Instructions and Guidelines: Rumi Essay

Source: The Essential Rumi, New Expanded Edition Paperback – May 28, 2004

4 pp., double-spaced, MLA format

Select and read seven of the twenty-eight chapters in The Essential Rumi

(Barks translation, 2004). Based on your readings, write a four page essay that

answers the following questions. Be sure to include references to individual

poems in your answers. There is no need to list the individual chapters, but

let me know at least which poems you have in mind as you construct your

answers. (No need for elaborate footnotes; instead just incorporate the name

of the poems into your essay.)

Identify the major themes in Rumi’s work from the chapters you chose,

and then construct an argument with a clear thesis that answers these

questions:

1. What is distinctively Islamic in Rumi’s work, if anything? To which

extent is Rumi a “universal” poet? Why?

2. What does Rumi’s work reveal about the spiritual values of the Islamic

world in the thirteenth century, often called the “Islamic Golden Age?”

You may deal with each of the questions separately, or in a way that brings

together both of the questions in your argument. Aim for realistic paragraphs

that stand for at least one clear thought.