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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. The narrator’s wife tells him early in the story, “if you had a friend, any friend, and the friend came to visit, I’d” what?
(a) Get along with him
(b) Tell him some stories
(c) Pretend to like him
(d) Make him feel comfortable

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

3. What word from the story refers to a tall, acutely pointed pyramidal roof or roof-like construction upon a tower?
(a) Mesa
(b) Dome
(c) Bluff
(d) Spire

4. The blind man tells the narrator as he continues his drawing of the cathedral, “You got it, bub. I can tell. You didn’t think you could. But you can, can’t you? You’re cooking with” what?
(a) Gas now
(b) Charcoal
(c) Grease
(d) Dry tinder

5. What is the blind man’s name in the story?
(a) Marcus
(b) Jacob
(c) William
(d) Robert

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of paper does the blind man ask the narrator to go get when they are talking late at night?

2. What does the blind man say “never ends” in the story?

3. What did the narrator’s wife wash down all the pills from the medicine cabinet with while she was at Travis A.F.B.?

4. How is the narrator’s viewpoint of blind people characterized in the beginning of the story?

5. Where in Portugal does the television show feature a cathedral?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does the narrator describe Robert’s eyes in the story?

3. How is the theme of creativity manifested through the protagonist at the end of the story?

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

5. How does the narrator’s wife describe Robert’s marriage prior to his arrival in the story?

6. How does the author describe his wife’s poetry in “Cathedral”?

7. How does the narrator describe his wife’s last in-person meeting with the blind man?

8. What role does alcoholism play in “Cathedral”?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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