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

2. What beverage does the blind man drink with his dinner in the story?
(a) Coffee
(b) Tea
(c) Water
(d) Milk

3. Where did the narrator’s wife fall asleep after overdosing on pills while at Travis A.F.B.?
(a) In the garage
(b) On the patio
(c) In the bathtub
(d) In the basement

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

5. 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 pushups
(b) Some running
(c) Some sit-ups
(d) Some swimming

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the blind man’s name in the story?

2. What does the narrator’s wife say when she awakens as the narrator is drawing a cathedral?

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

4. In what year was the anthology entitled Cathedral published?

5. What was the last part of the blind man’s tape that the narrator heard when his wife played it for him?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. What conversation does the narrator have with Robert regarding alcohol after Robert’s arrival?

3. Which of the characters in the story stands out from the theme of alienation? Why?

4. What takes place in the story as it builds to its climax?

5. What do the narrator and Robert say in their discussion of religion in the story?

6. What does the narrator ask Robert regarding cathedrals in the story? Why? How does Robert respond?

7. How does the narrator describe Robert’s arrival in the story?

8. How does the reader gain insight into the narrator’s prejudices against blindness in the story?

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

10. What is “minimalist fiction” and how does it apply to “Cathedral”?

(see the answer keys)

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