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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3 about Ayaz the courtier, what command does the king give?

2. In the poem in Book 1, Chapter 2, about a man who wants a tattoo, what dilemma does he face?

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

4. Who is Reynold Nicholson?

5. Most of Rumi's poems presented in this book exhibit what form?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How would one describe the tavern poems?

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

6. What does Coleman Barks mean when he indicates that part of his experience of perceiving Rumi's poems is transcendental?

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

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

9. How is Coleman Barks associated with Rumi?

10. How does Ayaz learn from his predecessors in order to reach a decision that finds favor with the king?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast Rumi's description of candles and sunlight as guiding systems to the external and internal guidance to which people turn.

Essay Topic 2

Ayaz is a character that appears repeatedly throughout many of Rumi's poems. How does Ayaz evolve through Rumi's writings? In what ways is Ayaz similar to Rumi? To Rumi's friends? How does Rumi use Ayaz to explain to the reader some of his own life experiences?

Essay Topic 3

Who was Rumi? Who was Coleman Barks? Why do Rumi's poems resonate so well with Barks? Draw parallels between the 13th-century mystic poet and the contemporary scholar translating his poems.

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