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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What is another word for “arc-boutant” used in the story?

3. When the narrator’s wife first contacted the blind man after working for him, she called him from what facility?

4. What does the blind man take from his back pocket as he and the narrator are talking and watching television late at night?

5. What was the narrator’s response when the blind man asks if he likes his work?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How does the narrator describe the scene once his wife has gone upstairs after dinner?

5. What does the narrator ask Robert regarding cathedrals in the story? Why? How does Robert respond?

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

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

8. How did the narrator’s wife come to know the blind man? How is this information revealed in the story?

9. What takes place in the story as it builds to its climax?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of “rebirth” and the transformation of the narrator from the beginning of the story to the end. How do you think the narrator has changed from his interactions with Robert? Do you think this change is a good thing? Why or why not?

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 the theme of isolation and alienation as applied to the protagonist of “Cathedral.” In what ways does the narrator describe a life that is isolated from those around him? How is this illustrated in the “after-dinner” scene in the living room?

(see the answer keys)

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