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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. The author pictures his father as what fictional character waiting for a prince to awaken his career?
(a) Cinderella.
(b) Snow White.
(c) Sleeping Beauty.
(d) Porky Pig.

3. Why does the general at the ROTC inspection write down Vonnegut's name, which seems to lead to Vonnegut never rising above Private First Class?
(a) Vonnegut argues with the general.
(b) The general thinks Vonnegut is not a good soldier.
(c) Vonnegut arrives late to the inspection.
(d) Vonnegut plays a practical joke.

4. What is his home on Lake Maxincuckee?
(a) An unheated frame cottage on a bluff.
(b) A brownstone apartment
(c) A large cabin in the valley.
(d) A camping tent.

5. What does Vonnegut's late grandfather, Bernard, whom Vonnegut never meets, scorn?
(a) His high school, Warren Central.
(b) His grandchildren.
(c) His birthplace, Indianapolis.
(d) His son, Kurt Vonnegut Sr..

Short Answer Questions

1. What tribal name do the Vonneguts give themselves?

2. Where does Vonnegut attempt to get his own requiem mass translated into Latin but is denied?

3. Whose art does Father celebrate, as if it is a Pieta or Sistine chapel ceiling?

4. What mental illness does the author's son suffer and recover from?

5. In his letter to the future, what does Vonnegut say today's rulers are doing to Nature's stern but reasonable surrender terms?

Short Essay Questions

1. How has Hemingway grown dated?

2. Why does Vonnegut greatly admire anything Anonymous, for example, Alcoholics Anonymous?

3. What is Vonnegut's opinion of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters? Support your answer.

4. What is Vonnegut's opinion of the traditional requiem mass?

5. Although Jill Krementz attends private schools and vacations with the rich as a child, how does she support herself as an adult?

6. Why do the Vonneguts give themselves a Native American tribal name?

7. Describe the city of Dresden.

8. The 20th century is the first to get reliable information about the human condition. Why does Vonnegut believe that this could be a bad thing?

9. Describe Vonnegut's experiences at Lake Maxincuckee.

10. Vonnegut says children relate to the Universe as a one-on-one playmate. What profession does the same? When would members of this profession no longer play this way?

(see the answer keys)

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