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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 Vonnegut tell his sons about massacres?

2. What happens to Billy in 1968?

3. What does Billy see in the Carlsbad Caverns when the lights are switched off?

4. Who is Barbara Pilgrim?

5. What does Billy do the night before his daughter's wedding?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why do the Germans need to record the names of the prisoners?

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

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

5. Why were Roland Weary's feet so bloody?

6. How did Billy finally get some sleep?

7. Why is Billy afraid to drop down from the railroad car?

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

9. Name some of the places in time that Billy travels to in this chapter.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Howard J. Campbell appears in another novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, called Mother Night. Compare the character as depicted in that novel with the Howard J. Campbell that appears in Slaughterhouse-Five.

Essay Topic 2

How does luck figure into Billy's Pilgrim's life? Is he a lucky person or an unlucky person? Use examples from the novel to argue your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

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

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