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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. What kind of paper does the blind man ask the narrator to go get when they are talking late at night?
(a) Wax paper
(b) Tissue paper
(c) Heavy paper
(d) Typewriter paper

2. How old does the narrator describe the blind man as being?
(a) In his late thirties
(b) In his early fifties
(c) In his late forties
(d) In his early twenties

3. What does the blind man take from his back pocket as he and the narrator are talking and watching television late at night?
(a) A handkerchief
(b) A book
(c) A wallet
(d) A bag

4. Where in the narrative does the rising action begin?
(a) When the cathedral has been drawn
(b) When the wife gets divorced
(c) When the blind man arrives
(d) When the wife meets the blind man

5. What does the narrator give as a response to the narrator’s question of whether he was going to stay with his work?
(a) I haven’t had any other offers
(b) What were the options?
(c) It pays the bills
(d) It would be hard to take a pay cut

Short Answer Questions

1. When does the narrator say his wife was to marry her fiancé when she worked for the blind man?

2. What does the narrator say his wife writes one or two of every year?

3. What does the blind man do as the narrator attempts to explain cathedrals to him?

4. When was Raymond Carver born?

5. What does the blind man ask the narrator about the paintings on the walls of the church in the television show?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is signified by the narrator’s choice to keep his eyes closed at the end of the story?

2. How are the characters in “Cathedral” representative of Raymond Carver’s style?

3. Where in “Cathedral” does the climax of the narrative take place?

4. What happened to the narrator’s wife during the years that she did not see the blind man? How did she maintain contact with Robert?

5. Why does the narrator say the blind man is coming to visit in the beginning of the story?

6. What drives the narrative plot of “Cathedral”? What effect does this have on the plot’s structure?

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

8. From what narrative perspective is the story told? How does this narrative style affect the reader?

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

10. How does the narrator characterize his usual evenings in the story? What does this indicate about his character?

(see the answer keys)

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