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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. What is playing on the television as the narrator’s wife exits upstairs in the story?
3. What kind of paper does the blind man ask the narrator to go get when they are talking late at night?
4. What kind of meat does the narrator’s wife serve for dinner in the story?
5. Exasperated by his inability to explain a cathedral to the blind man, the narrator apologizes and says, “The truth is, cathedrals don’t mean” what to him?
Short Essay Questions
1. What role does alcoholism play in “Cathedral”?
2. From what narrative perspective is the story told? How does this narrative style affect the reader?
3. How does the narrator’s wife respond when he turns on the television? What conversation ensues?
4. How are the narrator’s perceptions of race illustrated in “Cathedral”?
5. What does the narrator ask Robert regarding cathedrals in the story? Why? How does Robert respond?
6. How is the beginning of the television show about the church described?
7. Where in the story do you see the first elements of transformation in the protagonist?
8. What drives the narrative plot of “Cathedral”? What effect does this have on the plot’s structure?
9. What does the blind man suggest when he feels the drawing is complete? How does the narrator respond?
10. Where in the story does the protagonist undergo an “epiphany”?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Discuss the roles and expectations of gender as depicted in “Cathedral.” How are the traditional roles and expectations of women reflected in the narrative? How does the narrator perceive “masculinity”? What role do you think gender plays in the story?
Essay Topic 2
Discuss the theme of “rebirth” and the transformation of the narrator from the beginning of the story to the end. How do you think the narrator has changed from his interactions with Robert? Do you think this change is a good thing? Why or why not?
Essay Topic 3
Discuss Raymond Carver’s role in the minimalist movement in literature during the 1980s. What influenced this movement? Who were Carver’s influences as a writer? How is minimalism illustrated in “Cathedral”?
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This section contains 888 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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