View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Over time, what has Coleman Barks been able to do with Rumi's poems?
(a) Experience them more deeply.
(b) Decode secret messages.
(c) Teach them to his children.
(d) Translate them into five languages.

2. In the poems where Rumi includes a frog as one of the main characters, there is a deep friendship that develops between this frog and a:
(a) Bird.
(b) Mouse.
(c) Fish.
(d) Cat.

3. Who is Hallaj?
(a) Scholar who studies Rumi.
(b) Rumi's father.
(c) Rumi's teacher.
(d) Character in Rumi's poems.

4. In the story of a camel and a mouse found in Book 1, Chapter 3, what does the camel do when the two reach a body of water?
(a) Takes a bath.
(b) Runs away.
(c) Encourages the mouse to continue.
(d) Tosses the mouse into the water.

5. When Coleman Barks first started reading Rumi's works, what types of words turned him away?
(a) Heart and soul.
(b) Life and death.
(c) Love and hate.
(d) Shame and guilt.

Short Answer Questions

1. According to a poem in Book 1, Chapter 2, what happens when you put pond water into a larger body of water?

2. For Coleman Barks, part of the experience of grasping Rumi's poems is what?

3. In the book, Coleman Barks is the author of what?

4. In some of his poems, Rumi refers to religious figures:

5. Over time, Coleman Barks' feelings about the messages in Rumi's poetry have what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What might you conclude about Rumi's ideas regarding the importance of friendship?

2. Explain how Rumi uses the metaphor of a string when discussing the bonds of friendship in his writings about a frog and a mouse.

3. What makes Rumi's poems emotionally well integrated?

4. Who were Rumi's three best friends, and how did he regard each?

5. With regards to beauty, what important connection does Rumi infer when he references a beautiful woman in the poem about a city being invaded by men driven by sexual desire?

6. Are Rumi's poems emotional or analytical?

7. What lessons are found within the poem "Cry Out In Your Weakness?"

8. Describe the "short story" model Rumi uses for many of his poems.

9. What are the underlying themes in Rumi's poem about sexual passion where a city is invaded and one of the invaders falls in love with a woman there?

10. Use the "me and you" example in this section to address Rumi's thoughts on identity.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 944 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample