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

2. How did the women described in Rilke's poem about the ancient women dress?

3. What line follows from "And so you died, as women used to die"?

4. In which way are the poems in the book presented?

5. Which of the following scenarios does Rilke use to describe pain?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Describe Rainer Marie Rilke's background.

4. What does Rilke seem to think about the abnormal women he dedicates a poem to in Book 1, Chapter 3?

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

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

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

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

9. How does Rilke describe death in "Requiem for a Friend"?

10. What is the significance of the diction in "Buddha in Glory"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Rilke honor the ancient Greeks? Do you think that this is his intention? Why or why not?

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

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?

(see the answer keys)

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