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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. Why does Mary O'Hare get angry at Kurt Vonnegut?

2. What does the Marine major tell Billy at the Lion's Club?

3. What job did Vonnegut have when he was in college?

4. How do the Tralfamadorans view time?

5. Why do the Germans take pictures of Roland and Billy?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

6. Why does Vonnegut say this book will be "jumbled and jangled?"

7. When does Billy Pilgrim first experience being unstuck in time?

8. Why does the author keep reminding the reader that Edgar Derby will die in Dresden?

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

10. How does Billy describe the Tralfamadorans?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Do you think that the firebombing of Dresden was a justified act of war? Use research to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Compare Tralfamadoran views of life and death with different religious philosophies.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 560 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample