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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In a poem in Book 1, Chapter 2, several men invade a city because they are driven by what?
(a) A mad dictator.
(b) Sexual attraction.
(c) Greed and hate.
(d) Their egos.

2. What is a Caliph?
(a) Student.
(b) Teacher.
(c) Leader.
(d) Doctor.

3. Who were Rumi's three main friends who inspired much of his poetry?
(a) Mehdi, Husam, and Malek.
(b) Shams, Saladin, and Husam.
(c) Saladin, Ahmad, and Sherzi.
(d) Amir, Shams, and Mohad.

4. One of the key attributes of the character Ayaz is what?
(a) Loyalty.
(b) Arrogance.
(c) A fear of nearly everything.
(d) A tendency to lie.

5. Rumi's poems focus on what aspect of life?
(a) Imaginary life.
(b) Inner life.
(c) Life after death.
(d) Life's sorrows.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is Reynold Nicholson?

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

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

4. According to Rumi, when the individual ego disappears and dissipates into God, this can be understood as what?

5. Coleman Barks is famous for what?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Summarize the poem about a man getting a tattoo. What message is delivered through this poem?

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

4. Summarize the poet's message about the importance of balance with respect to the "animal soul."

5. How does the role of gender come into play in many of Rumi's poems?

6. Briefly explain Rumi's metaphor of sugar and vinegar.

7. How do Coleman Barks' preambles prepare the reader?

8. What are some of the challenges of translating Rumi's poems?

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

10. What is the poet's message about friendship in his writings about a frog and a mouse?

(see the answer keys)

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