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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 poem in Book 1, Chapter 2, where several men fall in love with the same woman, her physical beauty is really a representation of what?
(a) The illusion of happiness.
(b) Spiritual beauty.
(c) False hope.
(d) The passage of time.

2. In Rumi's string metaphor, the string connects two animals by their what?
(a) Wrists.
(b) Ears.
(c) Necks.
(d) Ankles.

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

4. In addition to being a religious leader, Rumi was a what?
(a) Physician.
(b) Soldier.
(c) Gardener.
(d) Scholar.

5. For Coleman Barks, part of the experience of grasping Rumi's poems is what?
(a) Analytical.
(b) Scientific.
(c) Transcendental.
(d) Impersonal.

Short Answer Questions

1. Over time, what has Coleman Barks been able to do with Rumi's poems?

2. Before responding to the king's command in a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3, what does Ayaz do?

3. In a poem in Book 1, Chapter 3 involving a complicated love triangle consisting of a man and two women, Rumi explores what subjects?

4. The poem in Book 1, Chapter 2 about a man who accidentally soils himself includes lessons on which of the following?

5. In the poems about an unlikely friendship between two different animals, one of them being a frog, these two animals have very different what?

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

3. How is Coleman Barks associated with Rumi?

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

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

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

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

8. In what ways does God appear in Rumi's poetry?

9. With regards to beauty, what important connection does Rumi infer when he references a beautiful woman in the poem about a city being invaded by men driven by sexual desire?

10. Describe the "short story" model Rumi uses for many of his poems.

(see the answer keys)

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