Characters
The book is dedicated to these two people; who are they? What do they do for a living?
Gerhard Mueller, taxi driver (POW)
Mary O'Hare, nurse
Which character is reading The Red Badge of Courage next to Billy's hospital bed?
Edgar Derby
In what instances are The Three Musketeers referred to?
-Roland Weary and his imaginary group of friends (him + two nameless scouts)
-Nancy the newspaper editor eats one
-Valencia eats one when Billy is in the Lake Placid hospital
Irony
-Contradictory statements or situations that reveal a truth that is different from what a person expects.
-Something that is contrary to what one expects and therefore is often amusing as a result
The human Tralfamadorians found most interesting
Charles Darwin
(because he taught "those who die are meant to die; corpses are an improvement")
Tells anyone who'll listen, "This ain't so bad"
The hobo on the boxcar
What Biblical character did Kurt Vonnegut "love" because what she did was "so human"?
Lot's wife
When do the "blue and ivory" feet appear?
-When Billy is cold and barefoot (in his house, and out meeting the flying saucer)
-The feet of dead soldiers
-When Billy is near death or existing in a frozen or deathlike state
Frame story
A story that introduces another story
Gerhard Mueller's Christmas card to O'Hare; what was the message?
To meet again in a world of peace and freedom "if the accident will"
If you're ever in Cody, Wyoming, just ask for
Wild Bob
How is Billy Pilgrim most like Cinderella?
He is a character stuck in a story; his fate is set. He also gets new shoes, he wears rags, and he improves his social status through marriage
Who or what nestled like "spoons"? Name at least two instances.
-Billy and Valencia
-The POWs on the boxcar
-The POWs in the first prison with the Englishmen
Metafiction
Fiction about fiction (to deliberately point out to the reader that a story is being told using literary elements for effect)
How does the universe end?
An accident: Tralfamadorians are experimenting with a new fuel for flying saucers
Paul Lazarro
In what ways is the Children's Crusade important to Slaughterhouse-Five? Name at least two.
-It's a subtitle
-Mary O'Hare asked Vonnegut not to glorify war
-In the real Children's Crusade almost 30K drowned or were sold into slavery
-Vonnegut is comparing soldiers to those children
When does the motif of "mustard gas and roses" also sometimes "roses and mustard gas" appear? Name at least two instances.
-When Kurt Vonnegut is drunk dialing people
-When a drunk hangs up on Billy
-The smell of the dead as Billy is digging
Allusion
A reference to a person, place or thing that is meant to impart meaning to the reader
What was engraved on the locket worn by Montana Wildhack?
The Serenity Prayer (which we also see in Billy's optometry office)
Tells Billy there is no "why" in life
Tralfamadorians
What does the "dance with death" refer to in the novel's subtitle?
Celine's belief that no art can be created without suffering.
Why was the "radium dial" significant?
-It references the pocket watch of Billy's father; it's a childhood memory
Satire
Use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to expose or criticize something
True or false: About 135,000 people died in the Dresden bombing?
False