Questions for non Western Lit
The Middle East
Pyramid Texts:
Find an image in the first poems; what is the overall feeling of these death songs?
How can we interpret the idea of 'eating the gods'? Are there other parallels suggested here?
The Shipwrecked Sailor:
What are the three stories?
What are examples of details in this story that illustrate life at that time?
The Tale of the Doomed Prince:
How does this remind you of familiar fairytales and how is it different?
What happens next?
Songs:
Are there any images that struck you, why so?
Enheduanna:
Who is Enheduanna? Looking at the last four poems, what story is being told here?
Have you any feeling for who the writer is as a person? What about the view
of women given here?
Gilgamesh:
What is the complete story arc of Gilgamesh? (see lecture notes as well as intro)
What are a few of the themes dealt with in this story?
Talking one incident in the story, what are some of the questions it raises?
What are some of the ambiguities of this story? For example, are wildness and civilization always what they seem to be?
Adapa, the Man:
What are some parallels and contrasts to Old Testament stories?
Who is Ea and why does he give such council? What forces might be represented by Ea and Anu that are different from each other, so that the man trusts the one and rejects what the other could give?
What is the lesson, purpose of this story?
Early Arabic Poetry:
What are some of the images in the elegies that stand out to you? The best line?
The quasida is an ode. What sorts of topics do poems of this sort commonly include (four were mentioned)?
What do you see of Bedouin life in these poems?
Islam and the Quran: (see below)
What are Iman, Islam, and Ihsan? How do they describe three important aspects of Islam as a belief system, and how do they relate to each other? How are they manifested and what do they strive to create?
How is the spoken word important, even central, to the practice of Islam?
Rabia the Mystic:
Who was Rabia and what do you think about her character from the little we have of what she said?
The 1001 Nights:
How does the author interlock these stories: give an example of one transition.
What are the concerns of these stories, their themes? Are there any messages hidden here by the storyteller?
The Book of Reflections:
What are some examples of the Middle Eastern view of the Franks? Comments?
The Epic of Kings
There is a creation story here, what aspects of civilization are explained?
How are the beliefs of Zoroastrianism reflected in this story?
What is the political agenda behind this Persian epic? Give specific examples.
What are examples of instances in the story you find particularly vivid? Are there any striking metaphors?
The Epic of Kings: in class discussion questions
1.(i) What is the ethnic subtext here? Examples of Zoroastrian beliefs?
2. (ii) What is the food subtext? What is the bargain? Explain.
(iii) what is Farr? What is the plot here?
3. (i) Who is Faridun?
(ii) Who does the Blacksmith, (Kava) represent? What is the banner and
its significance?
4. (iii) Riding to Jerusalem: what is the meaning of the river, of the city?
(iv) This section is a comedy, give examples
5. (v) Ending? Final punishment of Zahak?
The Rubaiyat:
What is a quatrain? In this poem the rubai are "epigrammatic quatrains". What does that mean?
Omar Khayyam has been seen as both a Sufi and a complete materialist and pessamist; what is your understanding of these verses?
Rumi:
Rumi is the original Sufi, what is the philosophy of Sufism?
In Rumi there is no question that his pursuit of earthly oblivion through drunkenness or love can be read in more than one way. Show how this is true in his poems with examples.
Philosophy of Islam
using: Schuon, Frithjof. Understanding Islam. Penguin; Baltimore, 1972
IMAN
Is: The Absolute and attachment of all to the Absolute (Allah) "There is no God but God..."
Get there through: Faith (Shahadah)
Says: Transcendent Intelligence exists
Creates: Certainty
ISLAM
Is: Submission, obedience
Get there through: The Law (Shari'ah)
Says: Free will submits to God
Creates: Equilibrium
IHSAN
Is: Virtue, remembering God through speech, action, on the basis of the Iman and Islam.
Get there through: The Way (Salat)
Says: Speaking the Testement of Faith, the Quran, is a manifestation of God and transformative of humans, as is action in God's name
Creates: Prayer
