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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Although Jill attends private school and vacations with the rich as a child, how does she provide for herself as a grown woman?
(a) Running her own restaurant.
(b) Marrying a wealthy man.
(c) Teaching English.
(d) Her photography and children's books.

2. What happens to all writers?
(a) They grow to be better writers.
(b) They become more famous with age.
(c) They grow dated.
(d) Their stories grow more optimistic with each passing year.

3. What practical joke does Vonnegut play at an ROTC inspection?
(a) He wears a Boy Scout uniform.
(b) He wears every sort of medal he can find.
(c) He dresses like a clown.
(d) He tells knock knock jokes.

4. In which art form does Father show promise before the Great Depression?
(a) Pottery.
(b) Sculpture.
(c) Painting.
(d) Printmaking.

5. What novel about the state of people's portable souls does Jane ask Vonnegut to read?
(a) The Brothers Karamazov.
(b) The Brothers Grimm.
(c) Blood Diamond.
(d) Blood Brothers.

6. Vonnegut defends what freedom?
(a) Freedom of speech.
(b) Freedom of assembly.
(c) Freedom of religion.
(d) Freedom of the press.

7. What happens to Algren that keeps Vonnegut from asking if Rushdie may join them at his party?
(a) He does not answer the phone.
(b) He is dead of a heart attack.
(c) He is not at home.
(d) He is already at the party.

8. What does Vonnegut believe about professional artists' opinions on vocal third parties, such as critics, curators, and collectors?
(a) They are happiest when they do not have to worry about other's opinions.
(b) They constantly ask for approval from critics, curators, and collectors.
(c) They love to create work for collectors.
(d) They like to receive criticism from third parties.

9. What does Vonnegut believe is declining but could return?
(a) Corporal punishment.
(b) Sexism.
(c) Racism.
(d) Genocide.

10. What does Pollock use to control his hands when he paints?
(a) Intuition.
(b) Ideas from critics.
(c) Early sketches.
(d) A painter's machine.

11. How is the character Bill Pilgrim different from Joe Crone?
(a) Bill Pilgrim is shy and sad, while Joe Crone is an enthusiastic extrovert.
(b) Bill Pilgrim commits suicide, while Joe Crone become a doctor.
(c) Joe Crone starves himself to death, while Bill Pilgrim returns home to become an optometrist.
(d) They are from different cities in the United States.

12. The Vonnegut family expects its family members to go out east to college. Where does the author's dad, Kurt Vonnegut Sr., go to college?
(a) Harvard.
(b) NYU.
(c) UCLA.
(d) MIT.

13. How are Vonnegut and Elie Wiesel the same?
(a) They are both Jewish.
(b) They share a German surname.
(c) They both have pet dogs.
(d) They are cousins.

14. What does Vonnegut create during his summers at Lake Maxincuckee in southern Indiana?
(a) Imaginary friends.
(b) Camp fires.
(c) A wooden canoe.
(d) His first map of the world.

15. Vonnegut laments that people can say atrocious things in public, but he is charged with encouraging what?
(a) violent protests.
(b) vulgar language.
(c) violence against women and kiddy porn.
(d) violence against ethnic minorities.

Short Answer Questions

1. To what does Vonnegut compare censorship's always being on the rise, around, and undiagnosed?

2. What does the Reverend oppose?

3. Why is Algren bitter over his masterpiece, The Man with the Golden Arm?

4. Why does Vonnegut miss his 50th high school reunion?

5. What does Vonnegut tell 1990 graduates of the University of Rhode Island?

(see the answer keys)

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