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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. The narrator states after the blind man’s arrival that he’d always thought what “were a must for the blind”?
(a) Dark glasses
(b) Scarves
(c) Sandals
(d) Walking poles

2. What does the blind man remark about the narrator’s television set, saying, “Don’t ask me how, but I can tell”?
(a) That it is a color television set
(b) That it is a small television set
(c) That it is an old television set
(d) That the sound seems rough

3. What is the narrator’s prayer before dinner in the story?
(a) Pray for good weather and sound sleep
(b) Pray the bills are paid and we wake up tomorrow
(c) Pray for Robert’s wife
(d) Pray the phone won’t ring and the food doesn’t get cold

4. Where does the blind man put his hand as the narrator begins to draw in the story?
(a) At the edge of the table
(b) On the paper
(c) On the narrator’s face
(d) Over the narrator’s hand

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What tool does the narrator note the blind man does not use after his arrival?

2. What question does the blind man ask the narrator as the narrator begins drawing the cathedral in the story?

3. How does the narrator describe the physicality of the blind man after his arrival?

4. Where does the narrator go to find a pen and paper when the blind man suggests it at night?

5. What were the literary formats that Raymond Carver’s career was dedicated to?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How is the theme of creativity illustrated through the protagonist in the beginning of “Cathedral”?

4. What takes place in the story as it builds to its climax?

5. What is signified by the narrator’s choice to keep his eyes closed at the end of the story?

6. What does the narrator offer to Robert after his wife passes out? How does Robert respond?

7. What prompts the narrator to begin speaking during the television show?

8. How does the narrator describe his experience in the final lines of the story?

9. What is the central imagery employed in the story? How is it employed?

10. Where does the rising action take place in “Cathedral”?

(see the answer keys)

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