View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. The stone man was known as ___________.

2. What did the "ancient crone" use to place a bid on Jacob?

3. God breathed a pure soul into Adam's __________.

4. According to the hoopoe, what led those who started along the Way?

5. According to the peasant in the desert ("Sheikh Mahna and the Peasant"), what hides the musk of the hunted deer?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the hoopoe say in regard to the length of the quest to see the Simorgh?

2. What did the hoopoe say about audacity being allowed before the Simorgh?

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

4. 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?

5. Why did the hoopoe not have an exact length of the quest for the birds?

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

7. Why was Husain, the son of Ali, killed?

8. Describe the stone man.

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

10. According to the hoopoe, what happened when one entered the Valley of Insight into Mystery?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the hoopoe. Who is the hoopoe? Who does he represent? What imagery is associated with him? What are his characteristics? Why is he important to the book?

Essay Topic 2

Two of the most important themes that traverse the book's entirety are the importance of passionate love and the destruction of the Self. However, many times these two themes are joined to show that one depends wholly on the other. Discuss the dependency that passionate love and the destruction of the self have throughout the book. Why do they depend on each other? What stories show this dependency, and how do the stories speak to the dependency? Use only details from the book for support.

Essay Topic 3

The introduction of the book defines the use of metaphors as not typical of what an English reader would understand. Choose three examples of Attar's use of a metaphor and explain his use of the metaphor in the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 744 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample