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Kurt Vonnegut


Study Questions & Essay Topics

Suggestions for Further Reading

1. What do the Tralfamadorians resemble?

2. Where is Billy Pilgrim from?

3. Of how many dimensions are Tralfamadorians aware?

4. Who lends Billy his science-fiction books?

5. To whom does Vonnegut make the promise that he will call his book The Children’s Crusade?

6. Following which event is Billy taken prisoner?

7. Why do the Tralfamadorians compare Billy to a bug trapped in amber?

8. Whom should one ask for when one is in Cody, Wyoming, according to the novel?

9. In what city does Kurt Vonnegut work for General Electric?

10. How many children does Billy have with his wife?

11. Which of the following is the title of a Kilgore Trout novel?

12. What single event in the war makes Billy cry?

13. In what year does Billy die?

14. Where do Billy and Valencia go on their honeymoon?

15. Where does the author show up at the POW camp?

16. What is Edgar Derby tried and executed for stealing?

17. Which of the following happens to Billy for the first time in Dresden?

18. Why did Valencia think that no one would marry her?

19. What does Billy’s doctor prescribe to help him sleep?

20. Why is it ironic that the Serenity Prayer hangs in Billy’s office?

21. How does Bertram Copeland Rumfoord respond to Billy’s claim that he was in Dresden at the time of the firebombing?

22. What is inscribed in Montana Wildhack’s silver locket?

23. In what format are Tralfamadorian books composed?

24. On which U.S. city does Billy say China will drop a hydrogen bomb in 1976?

25. What question does Billy ask the aliens when he is abducted?