RiName: Date:

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Letters to a Young Poet / Black Swan Green Evidence Collector

Rilke’s/Madame’s Advice:
Mentor / How does this advice apply to Jason/the Young Poet?
Mentee
Madame advises Jason to express what is in his heart: “Express what is here. She jabbed my heart” (146). / Rilke advises the young poet to “Find out the reason that commands you to write…into the very depths of your heart” (6).
Rilke advises that a poet should “describe your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind and your belief in some kind of beauty” (2). / Jason should take Rilke’s advice and “describe his sorrows” by writing poetry about his speech impediment. Jason’s poem “Hangman” describes his speech impediment because Hangman is a symbol for Jason’s stammering. For example, Jason says, “my stammering took on the appearance of a hangman” (26).
Rilke advises the young poet to write about his “childhood, that jewel beyond all price, that treasure house of memories” (2). This is a metaphor comparing childhood to a jewel, or something of great value. / Jason can take Rilke’s advice to write about his childhood because he is indeed a child. He is thirteen years old. For example, Jason says, “I’m a kid. I’m thirteen. You said it’s a miserable age, being thirteen, and you’re right. If you don’t fit in, they make your life a misery” (154).
Madame says “at least your poem is robust enough to be criticized” (146). / The young poet takes Madame’s advice because he writes to Rilke asking him to criticize his poetry. For example, Rilke responds in his letter, “I cannot discuss your verses; for any attempt at criticism would be foreign to me” (1).

A predicament is an unpleasantly difficult, perplexing, or dangerous situation. In both Letter’s to a Young Poet and Black Swan Green, both protagonists find themselves in a predicament for which they need advice. Why is the young poet getting advice from Rilke? Why is Jason getting advice from Madame Crommelynck?

Summary of the young poet’s predicament:

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Summary of Jason’s predicament:

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