View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to the narrator, his wife had helped the blind man organize his little office where when she worked for him?
(a) A large bank
(b) The Internal Revenue Service
(c) The county social service department
(d) A grocery store

2. Of the religious pageant on the television show, the narrator says it takes place yearly where?
(a) Spain
(b) Sweden
(c) Norway
(d) Ireland

3. How does the narrator describe the blind man’s shoulders after his arrival?
(a) Elevated
(b) Narrow
(c) Broad
(d) Stooped

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 handkerchief
(b) A straight pin
(c) An earring
(d) A pencil

5. The narrator says in the beginning of the story that the last time his wife saw the blind man was how many years ago?
(a) 4
(b) 10
(c) 7
(d) 2

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the narrator suggest to his wife he could do when the blind man comes to visit, causing her exasperation?

2. What question does the blind man ask the narrator as the narrator begins drawing the cathedral in the story?

3. What beverage does the blind man drink with his dinner in the story?

4. The narrator tells the blind man that sometimes cathedrals have “devils and such carved into the front. Sometimes” what?

5. What Irish actor does the blind man quote in saying “When I drink water, I drink water. When I drink whiskey, I drink whiskey”?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the narrator’s wife suggest the narrator act toward Robert when he visits?

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

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

4. How is the post-dinner conversation described by the narrator? What prompts him to turn on the television?

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

6. How are the narrator’s perceptions of race illustrated in “Cathedral”?

7. What does the narrator discuss with Robert after his arrival in the story?

8. How does the narrator’s wife respond when he turns on the television? What conversation ensues?

9. Where in the story do you see the first elements of transformation in the protagonist?

10. How is the theme of creativity illustrated through the protagonist in the beginning of “Cathedral”?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 939 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample