Best of Week: Connotations of Cathedral

Titles may be so much shorter than the stories they head, but their effects on readers exist nonetheless. In class, a discussion group compiled an extensive list of connotations of the word "cathedral." While some were far-fetched, many made perfect sense and showed themes represented in the story itself.

Although readers may not consciously crank out a bunch of related themes when reading titles, reading a story would still be different without knowing the title. It doesn't necessarily define what the piece of writing is about, but it seems to subtly guide the thinking process behind the reading.

The connotations of "cathedral" themselves were not the best of the week; the idea that they mattered was.