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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. When the narrator’s wife first contacted the blind man after working for him, she called him from what state?
(a) Missouri
(b) Tennessee
(c) Alabama
(d) Indiana

2. The narrator says in the beginning of the story that the last time his wife saw the blind man was when she worked for him in what city?
(a) Portland
(b) Birmingham
(c) Denver
(d) Seattle

3. The man that the narrator’s wife was going to marry when she worked for the blind man was in what kind of school?
(a) Truck driving school
(b) Electrician school
(c) Officers’ training school
(d) Construction school

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator tells the blind man, “In those olden days, when they built cathedrals, men wanted to be” what?

2. What are in the bottom of the shopping bag that the narrator gathers for the blind man at night?

3. “Cathedral” is a short story that is driven by what literary element?

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

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

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. How does the narrator’s wife respond to the marijuana downstairs when she returns?

3. Where in the story does the protagonist undergo an “epiphany”?

4. What are the narrator’s perceptions of Robert’s marriage as his wife describes it in the beginning of the story?

5. What activity does the blind man suggest to the narrator during their discussion about cathedrals?

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

7. What is the central imagery employed in the story? How is it employed?

8. What does the reader learn about the narrator when he and his wife discuss their friends prior to the blind man’s arrival?

9. What can the reader discern of the narrator’s jealousy through the exposition in the beginning of the story?

10. What are the narrator’s first impressions of Robert after his arrival? How is Robert dressed?

(see the answer keys)

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