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

2. Where does the blind man live?

3. What is playing on the television as the narrator’s wife exits upstairs in the story?

4. When was Raymond Carver born?

5. Why does the narrator’s wife say she shouldn’t be smoking this when she is passed the joint in the story?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why does the narrator say the blind man is coming to visit in the beginning of the story?

3. What activity does the blind man suggest to the narrator during their discussion about cathedrals?

4. How many drinks do the narrator, his wife, and Robert have before dinner? What do they discuss?

5. How are the narrator’s perceptions of race illustrated in “Cathedral”?

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

7. What is symbolized through the television set in the story?

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

9. How is the narrator’s “blind drawing” experience described?

10. What drives the narrative plot of “Cathedral”? What effect does this have on the plot’s structure?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Examine and discuss correlations between the biography of Raymond Carver and the narrative of “Cathedral.” In what ways do you think Carver resembles the narrator of the story? How is alcohol a theme in Carver’s life and in the story? How does the epiphany in the story relate to Carver?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the Middle Ages and the erection of cathedrals during this historical period. Where are the cathedrals in the story (on television) principally located? Why? How are these structures described?

(see the answer keys)

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