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

2. Are Rumi's friends mentioned directly in his poems?
(a) Only in some.
(b) It is impossible to tell.
(c) No, in none of them.
(d) Yes, in all of them.

3. What prominent themes are found in much of Rumi's work?
(a) Hate and separation.
(b) Marriage and divorce.
(c) Travel and loss.
(d) Love and unity.

4. After reading Rumi's poems, Coleman Barks feels he has been:
(a) Comforted.
(b) Discombobulated.
(c) Duped.
(d) Transformed.

5. Rumi uses the metaphor of a string between two animals to represent what?
(a) Imprisonment.
(b) Selective hearing.
(c) Secret connections.
(d) Confusion.

Short Answer Questions

1. In a poem entitled "Rough Metaphors," Rumi asserts that a lover's reverence is often sheltered in:

2. When the animal soul Rumi writes about is in proper balance, it:

3. When Coleman Barks first started reading Rumi's works, what types of words turned him away?

4. Many of Rumi's poems reveal that life is not two-dimensional; on the contrary, it is very:

5. In the end, what does the character Ayaz do in a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What does the poem about a mouse and a camel convey about friendship and honesty?

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

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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