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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 type of book does Vonnegut tell his friend he is writing?

2. Who dies in the railroad boxcars?

3. Why are the American prisoners given showers?

4. What do stars look like to Tralfamadorans?

5. What is unique about the coat Billy Pilgrim gets from the Germans?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Kurt Vonnegut use real information from his life in this book?

2. What did Kurt Vonnegut learn about the bombing of Dresden when he wrote to the Air Force for details?

3. Where does Billy time travel to when the spaceship hits a time warp?

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

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

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

7. According to the aliens in Kilgore Trout's book, what is the flaw in the story of Christ?

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

9. Where does Billy wake up after falling asleep with the other prisoners in the stone cottage?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Vonnegut makes frequent allusions to religious or biblical references in Slaughterhouse-Five. Write an essay that highlights his use of religious and spiritual concepts.

Essay Topic 2

How does Vonnegut's version of World War II differ from the usual view that we get of the war? Why does he write about this version? Write an essay that analyzes Vonnegut's attitude toward World War II as shown in Slaughterhouse-Five.

Essay Topic 3

Research and write a paper describing the bombing of Dresden in 1944.

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