Sally+Park's+Summer+Reading

__Slaughterhouse-Five__ by Kurt Vonnegut
Approved

//Each essay should include the following:// a. book title and author in the introductory paragraph b. a thesis statement that encompasses the main idea of your essay which should be how the selected chapter is reflected in your novel c. brief summary of the section to be discussed (no more than a paragraph)--just enough to get a sense of the context d. analysis of the section through the lens of one of the chapters from //How to Read Literature Like a Professor// e. a quotation you think is significant and your explanation of how the quote reflects the selected chapter f. each essay should be approximately three hundred words g. Copy and paste the essay! Do not upload a document!

 __Slaughterhouse-Five__ by Kurt Vonnegut is a journey throughout Billy Pilgrim’s life. However even before Billy Pilgrim’s story, Kurt Vonnegut speaks with his own voice. Each of their journeys may be different, but both Vonnegut and Billy Pilgrim search for self-knowledge.
 * Essay #1**

The first chapter of the novel is in the voice of Kurt Vonnegut himself. Vonnegut travels to Pennsylvania with his young daughter to see his old wartime friend Bernhard V. O’Hare. He agrees to help Vonnegut think of ideas of what he can write for his novel. But only to be disturbed by the O’Hare’s wife, Mary O’Hare, thinking that Vonnegut will again like everyone else writes a war promoting war when he himself did not understand at the time he was in the war. She bursts with anger that both O’Hare and Vonnegut were only children and people only write novels of wars to portray themselves as courageous. Therefore Vonnegut admits he did not understand and does not intend to promote any kind of violence. And he agrees to name his novel “The Children’s Crusade.”

According to Thomas C. Foster the five criteria to identify a quest are from the presence of a quester, place to go, stated reason to go there, challenges and trials during the trip, and the real reason to go there which always happens to be self-knowledge. In this case, Kurt Vonnegut travels to Pennsylvania to his old friend’s house in order to receive help from an old war friend to write his novel describing their experience of Dresden. And the obstacle he faces is the criticism from Mary. By this criticism Vonnegut learns about himself and how to write his book. “People aren’t supposed to look back. I’m certainly not going to do it anymore.”(Vonnegut 22). He learns not to depend on only on the past.

Kurt Vonnegut uses the self-knowledge that he had learned from his trip to O’Hare in his actual story of Billy Pilgrim. And the very end, Billy too learns from the bird that asks “Poo-tee-weet?” that there is nothing from looking back towards the ruins of Dresden anymore.

 In any story about the war, violence is an inevitable factor. However, Kurt Vonnegut utilizes violence to show the major theme of __Slaughterhouse-Five__, which is the catastrophic damage of the war.
 * Essay #2**

In the sixth chapter, Paul Lazzaro is in the hospital ward because he has been injured by an English soldier. While Lazzaro is lying in his hospital bed injured, the Blue Fairy Godmother and some other British came to the hospital with their belongings and ask how he was. But Lazzaro only responds by declaring that he would kill him after the war. And he describes to Billy Pilgrim that he once fed a steak filled with sharp metals to a dog that had bitten him before.

Thomas C. Foster states that in __How to Read Literature Like a Professor__ there are two types of violence in literature. In the instance of Vonnegut, violence has a deeper meaning to the theme of his novel. This vow Lazzaro makes shows the obsession of violence. Especially when he says revenge is sweet. “It’s the sweetest thing there is.”(Vonnegut 138). By this, it can be concluded that Lazzaro is not only consumed by violence but also the idea of revenge.

Although the method may not be as violent, the obsession of revenge most resembles the myth of Scylla. According to a Roman poet, Scylla was once a beautiful nymph, but when a sea god fell in love with her she fled onto land where he could not come. Hurt by this, the sea god goes to a sorceress to ask for a love potion for revenge. The sorceress falling in love with the sea god pours a poison into the pool where Scylla bathed because he would not even consider looking at her. When Scylla entered, she had turned into a monster that was miserable and had an obsession to destroy. Lazzaro can be seen as Scylla as the monster eager for vengeance and desire to destroy.

