Santa Monica College Cathedral Story by Raymond Carver Essay Background:In “Cathedral,” a short story written by Raymond Carver, the theme of how the past

Santa Monica College Cathedral Story by Raymond Carver Essay Background:In “Cathedral,” a short story written by Raymond Carver, the theme of how the past presents challenges in the present and in the future plays out in the three main characters. For some people, the past is a course littered with debris that blinds them from seeing and accepting differences in their present. Such is the case for the narrator in Raymond Carver’s short story, “Cathedral,” who at first describes himself as someone who is afraid of meeting a blind man.In the beginning of the story, the narrator describes how a friend of his wife is coming to visit, and this friend is a blind man, named Robert.The narrator recalls that he is not looking forward to this visit because his knowledge of blind people was shaped from what he saw in the movies: “My idea of blindness came from the movies. . . . the blind moved slowly and never laughed.Sometimes they were led by seeing-eyed dogs.A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to” (1).What this quote signals on a deeper level is the internal conflict within the main character. This conflict is the narrator’s own blindness that keeps him from seeing on a deeper level.Thus the short story embodies the common theme in literature of how the inescapable nature of the past develops characters in the present and the future. Issue:An issue presented in “Cathedral,” is can people who see be blind to others?Can they learn to overcome their blind prejudices from their past and move beyond and above these negative attitudes to change in the present? Directions:Read the short story by Raymond Carver—in Kirszner & Mandell, pp. 473-483, and there is a PDF copy in the Short Story folder on Canvas.Include evidence from the short story to support your answer. Choose three different questions to answer. For example, you can choose one question from the “character” literary questions, one from the “plot” literary questions and one question from the “point of view” literary tool.OR…choose one literary tool and answer all three questions– Format for each paragraph:Include the name of the literary tool and the question above the paragraph with your response. Keep your response to 8-10 sentences per paragraph. There should only be one (1) quote per paragraph:include only one quote–a 2-3 sentence quote or one block quote (4-6 lines/ sentences).Block quote format:Begin with a signal phrase + present tense verb, end with a colon:Then follow with 4-6 sentences–indent one half inch from the left margin.Do not use double quotation marks.If there is another speaker within this quote, enclose the second with single quotation marks.Follow the M-context-E-A-L format for each paragraph. Put the answer to the question in the topic sentence–then follow with a context sentence that further explains your answer.Then begin the evidence. Cite it, explain how it proves and shows the answer.End with a last sentence that summarizes the answer to the prompt. I will attache more handout here.