... brought his young daughters, who were sent upstairs to play with O'Hare's kids. The men could not think of any particularly good memories or stories, and the narrator noticed that Mary, Bernard's wife (to whom Slaughterhouse Five is dedicated), seemed very angry about something. Finally, she confronted ... Europe. The Germans captured Billy during the Battle of the Bulge. In 1945 he returned to the States, finished optometry school, and married the daughter of the school's owner. During the engagement, he was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown. After his release, he finished school, m...

• Word Count: 7795
• Approx Pages: 31
• Grade Level: High School

... he contacts the Air Force for information, he discovers that the event is still classified as top secret. Around 1964, Vonnegut takes his young daughter and her friend with him to visit Bernhard V. O'Hare in Pennsylvania. He meets Mary O'Hare, who is disgusted by the likelihood that Vonnegut ... had a wet dream about Montana Wildhack. The next day, Billy examines a boy whose father has been killed in Vietnam. He shares Tralfamadorian insights with the boy, whose mother realizes Billy is insane. Billy's daughter is called to take him home. Chapter 6 starts with Billy waking at dawn in his...

• Word Count: 5323
• Approx Pages: 21
• Grade Level: High School

... executed by a four-man firing squad. Wild Bob - An American colonel from Wyoming who dies from double pneumonia in a German railroad yard. He was slightly delusional. Valencia Merble - Billy's wife, daughter of Lionel Merble, the founder and owner of the Iliad School of Optometry where Billy studies to become an optometrist. She's a very fat and unattractive woman, but with a kind personality ... - An unsuccessful science-fiction writer who lives in Ilium and makes his living as a circulation man for the Ilium Gazette. He and Billy become good friends. Billy's daughter holds him respons...

• Word Count: 1657
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... writings can be thought of as absurd in some aspects. However, if one chooses, one can see the enlightening theories and thoughts behind his stories. Many of Vonnegut's novels have impacted our lives today, even though one might not realize it. Numerous musicians and bands that we listen to ... and others failed. (Changed our Lives) Since he was thirty years old, Kurt Vonnegut has written some eighteen novels, more than two dozen short stories and many plays and essays. (The Vonnegut Web) Nonetheless, there is much more to Kurt Vonnegut than statistics and numbers. He explores science ...

• Word Count: 2135
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... ; he said, as though a touchdown would have made everything all right again" (29). Right before Hartke graduated from high school his father entered him into the schools science fair knowing that his son was not enthusiastic about science. As they were walking out of the Moellenkamp Auditorium ... in Cleveland, after the judges came to the conclusion that his father did all the work they bumped into Sam Wakefield. Same Wakefield was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army who was going around recruiting soldiers. ... ruling class in New York. During his teaching there, one of the students was ...

• Word Count: 2053
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

... world. The story begins with the author, John, collecting facts with which to put together a book about Dr. Felix Hoenikker, the father of the atomic bomb. Throughout the course of his research, John encounters Dr. Hoenikker's three children; Angela, his daughter, and sons Frank, a convict, and Newt, a midget . We learn that the children's mother died during the birth of Newt, and that ... don't quite function like anywhere else. The Handmaid's Tale takes place in the Republic of Gilead, where the main character Offred lives. Offred used to have a normal life with a husband, daughter, a...

• Word Count: 1637
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School