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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 the end, what does the character Ayaz do in a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3?
(a) Refuses to obey the King.
(b) Obeys the King.
(c) Hides in fear.
(d) Runs away.

2. Rumi's short-story poems range from less than fifty lines to approximately what length?
(a) Two thousand lines.
(b) A hundred twenty lines.
(c) Ten thousand lines.
(d) Two hundred lines.

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

4. In a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3 involving a complicated love triangle consisting of a man and two women, Rumi explores what subjects?
(a) Reconciliation, division, and uncertainty.
(b) Lust and disgust.
(c) Love, jealousy, and fear.
(d) Humor and tragedy.

5. Rumi's short-story format found in some of his poems is characterized by:
(a) Bizarre characters.
(b) Angelic teachers.
(c) A complete, self-contained story.
(d) A mystical, mysterious story.

Short Answer Questions

1. Relative to Rumi, who was Shams Tabriz?

2. What prominent themes are found in much of Rumi's work?

3. How many additional poems were translated and included in the New Expanded Edition?

4. What happens when the Caliph meets a beautiful, mysterious woman from the city his men have invaded, in a poem in Book 1, Chapter 2?

5. Who were Rumi's three main friends who inspired much of his poetry?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How would one describe the tavern poems?

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

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

6. Explain the disappearances of Rumi's friend, Shams.

7. Explain Rumi's thoughts on love in comparison to jealousy and fear.

8. How does Rumi refer to his friends in the poems within Book 1, Chapter 3?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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