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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. Of the blind man’s eyes, the narrator says there’s too much white where?
(a) In the cornea
(b) In the retina
(c) In the iris
(d) In the pupil

2. What central theme unites the main characters in “Cathedral”?
(a) Overreaching ambition
(b) Maternal love
(c) Lust
(d) Alienation

3. Where was Raymond Carver born?
(a) Jackson, Wyoming
(b) Yakima, Washington
(c) Clatskanie, Oregon
(d) Mountain Home, Idaho

4. When was Raymond Carver’s short story collection Will You Please Be Quiet, Please? Published?
(a) 1969
(b) 1980
(c) 1985
(d) 1976

5. After hearing her name, the narrator asks his wife what question?
(a) Was his wife a Yankee?
(b) Was his wife southern?
(c) Was his wife a Negro?
(d) Was his wife Canadian?

Short Answer Questions

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

2. From what narrative perspective is the story of “Cathedral” relayed?

3. What was the narrator’s wife’s position when she worked for the blind man?

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

5. For how many years were the blind man and his wife married before her health went rapidly in decline?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the narrator’s first impressions of Robert after his arrival? How is Robert dressed?

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

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

4. 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?

5. What does the reader learn about the narrator when he and his wife discuss their friends prior to the blind man’s arrival?

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

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

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

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

10. How is the beginning of the television show about the church described?

(see the answer keys)

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