Quiz 2 – Flashcard

What does the term “in medias res” mean in relation to stories/fiction?

There are three central characters in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral.” Only Robert, the blind man, is named. What is the “name” that the blind man uses for our narrator?

In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” what have the blind man and the narrator’s wife been sending to each other all of these years?

In Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral,” the narrator’s wife worked for the blind man about 10 years prior to the current time in the story (though she wasn’t yet married to the narrator). What did Robert, the blind man, ask her if he could do on her last day working for him? (She would later write a poem about this experience.)

The narrator of Carver’s “Cathedral” clearly has (or had) many preconceived notions or stereotypes about the blind. Robert, the blind man who visits, does not seem to fit many of those stereotypes. Which of the following is NOT one of the ways in which Robert goes against the narrator’s expectations for the blind?

What is it that the the narrator and the blind man do together that Robert has never done before and that seems to possibly “loosen up” the narrator? (The wife comes downstairs and joins them in this “activity”.)

The narrator and the blind man “watch” a television show together. What kind of television show did they “watch”?

What do the narrator and the blind man do, together, that marks the climax of the story?

In the sample student essay, “A Narrator’s Blindness in Raymond Carver’s ‘Cathedral’,” Qualls argues that the story is not plot-focused, that “the truth is nothing much happens.” She says, “Instead of plot, then, the story really asks us to focus on…” what?

Which of the following would NOT work as a central theme for Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”?