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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the hobo in Billy's railroad boxcar tell him?

2. How long had the British soldiers been prisoners of war?

3. Where in the city are the prisoners of war kept during the bombing?

4. Why did the German soldiers throw Billy into a shrubbery?

5. What play do the British officers perform for the Americans?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Roland Weary start to beat and kick Billy?

2. What is unusual about the way Tralfamadorans view time?

3. What was the Children's Crusade?

4. What does the story of Sodom and Gomorrah have to do with Vonnegut's book about Dresden?

5. What does it mean that Billy Pilgrim is "unstuck in time?"

6. Why do the soliders not want Billy to sleep near them?

7. Why does Billy keep a framed copy of the Serenity Prayer in his office?

8. What happened to the army scouts who left Billy and Roland behind?

9. How do the Tralfamadorans answer Billy's question about being kidnapped?

10. What does Billy extrapolate happening after the end of the war movie he is watching on the night before his daughter's wedding?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write a personal essay, explaining your view of death and/or the afterlife. Describe the basis of your views. Did they come from your family, your religion, popular culture, or from a specific source?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay addressing the use of humor in Slaughterhouse-Five. How does the author use humor in the book? Use examples from the text to illustrate your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

The Tralfamadorans have a very different view of time than we do. Write an essay that speculates on how humans will view time in 500 years. Will we still look at it the same way?

(see the answer keys)

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