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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. In the story of Ali The Persian, why did Caliph Harun al-Rashid ask his Wazir for a storyteller?

2. How many sons does the Wazir of Cairo have?

3. Ali the Persian tells the first story of traveling to Baghdad bearing a what?

4. If the tale impresses the Caliph, what does he promise to do?

5. What does Abdullah, Son of Abi Kalibah, set off to find?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the purpose of Shahrazad telling this story In Hatim Of the Tribe of Tayy to the King?

2. How might Shahrazad's tale in The Tale of The Three Apples whittle away at the king's assumption that all women are faithless and untrustworthy?

3. In Hatim Of the Tribe of Tayy, how does this story blur the lines between the living and the dead?

4. What might Shahrazad be suggesting through her tale to the king in The Hermits?

5. What does Shahrazad teach the king through The Sweep and The Noble Lady?

6. What are the fundamental differences in value systems between the duck and the three other animals; peahen, peacock and antelope metioned in The Tale of The Birds And The Beasts And The Carpenter?

7. In The Sweep and The Noble Lady, how did the Emir's pardon of the sweep seem just, although it was not the ultimate punishment (death)?

8. What kind of a character is the hermit in The Hermits?

9. What is one moral implied by Shahrazad in the Tale of Ghanim in Ayyub, The Distraught, The Thrall O'Love?

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Shahrazad's feminine heroism leaves for a depth of literary interpretation. Her story can be seen as a feminist critique insofar as it criticizes the weaknesses of a masculinity that is constructed on the image of power, control and domination. Yet Shahrazad's response remains within the parameters established for women by Islam.

Reviewing and referring to the tales you find most telling of her role, characterize Shahrazad's personality and critique her abilities to make her intentions a reality.

Essay Topic 2

In The Tale of The Three Apples, the circular nature and connectedness of the happenings in Chapter 3 could arguably imply that there is a higher intention or being in power that if tapped, will lead the way to freedom and an improved life. In what way is this kind of fate/faith-based lesson-telling indicative of the times during which these tales were compiled?

Please keep in mind historical background, Islamic culture, and advantages to the author for the purposes of developing Shahrazad and the king's relationship.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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