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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 drink does the blind man ask for when the narrator offers him one after his arrival?

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

3. The narrator says of the blind man that he’d done “a little bit of everything, it seemed, a regular” what?

4. What does the narrator say about his and his wife’s sleeping patterns in the story?

5. According to the narrator’s wife’s story, how did the blind man meet his wife?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which of the characters in the story stands out from the theme of alienation? Why?

2. What drives the narrative plot of “Cathedral”? What effect does this have on the plot’s structure?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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”?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the Middle Ages and the erection of cathedrals during this historical period. Where are the cathedrals in the story (on television) principally located? Why? How are these structures described?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the character of Robert in “Cathedral.” How old does Robert appear to be? What does the narrator remark about his facial hair? How is Robert dressed? How does Robert differ from the narrator of the story?

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