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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to Rumi, people who choose from their own free will come from:
(a) Immorality.
(b) Confusion.
(c) Love.
(d) Fear.

2. The purpose of Coleman Barks' preambles to Rumi's poems is to:
(a) Add a new twist to the message of each poem.
(b) Get the reader to come up with his or her own judgments.
(c) Help the reader interpret each poem.
(d) Expand upon Barks' discomfort with each.

3. Which of the following best describes the word exoteric?
(a) Secret rituals.
(b) Incomprehensible words.
(c) Open teachings.
(d) Humorous sayings.

4. How did Rumi's father teach him?
(a) Through music, math, and memorization.
(b) By example.
(c) By leaving him many notes.
(d) Through hands-on, real-life experiences.

5. When was Rumi born?
(a) December 15, 1461.
(b) October 20, 1390.
(c) September 30, 1207.
(d) November 26, 1119.

6. What is one of the central teachings of Rumi?
(a) The search for eternal youth.
(b) The desire for power.
(c) The cultivation of love.
(d) The elimination of sin.

7. What region in Afghanistan did Rumi come from?
(a) Balkh.
(b) Chimtal.
(c) Zari.
(d) Kaldar.

8. Much of the works in this book focus on what type of relationships?
(a) Same gender.
(b) Teacher and student.
(c) Family.
(d) Romantic.

9. In many of Rumi's poems, not only in Book 1, Chapter 2, but throughout the whole book, his distinction between "me" and "you" is what?
(a) Vague.
(b) Humorous.
(c) Solid.
(d) Clear.

10. The poem "On Being A Lover" is written in what format?
(a) Recollection by an old man of his younger years.
(b) Question and answer session between a man and a woman.
(c) Song of lament by a woman who has lost her lover.
(d) Diary entry of a man who has lost his lover.

11. "Cry Out In Your Weakness" is a poem about:
(a) Justice.
(b) Strength.
(c) Weakness.
(d) Punishment.

12. Saladin of Zarkub was what?
(a) Farmer.
(b) Goldsmith.
(c) Barber.
(d) Brick maker.

13. The poem in Book 1, Chapter 3 about the lame goat teaches readers how to be good:
(a) Leaders.
(b) Parents.
(c) Followers.
(d) Spouses.

14. Relative to Rumi, who was Shams Tabriz?
(a) Companion.
(b) Cousin.
(c) Employer.
(d) Brother.

15. At times, God appears in Rumi's poems as a presence and at other times God is compared to:
(a) The Tempter.
(b) The Judge.
(c) The Professor.
(d) The Friend.

Short Answer Questions

1. Rumi's short-story poems range from less than fifty lines to approximately what length?

2. In the poem in Book 1, Chapter 2, where several men fall in love with the same woman, her physical beauty is really a representation of what?

3. Rumi's short-story format found in some of his poems is characterized by:

4. How did others regard Shams?

5. What is a Caliph?

(see the answer keys)

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