Process-Writing Prompts for Slaughterhouse Five Chapter 5

No 750 assignment for Friday. Work on your query letter, and re-read chapter 5. Here’s a preview of some questions we’ll talk about in class that day.

The Funny
Where’s the comedy in these chapters? Why make it funny? How does it serve the book’s larger purpose?

Tralfamadorian guide: “On other days, we have wars as horrible as any you’ve ever seen or read about. There isn’t anything we can do about them, so we simply don’t look at them. We ignore them. We spend eternity looking at pleasant moments—like today at the zoo. Isn’t this a nice moment? . . . That’s one thing Earthlings might learn to do if they tried hard enough: Ignore the awful times, and concentrate on the good ones.”

What do you make of the Tralfamadorians from this passage? And how does it affect your interpretation of the whole book?

Small Talk
What do you make of the conversation between Rosewater and Billy’s mother? How does it connect to a larger meaning of the book?

“That’s the attractive thing about war,” said Rosewater. “Absolutely everybody gets a little something.”
What’s the connection between war and materialism? Why does Vonnegut link them?