Think you’ve got your head wrapped around Cathedral? Put your knowledge to
the test. Good luck — the Stickman is counting on you!
Q. Which describes Robert’s condition?
Deaf
Mute
Partly cloudy, with a 30% chance of rain
Blind
Q. Who recently died just before the story begins?
Robert’s wife
Robert’s mother
Robert’s daughter
Robert’s pet goldfish, Swimmy
Q. How did Robert and the narrator’s wife correspond?
Carrier pigeon
Audio tape
Shouting out the window very, very loudly
Secret meetings
Q. Why isn’t the narrator happy that Robert is coming to visit?
He is jealous of Robert
He just finished redecorating the guest room, and the last thing he needs is for some goober to go traipsing all over the new carpeting
He had hoped to spend some time alone with his wife on the evening of their anniversary
He thinks Robert will be sad and depressing
Q. Years ago, about what did the narrator’s wife write a poem?
Robert combing his fingers through her hair
Robert saying her name
Robert touching her face
Robert stopping by some woods on a snowy evening
Q. Whom did the narrator’s wife marry originally?
Raymond Carver, which totally violated the author-narrator code of conduct
A shopkeeper
A beet farmer
An officer
Q. The narrator’s wife was so unhappy in her prior marriage that she did what?
Had three kids so she could take have some companionship
Murdered her husband
Had a number of affairs
Attempted suicide
Q. What does Robert do with the narrator and his wife that he has never done before?
Go skinny-dipping
Smoke marijuana
Engage in a ménage-a-trois
The splits
Q. What does the Robert ask the narrator to describe to him?
A cathedral
A rainbow (Hint: please refer to the title of the story)
A mountain (Seriously, did you not notice the name of the story?)
The night sky (If you pick anything other than ‘A,’ there seriously might be something wrong with you)
Q. When the narrator has trouble with this activity, what does Robert then ask that he do?
Concentrate on the image within his mind
Perform a vocal impression of it
Draw it
Give him a foot rub