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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. How did the blind man’s wife die?

2. Where was Raymond Carver born?

3. At what point in the story does the protagonist reach his major epiphany?

4. The narrator says, “I remembered having read somewhere that the blind didn’t smoke because, as speculation had it, they couldn’t” what?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What prompts the narrator to begin speaking during the television show?

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

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

4. What does the narrator offer to Robert after his wife passes out? How does Robert respond?

5. How does the narrator describe his experience in the final lines of the story?

6. What is symbolized through the television set in the story?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the setting of “Cathedral.” Of what importance is the setting of the story? Could the story be set in a different time and place? How would this change the story?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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