Violence can be seen as a tool to further the plot. But it is not necessary that Lazzaro vow to kill the Blue Fairy Godmother in consideration of the plot. The more important fact violence plays is need for addiction of retribution.

Comments #1 Wow! We chose the same book for the assignment! Anyway, you did a great job explaining this novel through the lenses of Foster’s book. You clearly and specifically explain how you connect Lozzaro’s violence with what’s in Foster’s book. Also it is really interesting how you connect this violence with the Greek myth about Scylla. But I feel like you didn’t analyze your quote deeply enough. Although the quote matches really well with your theme, without any more analyzes of the quote, your quote doesn’t explain everything what it can mean. Lastly when you site your page number, there is no comma between the page number and the author. So it has to be something like, (Vonnegut 115). Except for these, I think you did a great job explaining __Slaughterhouse-Five__ through the lenses of __How to Read Literature Like a Professor__!! Oh! And don’t forget to underline the title!!! - Eunice Jang

 After Roland Weary’s death in Kurt Vonnegut’s novel of __Slaughterhouse-Five__, the first time Billy was accepted by other people was during the welcoming feast prepared by the British. The feast symbolizes the welcoming communion that soon turns into pity.
 * Essay #3**

In the fifth chapter, the American soldiers arrive at a prison camp in Germany where the British solider provide a warm welcoming with food and entertainment. The British are portrayed as the richest in food and the slyest in the camp. When Billy’s coat catches on fire, the British realize how pathetic the American soldiers are, especially Billy Pilgrim. The British found it pitiful that even the Germans who adored the British looked down upon the Americans to give such poor provisions. During the play of Cinderella, Billy bursts out laughing and is sent to the mental ward.

Foster, the author of __How to Read Literature Like a Professor__, states that a meal whether it is broken by a fight or is peacefully ended represents an act of communion. Even if those at a meal have absolutely nothing in common, at the moment of the feast, they all share something in common. In the case of the welcoming feast, despite the nationality of the prisoners, when in the prison camp everyone equally shares the ill-fate of the future. “You know—we’ve had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves. We had forgotten that wars were fought by babies.”(Vonnegut 106). All the soldiers who fight in wars have the same faith, rich or poor, are always children who later believe they had been aging men at the time they fought.

The feast represents the bond that the British and Americans have formed. Although it changes from a companionship with respect to pity, the British still feel that they are obliged by the sense of general misery they share with the Americans as prisoners of war in a German prison camp.

 Snow can be signify various and completely different themes. In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel of __Slaughterhouse-Five__, snow represents both the positive and negative nature of humans. It also foreshadows the inhospitable future of Billy and all the prisoners at the Prison camp.
 * Essay #4**

In the second and third chapter, the two scouts that had been traveling with Billy and Weary decide to abandon the two because Billy and Weary were hindering their escape. But just moments after the two scouts are shot and Billy and Weary are caught by a group of Germans. They take all their belongings such as weapons and shoes to a young German boy. While Billy is being stripped of his possessions lying in the snow, he sees an image of Adam and Eve in the German commander’s boots.

Thomas C. Foster stated that snow could be used to symbolize almost everything from pureness to corruptness, which is what Kurt Vonnegut does in his novel of the journey through the life of Billy Pilgrim. Adam and Eve are portrayed as the foolish two humans wholeheartedly accepted the corruption from the snake. The image of the foolish humans shown against the snow depicts the theme of pureness. They were so innocent, so vulnerable, so eager to behave decently.”(Vonnegut 53). Just like the story of Adam and Eve, the snake is represented as the commander and the others are like the foolish Adam and Eve. They are quick to accept what they are told by the source of corruption because they are too innocent and pure to stand on their own. Not only is the group of Germans ready to accept everything they are told, but also Billy is inexperienced with war accepted practically everything Weary and the scouts had told him.

Vonnegut utilizes snow as a tool to show the nature of humans. The uncorrupted are most likely to readily accept any idea that they are told. By unhesitatingly assuming the knowledge that is told without any opinion, Billy’s future too becomes as cold and inhospitable as the snow.

