Letters To A Young Poet are ten letters written to a young man about to enter the German military by poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Rilke guides the reader to philosophical thought on being an artist and a person. The students need Rilke to guide them as they graduate high school and move on to college.
My students are highly motivated, hard working twelfth grade Advanced Placement Literature Students.
My school district is the lowest performing in the state with the biggest achievement gap in the nation. My students' big goal is to receive a 5 on the AP Literature exam in May so they may receive college credit. They are currently applying to some of the most competitive academic institutions in the nation, so they need the best education that can be provided to be ready for college. In order to receive the highest mark on the AP Exam, a 5, they must be exposed to a rich variety of literature and practice their analytical skills.
My Project
"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day."- Rainer Maria Rilke. Rilke speaks to universal life experiences of struggling to find a way in a complex and confusing world. My students are on the brink of finishing their high school careers and departing into higher education. They need the guidance of Rilke. They need to dissect and analyze his philosophies to better understand their own perspectives and lives.
This project is important to me and my students because they deserve every opportunity to succeed.
Your donation brings them closer to a better understanding of literature, poetry and life.
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