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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 happens to the sweep after he tells his story to the Emir?
2. What would Kafur do each year as a boy?
3. In The Tale of the Three Apples, what did the woman's husband bring her when she was ill?
4. In the story of The Sweep and The Noble Lady, what do the pilgrims do with the praying man?
5. Upon meeting the angel, the hermit does what?
Short Essay Questions
1. Of what symbolic use were the tokens (signet rings) to the two lovestruck characters in The Tale of Kamar Al-Zaman?
2. In the opening chapter of The Story of King Shahryar And His Brother, Shahrazad is spared eligibility for beheading because she is one of the Wazir's daughters. Is her request to marry the king an act of fate/Allah's power, or rather an a human aspect of her personality?
3. What does Shahrazad teach the king through her story In The Tale of Ma'an Son of Zaidah and The Badawi?
4. Through this story of Nur Al-Din Ali And His Son Al-Din Hasan, how does Shahrazad indirectly remind King Shahryar of the value of family?
5. In Hatim Of the Tribe of Tayy, how does this story blur the lines between the living and the dead?
6. How is Shahrazad able to hint at the king's faults through this story of The City of Many-Columned Iram and Abdullah Son of Abi Kalibah indirectly?
7. How in the Tale of Ghanim in Ayyub, The Distraught, The Thrall O'Love does Shahrazad strive to replace King Shahryar's distrust of women with doubt over his belief?
8. What qualities does the Caliph show through his actions towards the sisters and princes in the Porter and The Three Ladies of Baghdad?
9. What might Shahrazad be suggesting through her tale to the king in The Hermits?
10. In the story of Nur Al-Din Ali And His Son Al-Din Hasan, how does Shahrazad continue to work towards her goal of convincing King Shahhryar to change his beliefs about women?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Ironically, The Arabian Nights first rose to prominence when it piqued the interest of Western readers, as they were considered to be too "low-lit" to be of interest to Arab literati. Choose three or more tales from the book, and giving examples, explain why the elements of those stories might have been seen as too rough, simple, or rude to the trained eye of upper/class Arab literary intelligentsia.
Essay Topic 2
The seemingly random and somewhat humorous story of How Abu Hasan Broke Wind seems to have no apparent places in this plethora of artfully told selection of moralistic tales. Explore the reasons why Shahrazad may have decided to tell this tale. Consider the following background concepts when outlining your essay:
Characters' intentions/reasonings.
Length of the book itself.
Length of the tale.
Essay Topic 3
The Story of King Shahryar and His Brother demonstrates the good of what will come when all characters involved that are suffering turn their fates over to Allah. This is also a consistent theme seen throughout the telling of Shahrazad's tales until the end of the novel itself. Now, Arabian Nights is seen as one of the most powerful and beautiful classics of all times in the literary world. Do you feel that the historical timing of the introduction of this book to society helped its ascension to fame, or hindered it? Would another Arabian Nights be so highly lauded if offered up to the public today, despite its moral teachings?
Consider and recognize:
Islamic culture in Persia at that time.
Stances on religion and appropriateness of religious teachings in schools at this time.
Women's traditional places in the areas discussed in the book at that time.
Women's rights today.
Accepted sexual practices of the political elite at the time.
Unacceptable publicity of sexual practices of the politically elite at that time.
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This section contains 1,139 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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