonnet II-4 about?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the elegy about angels.

2. What is the difference between a poem and prose?

3. What is "Faces" about?

4. Describe the "diaphaonous girl."

5. Describe "To Music."

6. What does the format of the lines say about Rilke and his poetry in Book 1, Chapter 6?

7. Who does the invisible 'you' reference in the first poem in "Sonnets to Orpheus"?

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

9. How does Rilke give in to tradition while writing, as exemplified in his elegies?

10. Why do you think that only some poems have titles?

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

Compare and contrast the panther, gazelle, and swan poems to each other. What are the differences in message, literary devices, and rhyming techniques? Why are these devices important to the poems? What do they say about Rilke?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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