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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. Where is McConnell A.F.B. located?

2. How does the narrator say he felt about their old sofa (that they replaced) when the blind man arrives?

3. When the blind man asks the narrator to describe a cathedral to him, what is the first thing the narrator says?

4. The narrator feels pity for the blind man when he considers that he lived with and loved his wife without ever having what?

5. The narrator says of the “officer-to-be” that he’d been his wife’s what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the theme of alienation illustrated through the protagonist in the story?

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

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

4. When and where was “Cathedral” first published? What awards was it nominated for?

5. How is the post-dinner conversation described by the narrator? What prompts him to turn on the television?

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

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

8. Why does the narrator pity Beulah in the beginning of the story?

9. What is signified by the narrator’s final lines in the story?

10. Why does the narrator apologize to Robert during their discussion after his wife’s fallen asleep?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze and discuss the narrator’s wife in “Cathedral.” How old do you approximate this character to be? What qualities does the wife exhibit through her actions in the story? Based upon the author’s dialogue, how would you characterize the narrator’s relationship with his wife?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the setting of “Cathedral.” Of what importance is the setting of the story? Could the story be set in a different time and place? How would this change the story?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the theme of learning in “Cathedral.” What is the importance of learning as an individual? How is this reflected in the story? Do you think that the narrator effectively “learns something” by the end of the story?

(see the answer keys)

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