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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. According to the narrator, his wife had helped the blind man organize his little office where when she worked for him?
(a) A large bank
(b) A grocery store
(c) The Internal Revenue Service
(d) The county social service department

2. How long ago does the narrator’s wife say she and her husband bought their sofa?
(a) 4 days ago
(b) 2 weeks ago
(c) 6 weeks ago
(d) 3 years ago

3. What happens to the television show as the narrator works on his drawing of a cathedral in the story?
(a) It goes off the air
(b) It gets louder
(c) It transitions to the desert
(d) It plays on mute

4. How many short stories are included in the anthology Cathedral?
(a) 5
(b) 4
(c) 7
(d) 12

5. What does the blind man ask the narrator after giving prefacing it with, “Hey, listen. I hope you don’t mind my asking you. Can I ask you something? Let me ask you a simple question, yes or no”?
(a) He asks if the narrator is religious
(b) He asks if the narrator is a sports fan
(c) He asks if the narrator is true to his wife
(d) He asks if the narrator is a dog lover

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the blind man take from his back pocket as he and the narrator are talking and watching television late at night?

2. When the narrator changes the television channel, he says there is something about the Church and what era on?

3. The blind man asks the narrator’s wife if he looks what, when he meets her husband?

4. The blind man comments to the narrator as he draw the cathedral, “What’s a cathedral without” what?

5. How does the narrator describe the blind man’s shoulders after his arrival?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator’s wife describe Robert’s marriage prior to his arrival in the story?

2. What does the blind man suggest when he feels the drawing is complete? How does the narrator respond?

3. What role does alcoholism play in “Cathedral”?

4. How are the characters in “Cathedral” representative of Raymond Carver’s style?

5. What are the narrator’s thoughts after his wife falls asleep, leaving him alone with Robert?

6. How is the theme of alienation illustrated through the protagonist in the story?

7. What are the narrator’s perceptions of Robert’s marriage as his wife describes it in the beginning of the story?

8. From what narrative perspective is the story told? How does this narrative style affect the reader?

9. How does the narrator begin his drawing? What does his wife ask at this time?

10. How does the narrator describe Robert’s eyes in the story?

(see the answer keys)

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