 Perspective of any story is one of the most significant tools in analyzing it. The idea of sight and perspective is also an important theme of __Slaughterhouse-Five__. Kurt Vonnegut. The major message that the author tries to portray: the near-sightedness of people.
 * Essay #5**

In the eighth chapter, after the bombing of Dresden, some American prisoners of war and four guards enter an inn in the outskirts of Dresden where they meet a blind innkeeper. To the blind innkeeper, his inn is his method of survival. Therefore he must hope to continue his business and asks the guards if there are any more refugees from Dresden that are coming. Earlier in the second chapter, Vonnegut first tells the readers that Billy is a optometrist and about his instances of abduction from the Tralfamadorians. The Tralfamadorians tell Billy Pilgrim about their four dimensional world. Because Billy cannot see of the ideas of the fourth dimension, he accepts the vicarious knowledge of the fourth dimension, which Billy thought completed his understanding of the world.

According to Thomas C. Foster, authors always use ‘the Indiana Jones principle’ in order to make anything the authors states credible. The author mentions early in the novel that sight is an extremely important idea making the main character Billy an optometrist. And even though the innkeeper is blind, he knows of the destruction of Dresden. “This family knew that Dresden was gone. Those with eyes had seen it burn and burn, understood that they were on the edge of a desert now. Still—they had opened for business, had polished he glasses and wound the clocks and stirred the fires, and waited and waited to see who would come.”(Vonnegut 181). Because they live in such a myopic world, they depend on only their inn to survive no matter the possibility of hope.

Just as the blind innkeepers family’s world only revolves around the inn no matter what the surrounding is like, Billy too believes the Tralfamadorians have the answers to life and the world.

Comments #1 Sally Hi~ You did a great job connecting your idea with Thomas C. Foster’s book. When I was writing this section, I only thought about Tralfamadorians’ four dimensional sights. So it is really amazing how you connect this idea to his job and people in Dresden. But I think it would have been better if you analyze more about the book itself and the quote in the second body paragraph. And in the introduction, I think you mistyped this part. -> “… theme of Slaughterhouse-Five. Kurt Vonnegut.”. Also watch out the citation! There is no comma between author and page number. Lastly, don’t forget to underline the title. Except for this I really love your essay! It has so many new ideas that I didn’t even think about!! Great JOB!! - Eunice Jang



1. Select and read two of your peers' essays. 2. Underneath each essay, thoughtfully comment on the ideas put forth. 3. This comment should be no more than one succinct paragraph. 4. Post and label the comment on //the writer's page// with your name at the bottom of your comment. 5. Copy and paste the comment onto //your// summer reading page in the comments section. 6. Write the writer's name and essay # underneath the comments on your own page.

Hi Eunice! We read the same book and wrote similar essays! I just thought I would comment on the one that I never thought about when I was doing my assignment. Yeah, I never thought that learning the knowledge from the Trafamadorians would be as significant as recreating a new Billy Pilgrim. Honestly, I probably just disregarded the fact that Billy became a new person after the washing and printing of his number. Anyways, enough about what I did. I really like the idea you gave which I said before. But one thing your essay lacks slightly is the analysis. The analysis of the Trafamadorians' view and different dimensional perception sounds more like a summary than an analysis. Other than that, there was no problem grammatically and the sentence flow. And I really like how you described the Mississippi river as though it really is in front of the reader. It really drew me into what you were going to say next.
 * Comment #1**

Eunice Jang Essay #5

Hi Sylvia! Did you know they're making a movie from this book? Sorry, that was pretty random. Anyways, I'll go back to commenting on your essay now. I like that your essay is really succinct to the point. I especially like the analysis part. Even without reading the book, I could see how you came to the conclusion of the heart attack symbolizing negative societal aspects. But maybe you could have summarized a bit more in detail in the previous paragraph. I think that would probably a bit more detailed summary would reinforce the analysis too. Other than that, the flow of the essay goes together and there aren't any major grammatical errors. But one thing, make sure you put the quotation marks on the whole part that you took the quotation from. It seems like you forgot to put the quotation mark when you took a excerpt from __The Lovely Bones__. And don't forget to underline the title of the book too! Anyways, the book you wrote about sounds like a pretty interesting book. I'll read the book sometime before the movie comes out, hopefully.
 * Comment #2**

Sylvia Jung Essay #1


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