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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the narrator say his wife writes one or two of every year?
(a) Novels
(b) Essays
(c) Poems
(d) Short stories

2. At what point in the story does the protagonist reach his major epiphany?
(a) After dinner
(b) When his wife arrives home
(c) When he closes his eyes
(d) When he turns on the TV

3. What were the literary formats that Raymond Carver’s career was dedicated to?
(a) Short stories and poetry
(b) Novels and biographies
(c) Nonfiction histories and short stories
(d) Essays and memoirs

4. The narrator states after the blind man’s arrival that he’d always thought what “were a must for the blind”?
(a) Sandals
(b) Dark glasses
(c) Walking poles
(d) Scarves

5. The narrator’s wife commented to the blind man through their first correspondence that she loved her husband but she didn’t love what?
(a) His mother
(b) Their children
(c) His sister
(d) Where they lived

6. What is the name of Raymond Carver’s first published book of poems?
(a) Among the Redwoods
(b) Along the beach
(c) Near Klamath
(d) Surrounding Mountains

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

8. When does the narrator say his wife was to marry her fiancé when she worked for the blind man?
(a) On Easter Sunday
(b) At the beginning of summer
(c) On Christmas Eve
(d) At the end of the summer

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

10. What does the narrator say causes him problems sleeping?
(a) His wife’s snoring
(b) Dreams
(c) A bad smell
(d) A sore throat

11. When the blind man appears to snooze during his conversation with the narrator, the narrator assumes that perhaps he’s imagining himself where?
(a) Greece
(b) Portugal
(c) Italy
(d) Spain

12. According to the narrator, the train ride from the blind man’s in-laws’ home to the narrator’s home takes how long?
(a) 2 hours
(b) 9 hours
(c) 5 hours
(d) 12 hours

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

14. What does the narrator describe as “little statues carved to look like monsters”?
(a) Trolls
(b) Phantoms
(c) Vampires
(d) Gargoyles

15. How many short stories are included in the anthology Cathedral?
(a) 12
(b) 4
(c) 5
(d) 7

Short Answer Questions

1. Where is the blind man going to visit his dead wife’s relatives in the beginning of the story?

2. What happens to the television show as the narrator works on his drawing of a cathedral in the story?

3. How old does the narrator describe the blind man as being?

4. How long is the blind man staying with the narrator and his wife in the story?

5. Of his knowledge of cathedrals, the blind man says that he knows from the television show that they took about how many years to build?

(see the answer keys)

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