Slaughterhouse Five Journal 1 (If in you’re Block 2B, go to the next slide.) In Chapter 1, Vonnegut summarizes Harrison Starr’s comment by saying, “There would always be wars…they were as easy to stop as glaciers” (Vonnegut 3). 1. Will there always be wars? Why or why not? Why or why not? 2. Is war sometimes necessary or a good thing? Why or why not? Why or why not? 3. After watching the video, What is Vonnegut’s opinion of war? opinion of war?
“So then I understood. It was war that made her so angry. She didn’t want her babies or anybody else’s babies killed in wars. And she thought wars were partly encouraged by books and movies” (Vonnegut 18). Do entertainment sources like books and movies (or even TV and the internet in the 21 st century) encourage war like Mary says? Why? Give three examples of why/why not. Slaughterhouse Five Journal 1 (Only if you’re in Block 2B)
Self-Identity Answer each of the following questions. Who are you? Who is Kurt Vonnegut? Who is Billy Pilgrim?
Slaughterhouse Five Journal 2 Read the following passage from Chapter 3. Then, explain your opinion of the prayer and the way Then, explain your opinion of the prayer and the way Billy lives his life. Billy lives his life. “Billy had a framed prayer on his office wall which expressed his method for keeping going, even though he was unenthusiastic about living. A lot of patients who saw the prayer on Billy’s wall told him that it helped them to keep going, too. It went like this: ‘God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference.’ Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future” (Vonnegut 60).
How do Billy’s experiences in captivity differ? Captive of the Germans Captive of the Tralfamadorians Describe Billy’s experiences with the Germans. Describe Billy’s experiences with the Tralfamadorians.
Chapter 5 Questions Read each passage before answering the questions (on this and the next two slides). Passage #1: p. 114 (Sexes) 1) What do the Tralfamadorians believe about the sexes on Tralfamadore and on Earth? 2) What might Vonnegut’s purpose be for discussing the sexes in this way? 3) What would the world be like if there were more than two sexes identified and accepted on earth?
Chapter 5 Questions (continued) Passage #2: p (Epitaph/engraving on tombstone) 4) In what ways is Billy’s epitaph true for his life? 5) In what ways is Billy’s epitaph untrue? 6) What would you like your epitaph (tombstone) to say? Why?
Chapter 5 Questions (continued) Passage #3: p (Americans) 7) Which of Campbell’s comments about Americans do you agree with? Why? 8) Which of Campbell’s comments about Americans do you disagree with? Why? 9) Why does Campbell make these comments about Americans? 10) How do you think most Americans view themselves: wealthy, poor, or middle class? Do they have high self-esteem or low self- esteem? Explain.
Slaughterhouse Five Journal 3 Read the following passage from Chapter 8. Then, explain your reaction to it. Then, explain your reaction to it. American fighter planes came in under the smoke to see if anything was moving. They saw Billy and the rest moving down there. The planes sprayed them with machine-gun bullets, but the bullets missed. Then they saw some other people moving down by the riverside and they shot at them. They hit some of them. So it goes. The idea was to hasten the end of the war. The idea was to hasten the end of the war. (Vonnegut 180) (Vonnegut 180)
Movie Analysis If you were absent for the movie, you may still complete this with examples from the novel. While/after watching the movie, explain an example of each type of conflict. Internal Conflict: person vs. self External Conflict: person vs. person person vs. society person vs. science fiction elements
Slaughterhouse Five Journal 4 Choose a reoccurring phrase, image, or idea from the novel (the literary term for this is motif), and explain why you believe Vonnegut chose to use it repeatedly. What meaning did it add to the novel?