Print
Word
PDF
|
| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. When does the narrator say his wife was to marry her fiancé when she worked for the blind man?
2. After showing a cathedral in Portugal, the television show next travels to show a cathedral where?
3. The narrator asks the blind man while they watch TV if he knows the difference between a cathedral and what?
4. What artistic forms are addressed in “Cathedral”?
5. What term, often used to characterize Raymond Carver’s writing, refers to a style in which the seamier or more mundane aspects of ordinary life are presented in unadorned language?
Short Essay Questions
1. 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?
2. From what narrative perspective is the story told? How does this narrative style affect the reader?
3. What does the narrator discuss with Robert after his arrival in the story?
4. Where does the rising action take place in “Cathedral”?
5. Why does the narrator say the blind man is coming to visit in the beginning of the story?
6. How does the narrator begin his drawing? What does his wife ask at this time?
7. What role does alcoholism play in “Cathedral”?
8. What is Robert’s response when the narrator offers him marijuana after dinner? What is his experience with the drug?
9. 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?
10. How are the narrator’s perceptions of race illustrated in “Cathedral”?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Describe and discuss the theme of learning in “Cathedral.” What is the importance of learning as an individual? How is this reflected in the story? Do you think that the narrator effectively “learns something” by the end of the story?
Essay Topic 2
Analyze and discuss the narrator’s wife in “Cathedral.” How old do you approximate this character to be? What qualities does the wife exhibit through her actions in the story? Based upon the author’s dialogue, how would you characterize the narrator’s relationship with his wife?
Essay Topic 3
Discuss Raymond Carver’s role in the minimalist movement in literature during the 1980s. What influenced this movement? Who were Carver’s influences as a writer? How is minimalism illustrated in “Cathedral”?
|
This section contains 919 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
|
