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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. Rumi encourages the reader to be the __________ nearest the thorn that he is, according to his writing.

2. Rumi gives a definition for what we are, "You are the strange business. You have the energy of the ______ in you."

3. In the poem "The Prophets" the people wonder "How long should we keep pounding this cold _____?"

4. Jelaluddin Rumi was born in the remote town of _______ in what is now Afghanistan.

5. Rumi uses the metaphor of being sent to do a task by a King, and forgetting in the poem "The _____ Work".

Short Essay Questions

1. How does breathing help to calm a person, according to Barks' thoughts at the beginning of the section?

2. What do Barks and Rumi have to say about the rhythms and the way that a person breathes in their life?

3. Describe the metaphor Rumi uses when it comes to the black sky and the moon.

4. What does Zuleikha, an Egyptian woman in love with Joseph, do with the shirt that Joseph wears in the story?

5. What happens when you fast, according to the narrator of the poem, in one of Rumi's writings?

6. What will happen to a person's present life when they are going on a spiritual journey, according to the writings of Rumi?

7. After the narrator says they are no religion or culture, not east or west, what does the narrator say they do belong to?

8. What is the metaphor Rumi uses in order to describe the pull of love in one's life and how one should be pulled by love?

9. To what does Rumi compare human beings who do not explore their own spirituality?

10. Where do human beings sit, according to the writings of Rumi, when they are in a prison?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Rumi says that the emptiness inside of a person is what allows for music to be sung and heard.

Part 1: What do you think Rumi means by the emptiness inside of a person?

Part 2: Do you agree that having emptiness is essential for creating music in one's life?

Part 3: How do you think a person can cultivate emptiness in order to create music in one's life?

Essay Topic 2

Within many of the poems that Rumi writes are references to biblical figures, even though Rumi is considered to be another religion besides Christian.

Part 1: Why do you think Rumi resonates with the stories of the biblical figures?

Part 2: Does it seem to be cultural appropriation to use the biblical stories in Rumi's poems?

Part 3: How do you think stories can impact us, even if they're not 'our' stories?

Essay Topic 3

Rumi compares himself to a seeker who thinks he needs to get into somewhere special, only to realize that he is actually trying to get out.

Part 1: Why do you think Rumi uses the metaphors of animals so often in his poems?

Part 2: How do you interpret the idea of knocking on a door, only to realize one needs to be let out, not let in?

Part 3: How do you think a person can begin to release themselves from the inside of their journey?

(see the answer keys)

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