2. In the Conclusion, King Shahryar's legacy began bloody and ended in peace and prosperity thanks to the gifted storyteller, Shahrazad. Through her stories and her love she changes the heart of the king and her stories live on through the generations. What kind of a reminder can this conclusion offer to humanity on the whole?

3. What is the relationship between the Allah and the Caliph in regards to which has the most power in Khalifah The Fisherman of Baghdad?

4. What moral does Shahrazad imply through her story in the story Julnar The Sea-Born And Her Son King Badr Basim of Persia?

5. In what ways in Judar And His Brethren does Shahrazad personify evil throughout her story?

6. In the tale of Ma'aruf The Cobbler And His Wife Fatimah, Shahrazad demonstrates the difference between a good wife and a wicked one. How could this relate to Shahrazad's goals in the long run between herself and the king?

7. In Khalifah The Fisherman of Baghdad, the reader witnesses the Caliph dispense mercy and cruelty with the whim of someone raised in a position of such absolute power that it distances him from the suffering of the common people, much like the fisherman Khalifah. How could this part of the story relate to Shahrazad's goal of changing the king's ways?

8. In what way could this be a sort of cautionary tale from Shahrazad to the king in The Lady And Her Five Suitors?

9. What character trait(s) of the men in the story Julnar The Sea-Born And Her Son King Badr Basim of Persia allow(s) them to be ensnared by Queen Lab?

10. Consider the saying, "The clothes maketh the man." How is this proven in Alaedddin: Or, The Wonderful Lamp?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In this tale of Alaeddin: Or, The Wonderful Lamp, Shahrazad creates a character of mythological proportions who achieves greatness despite social, financial, educational, and logical obstacles. Perhaps it is Shahrazad's goal to humanize the poor through one individual so that the king can appreciate that the poor are as human as he is. Please expand upon all aspects of Alaeddin's struggles in relation to the king's own. Compare and contrast their similarities and differences.

Essay Topic 2

Choose the tale that you feel is the most powerful/poignant one, within one of the following realms of appreciation:

1. Your personal life/impression.

2. The king and his situation within the novel at that moment.

3. The general adult audience of the times.

4. The general adult audience now.

Essay Topic 3

In The Tale of Kamar Al-Zaman, Kamar and Budur not only played great human/mortal part to make their life together possible, but a string of seemingly unforeseen events also play a part in their stories/lives, which gives the listener the feel that both human intention and fate play a part in people's lives. How do other characters in other tales continue to bring this concept home to the king of the interconnectedness between fate, human decisions, and devotion to Allah?

Please choose from these stories:

1. Hatim and The Tribe of Tayy

2. The Hermit

3. Sindbad the Seaman and Sindbad the Landsman

4. The Tale of the Birds and the Beasts and the Carpenter

(see the answer keys)

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