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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 kind of voice spoke to the "faithless Molsem" from heaven?

2. What name did the "ancient crone" give to Jacob when shouting to the seller about him?

3. What did the "narrator" (the hoopoe) compare the beggar to in the story "The Beggar Who Fell in Love with Ayaz"?

4. What did Shebli wear around his waist?

5. What did the dervish ask of God in regard to the famine of Egypt?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did the bat wish to see the sun?

2. Why did the slave not complain about the apple that his king gave to him?

3. What was the definition of justice that the hoopoe gave to the birds?

4. How did the bird who claimed that he had bad luck substantiate his claim that he could not go on the quest with the hoopoe?

5. What were the two things that the Sheikh of Turkestan loved?

6. From the story "The Beggar Who Fell in Love with Ayaz," how was it justified that a beggar could be seen as an equal in royal court?

7. According to the hoopoe, who does the Way belong to?

8. What must one do to find God in the Valley of the Quest?

9. What did Mahna's shiekh tell the old woman about how to pray?

10. Describe the Valley of Detachment.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The theme of love plays a large part in the book "The Conference of the Birds." Find the different definitions of love that the hoopoe uses and compare their uses throughout the stories. How is the imagery of love consistent throughout the book? Does love seem negative or positive? Why?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the different perils of the seven valleys. What did each valley possess that created a conflict for the journey. Why did the birds fear the valley? What did it mean for the birds that made it through each valley? What did each valley represent in life?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Attar's usage of birds in the book. What do the birds represent? Why are birds a suitable substitution for Attar's real "audience"? How does Attar personify the birds in the book?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 810 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample