View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. The blind man tells the narrator as he continues his drawing of the cathedral, “You got it, bub. I can tell. You didn’t think you could. But you can, can’t you? You’re cooking with” what?
(a) Dry tinder
(b) Grease
(c) Charcoal
(d) Gas now

3. The narrator says of the blind man that he’d done “a little bit of everything, it seemed, a regular” what?
(a) Barry Fitzgerald
(b) John Muir
(c) Blind jack-of-all-trades
(d) Disabled explorer

4. The narrator surmises of the blind man’s wife that she could wear what in her nostril and it wouldn’t make a difference?
(a) A straight pin
(b) A pencil
(c) An earring
(d) A handkerchief

5. How many joints does the narrator roll for him and the blind man while his wife is upstairs?
(a) 6
(b) 2
(c) 4
(d) 1

6. Along what river does the narrator describe the train going on the route from his home to New York?
(a) The Niagara River
(b) The Snake River
(c) The Green River
(d) The Hudson River

7. What are in the bottom of the shopping bag that the narrator gathers for the blind man at night?
(a) Onion skins
(b) Coffee beans
(c) Coupons
(d) Marshmallows

8. Where is Moody A.F.B. located?
(a) California
(b) Kansas
(c) Georgia
(d) New Jersey

9. Where does the narrator tell the blind man the show about cathedrals has traveled to, where there are “paintings on the walls of this one church”?
(a) Denmark
(b) Romania
(c) Finland
(d) Italy

10. What does the narrator admit he does not believe in when discussing matters with the blind man late at night in the story?
(a) Anything
(b) The Devil
(c) Humanity
(d) Beauty

11. Where did the other half of the coin go that the blind man was left with, according to the narrator?
(a) In a frame on the wall
(b) In his wallet
(c) In a safe deposit box
(d) In his wife’s coffin

12. The blind man comments to the narrator as he draw the cathedral, “What’s a cathedral without” what?
(a) Priests
(b) Pews
(c) Prayers
(d) People

13. What is the blind man’s name in the story?
(a) Robert
(b) William
(c) Marcus
(d) Jacob

14. From what narrative perspective is the story of “Cathedral” relayed?
(a) Second-person omniscient point of view
(b) Third-person omniscient point of view
(c) First-person limited point of view
(d) Third-person limited point of view

15. What Irish actor does the blind man quote in saying “When I drink water, I drink water. When I drink whiskey, I drink whiskey”?
(a) Stuart Townsend
(b) Brendan Gleeson
(c) Barry Fitzgerald
(d) Peter O’Toole

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator asks the blind man while they watch TV if he knows the difference between a cathedral and what?

2. The blind man tells the narrator when he arrives that he hadn’t been on a train in almost how long?

3. Where does the narrator sit when he returns to the living room with a pen and paper?

4. What word from the story refers to a hooded garment worn by monks?

5. What kind of paper does the blind man ask the narrator to go get when they are talking late at night?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 535 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample