So here is some advice on how i want my essay to be: 1. introduction starts with the introduction of sufism (about 2 sentences) and then introduce who is Rumi, with a brief introduction of his idea in majority of his works. Finally states the two poems an

Essay #2

Essay Rules: The essay must include a coherent thesis statement, topic sentences, three or four body paragraphs and supporting quotes (roughly 2-3 per body paragraph). Some students like to preview their topic sentences by including them in their introduction. Please do not do this. (I find it pointless.) Please make sure that your thesis is the last sentence in the introduction.

Helpful Commentary and Hints for the comparative essays: Focus on both texts in each body paragraph or focus on one text in each paragraph. To be frank, essays that focus on both texts in each body paragraph are usually stronger essays (but not always).

I would recommend writing an essay that deals with the similarities between two works OR the differences between two works. Dealing with both the similarities and differences is difficult to do in the same essay.

You are not required to devote the same amount of sentences/words to each story or poem. You can concentrate more on one of them if you which. Quotes from both stories/poems should be included in the essay.

An effective way to write a thesis in a comparative essay is to use the following phrasing. For an essay that deals with the differences between the texts: “Unlike Philip Roth's 'Defender of the Faith,' Eileen Pollack's ‘Rabbi in the Attic' explains...” For an essay that deals with the similarities between the texts. “Both Philip Roth's 'Defender of the Faith’ and Eileen Pollak's 'Rabbi in the Attic’ express...”

The essay will be marked on (a) the insightfulness of the ideas, (b) the structure, (c) the quality of the writing.

The topic:

· Compare/contrast ONE of the following topics for TWO of the poems by Rumi that were discussed in class: the merging of God and Humankind (or the existence of Allah within humanity); OR the body/spirit relationship; OR the significance of one’s yearning for God, OR the use of Islamic imagery.

The TWO poems can be selected from:

· The many wines

God has given us a dark wine so potent that,

drinking it, we leave the two worlds.

God has put into the form of hashish a power

to deliver the taster from self-consciousness.

God has made sleep so

that it erases every thought.

God made Majnun love Layla so much that

just her dog would cause confusion in him.

There are thousands of wines

that can take over our minds.

Don’t think all ecstacies

are the same!

Jesus was lost in his love for God.

His donkey was drunk with barley.

Drink from the presence of saints,

not from those other jars.

Every object, every being,

is a jar full of delight.

Be a conoisseur,

and taste with caution.

Any wine will get you high.

Judge like a king, and choose the purest,

the ones unadulterated with fear,

or some urgency about “what’s needed.”

Drink the wine that moves you

as a camel moves when it’s been untied,

and is just ambling about.

· Special plates

Notice how each particle moves Notice how everyone has just arrived here from a journey Notice how each wants a different food Notice how the stars vanish as the sun comes up and how all streams stream towards the ocean.Burnt kabob

· Only breath

Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu Buddhist, sufi, or zen. Not any religion or cultural system. I am not from the East or the West, not out of the ocean or up from the ground, not natural or ethereal, not composed of elements at all. I do not exist, am not an entity in this world or in the next, did not descend from Adam and Eve or any origin story. My place is placeless, a trace of the traceless. Neither body or soul. I belong to the beloved, have seen the two worlds as one and that one call to and know, first, last, outer, inner, only that breath breathing human being.

· Love dogs

One night a man was crying Allah! Allah! His lips grew sweet with praising, until a cynic said, “So! I’ve heard you calling our, but have you ever gotten any response?”

The man had no answer to that. He quit praying and fell into a confused sleep. He dreamed he saw Khidr, the guide of souls, in a thick, green foliage.

“Why did you stop praising?” “Because I’ve never heard anything back.”

“This longing you express is the return message.”

The grief you cry out from draws you toward union.

Your pure sadness that wants help is the secret cup.

Listen to the moan of a dog for its master. That whining is the connection.

There are love dogs no one knows the names of.

Give your life to be one of them.