1. In The Angel of Death With The Proud King And The Devout Man is described a wealthy man and a poor one. What are the fundamental differences in the reasons for why each man personally lived his life?

2. In The Ebony Horse, the brother Kamar rescues his younger sister from marriage to an ugly old Persian bearing a gift. In the process of helping his sister, Kamar also finds love, so his kindness is rewarded. What is to be learned from this part of the story?

3. What does Shahrazad reinforce to her king through The Sleeper And The Waker?

4. In what ways in Judar And His Brethren does Shahrazad personify evil throughout her story?

5. In this tale of Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves, Shahrazad presents a servant girl as the hero. What may be the point of this story for Shahrazad in light of the king's attitude towards women?

6. How is the ending of this story from The Ebony Horse a very direct and personally-related implication to the king from Shahrazad?

7. What is the relationship between the Allah and the Caliph in regards to which has the most power in Khalifah The Fisherman of Baghdad?

8. How does the constant questioning of Sindbad the Seaman's identity throughout Sindbad The Seaman And Sindbad The Lands change the view of the nature of his character to listeners?

9. What character trait(s) of the men in the story Julnar The Sea-Born And Her Son King Badr Basim of Persia allow(s) them to be ensnared by Queen Lab?

10. How is justice served through the story of Ali Baba And The Forty Thieves?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the story of The Angel of Death With The Proud King And The Devout Man, a wealthy man lived for his own glory while the devout man lived for God, so each man faced death differently: one as loss, the other as gain. The moral lesson is not about wealth or poverty, but about the character of a man. In short, wealth and position are meaningless in the next world because one cannot take his possessions to the grave. Citing specific examples from the tale as your supporting evidence, explore and explain how this tale flies in the face of the cultural and social beliefs of the day.

Essay Topic 2

In Ma'aruf the Cobbler and His Wife Fatimah it is shown that one cannot fully escape the past, as proven when Ma'aruf spends most of his life as far away from his wicked wife as possible. Using examples from this story and any others found germane enough to prove the argument, explore in an essay just how Shahrazad uses the workings of fate, and the idea that one cannot escape past evil deeds, to her advantage.

Essay Topic 3

As the reader may have noticed from the beginning, the style of The Arabian Nights possesses unique characteristics in many ways. One is in regard to the fact that frame stories are used consistently throughout the entire piece. In an essay, and keeping in mind the fact that typical Western literary devices are not used in this novel, please provide insight as to how the use of framing stories is an invaluable tool to:

1. The author.

2. The character of Shahrazad.

3. Sindbad.

Please feel free to use any historical information you may now know about the history and background of certain stories in The Arabian Nights. Do create an introductory theme to your essay, tying all evidences together under one argument.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,288 words
(approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page)

View a FREE sample

More summaries and resources for teaching or studying The Arabian Nights.

View all Lesson Plans available from BookRags.

Copyrights

BookRags