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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does the narrator’s wife say she shouldn’t be smoking this when she is passed the joint in the story?
(a) It makes me too talkative
(b) It is the devil’s weed
(c) I can barely keep my eyes open as it is
(d) I could get drug tested

2. After showing a cathedral in Portugal, the television show next travels to show a cathedral where?
(a) Germany
(b) Romania
(c) France
(d) Poland

3. What tool does the narrator note the blind man does not use after his arrival?
(a) A backhoe
(b) A wheelchair
(c) A cane
(d) Braille

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

5. What does the narrator suggest to his wife he could do when the blind man comes to visit, causing her exasperation?
(a) He could take him to church
(b) He could take him bowling
(c) He could invite him to the opera
(d) He could take him to a ballgame

6. What is the first thing the narrator says he draws in his attempt to recreate a cathedral for the blind man?
(a) A tent of some kind
(b) A box that looked like a house
(c) A barn-like structure
(d) A rickety old shack

7. What happens to the television show as the narrator works on his drawing of a cathedral in the story?
(a) It gets louder
(b) It goes off the air
(c) It plays on mute
(d) It transitions to the desert

8. How does the narrator describe the windows he draws on the cathedral in the story?
(a) Arched
(b) Triangular
(c) Squared
(d) Wide

9. Where did Raymond Carver earn his Bachelor of Arts degree?
(a) Humboldt State College
(b) University of Nevada, Reno
(c) Oregon State University
(d) Evergreen State University

10. How long ago does the narrator’s wife say she and her husband bought their sofa?
(a) 2 weeks ago
(b) 3 years ago
(c) 4 days ago
(d) 6 weeks ago

11. What question does the blind man ask the narrator as the narrator begins drawing the cathedral in the story?
(a) What kind of building are you drawing here, bub?
(b) Where’s your wife when you need her, huh, bub?
(c) Where are you going to put the steeple and the people, bub?
(d) Never thought anything like this could happen in your lifetime, did you, bub?

12. How does the narrator describe the physicality of the blind man after his arrival?
(a) Frail
(b) Heavy-set
(c) Muscle-bound
(d) Toned

13. The narrator describes his legs as feeling as though he’s just done what when he gets up to look for a pen and paper?
(a) Some running
(b) Some sit-ups
(c) Some swimming
(d) Some pushups

14. What novelist was Raymond Carver’s mentor and teacher?
(a) John Gardner
(b) Horace Greeley
(c) Henry David Thoreau
(d) Margaret Fuller

15. What does the blind man do as the narrator attempts to explain cathedrals to him?
(a) He taps on the table repeatedly
(b) He hums a tune softly
(c) He runs his fingers through his beard
(d) He snaps his fingers rhythmically

Short Answer Questions

1. When was Raymond Carver born?

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

3. How does the narrator feel about the blind man’s visit in the beginning of the story?

4. When the narrator changes the television channel, he says there is something about the Church and what era on?

5. In what city did the blind man’s wife die?

(see the answer keys)

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