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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. In what city did the blind man’s wife die?
2. When the television show about the Church pans across the countryside, the narrator describes men walking behind what?
3. The narrator says in the beginning of the story that the last time his wife saw the blind man was when she worked for him in what city?
4. What is the blind man’s name in the story?
5. When does the narrator say his wife was to marry her fiancé when she worked for the blind man?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is Robert’s response when the narrator offers him marijuana after dinner? What is his experience with the drug?
2. What is “minimalist fiction” and how does it apply to “Cathedral”?
3. How is the theme of transformation illustrated through the narrator’s wife in the story? When did her “transformation” take place with the blind man?
4. How does the author describe his wife’s poetry in “Cathedral”?
5. What is the central imagery employed in the story? How is it employed?
6. How many drinks do the narrator, his wife, and Robert have before dinner? What do they discuss?
7. Where in “Cathedral” does the climax of the narrative take place?
8. What is the narrator’s prayer before dinner? How is the dinner described by the narrator?
9. What are the narrator’s thoughts after his wife falls asleep, leaving him alone with Robert?
10. How did the narrator’s wife come to know the blind man? How is this information revealed in the story?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Define character action, obstacle, and objective and discuss these elements as they apply to the narrator of “Cathedral.” What is the narrator’s goal in the story? Is he successful in achieving his objectives? Why or why not?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the plot structure of “Cathedral.”How “traditional” do you find the plot structure of the story to be? What about the story’s style makes it more difficult to determine the elements of plot? What does the author employ in order to build suspense in the narrative?
Essay Topic 3
Compare and contrast the marriage of the narrator and his wife and the marriage of Robert and Beulah as seen in the text. How are these relationships similar? How do they differ?
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This section contains 900 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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