The Art of Fiction
ENGL 273G
Notes and Quotes Part Two: Slaughterhouse Five Edition
As we enter Unit 2, I feel it is time to shake things up. While the overall procedure
and format will remain the same as in Unit 1, I will be asking you to make an
extended cognitive relationship with a specific thread or theme throughout the text.
Objectives:
1. To trace a theme throughout the course of the story
2. To notice the overall impact of your theme on the novel as a total
3. To address uncommon elements at work in Vonnegut’s fiction
4. To complicate the relationship between historical and emotional truth
Themes
1. Authorial intervention and Style
Includes Vonnegut entering the text, repetition, tone and mechanical
shifts from narrator to author voice. One may also note moments in the
text where you believe Vonnegut is making a point about the atrocities of
war, the human condition or other relevant assertions.
2. Time Travel and Narrative Form
Mark each moment of time travel and its descriptions. Contemplate its
relation to plot dynamics and form. Distinguish between foreshadowing
and time jumps.
3. Science Fiction and Unreality
This is distinct from the mechanics of time travel. Pay attention to
moments of surrealism, clairvoyance, alien intervention, and parallels
from Kilgore Trout’s fiction and the world of the story.
4. Free Will
May include all explicit discussion of free will or determinism within the
text, but also should involve your own personal evidence from the
reading to argue as to whether or not Billy is or is not is in charge of his
own destiny.
5. Secondary Characters
Includes all characters other than Billy Pilgrim. Note their actions and
inactions, motivations and relationships. Pay attention to their individual
politics, gender tensions and placement within the text.
Tasks
1. Divide into 5 groups of 5. These groups will be static for the remainder of
Unit 2. Each group will be assigned one of the above themes to trace
throughout the entire reading.
2. As individuals you will each be responsible to flag, highlight, underline or
otherwise mark each instance of this theme in a night’s reading.
3. Once the night’s reading is completed, flip through the section again, this
time noting your highlighted passages. Select one you find particularly
interesting or important.
4. As with notes and quotes for Unit 1, each night you will type up your
selected passage and then write a 200-250 word response. Ask yourself
how this theme shines in this portion of the text? Is this one of many
examples in that night’s reading or was your theme a bit sparse? How
does this passage relate to the text as a whole?
***** If for some reason you cannot detect your theme in that night’s reading
choose a passage that best shows character development (or lack there of)
Billy Pilgrim is displaying throughout that nights’ reading.
5. Be prepared to share your findings in class! While you won’t necessarily
be asked to meet in your groups at the beginning of class your group will
be responsible to chime in with particularities of your theme so come
prepared!