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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 is the name of the book that was given to Dr. Felix Hoenikker from a man in prison about the end of the world?

2. What does John claim Alfred Nobel invented in Chapter 32?

3. Who is the poet that John let stay in his apartment while he was in Ilium in Chapter 36?

4. What color is the chip of Ice-nine that Dr. Felix Hoenikker created?

5. For what company did Dr. Felix Hoenikker work most of his life?

Short Essay Questions

1. What statements does the author make about nihilism in Chapter 36?

2. How is the theory of "Dynamic Tension" described in Chapter 47?

3. How is Dr. Felix Hoenikker's personality described in Cat's Cradle?

4. How does fate bring the narrator to San Lorenzo?

5. What is ironic about the scientific work done for the military at the General Forge and Foundry Company?

6. How does Bokononism influence the language style of the novel?

7. What does John discover about San Lorenzo from the advertising supplement in the newspaper in Chapter 37?

8. What project does Dr. Breed describe Dr. Hoenikker working on at the time of his death? What was Dr. Hoenikker's objective?

9. What aspects of Dr. Hoenikker's character are revealed through Dr. Breed's stories of him in Chapter 14?

10. What is the significance of the literary/religious allusion in the opening of Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss John's relationship with Mona in the narrative. Why is John pressured to marry Mona? How do they relate to one another? What do they have in common? How do they differ in their perceptions and beliefs?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss Vonnegut's use of irony in Cat's Cradle. What are examples of verbal, dramatic, and situational irony in the novel? What purpose does each example serve? How is irony related to satire?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the genre of satire as it applies to Cat's Cradle. What aspects of the novel are satirical? What aspects of culture, society, etc. are satirized by Vonnegut? What do you think Vonnegut's overall statement is regarding humankind?

(see the answer keys)

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