Premium Essay

Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champion: Free Will

In:

Submitted By pandaheero
Words 2405
Pages 10
Yoan Nurbudhiati
Gindho Rizano, M.Hum
Literary Criticism
December 20th 2013

The Rise of Unwavering Band of Light Kurt Vonnegut, Junior was born on November 11th 1922 and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is known as American novelist, satirist, and most recently, graphic artist. His funny, somewhat slang and imaginative writing style of fiction has been well-known especially among scholars, collage students and young people for more than 50 years. Through his works which usually involving dark humor, comical drawings, flying saucers and time travel, Vonnegut expresses social criticism about the suffering and atrocities human beings experienced in the 20th century—from the effects of war and atomic weaponry, to racism, social injustice, and environmental destruction. His remarkable novel Slaughterhouse-five (1969) is acknowledged as his masterpiece and has successfully catapulted his name to international fame. It recounts the story about the come-unstuck-in-time Dresden War ex-serviceman Billy Pilgrim who was abducted by extraterrestrial creature from Planet Tralfamadore. This novel is also a piece of Vonnegut’s memoir as an eyewitness when the tragedy happened. While in his seventh novel, Breakfast of Champions (1973) he stated at the preface “This book is my fiftieth-birthday present to myself. I feel as though I am crossing the spine of a roof—having ascended one slope” (4). The story revolves around a well-to-do Pontiac dealer Dwyne Hoover who was stepping into madness after reading a novel from an insecure yet talented science-fiction writer Kilgore Trout. What special about these two of Vonnegut’s works is the red string of Free will versus Determinism outlook contained in the books. As already pointed out that “Much of Vonnegut's work ... has thumbed its nose at conventional form. But what really matters here, at least philosophically, is free will”

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Kurt Vonnegut in American Lit

...collection entitled Vonnegut in America, has used this quote—as he certainly should—to support his claim that Vonnegut’s humor has its roots in the comedic response to the Great Depression. But of course there is much more to it than that. The reader is left with a nagging question: Were humanity’s case really as Vonnegut describes it, and were this truly his belief, wouldn’t it seem that the only appropriate response would be for Vonnegut to sit and laugh quietly at the antics of the doomed race? But of course Vonnegut has done anything but sit and laugh quietly. His dozen novels fairly shout his anger at the “hilarious stupidity” which unfits our species for survival. In the first chapter of what is certainly his greatest novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut tells us a secret...

Words: 6991 - Pages: 28

Free Essay

Mcdonalds

...THE FORGOTTEN ANIMAL ISSUE: The Big Mac Chapter 5 in Ethics Into Action:1 By Peter Singer By the early 1990s, McDonald’s restaurants were serving up more than one billion eggs and half a billion pounds of beef a year. That volume, and the icon status of the hamburger chain, made McDonald’s an obvious target for bringing about change for farm animals. If McDonald’s were to give one-hundredth of one per cent of their gross revenues to fund a research center dedicated to finding alternatives to the stressful confinement of factory farming, that could do even more to reduce suffering than the similar percentage that Revlon had given to the search for alternatives to the Draize test. But McDonald’s has a reputation for having a corporate culture that is aggressive and politically well to the right. It was never going to be easy to get them to take animals seriously. Henry’s opening move was a low-key meeting with McDonald’s General Counsel and Executive VicePresident, Donald Horwitz, held in February 1989 at the offices of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The purpose of the meeting was to ask McDonald’s to investigate the effect of factory farming on the animals whose meat and eggs they used, and then to use these findings to develop less stressful ways of raising these animals. Horwitz seemed remarkably ready to cooperate. He agreed that Mcdonald’s would survey its suppliers in the United States and Canada, and take a look at the situation in Europe...

Words: 6382 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Lonely Planet

...THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL : THE DEFINITIVE EDITION Anne Frank Edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler Translated by Susan Massotty -- : -BOOK FLAP Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl is among the most enduring documents of the twentieth century. Since its publication in 1947, it has been read by tens of millions of people all over the world. It remains a beloved and deeply admired testament to the indestructable nature of the human spirit. Restore in this Definitive Edition are diary entries that had been omitted from the original edition. These passages, which constitute 30 percent more material, reinforce the fact that Anne was first and foremost a teenage girl, not a remote and flawless symbol. She fretted about, and tried to copie with, her own emerging sexuality. Like many young girls, she often found herself in disagreement with her mother. And like any teenager, she veered between the carefree nature of a child and the full-fledged sorrow of an adult. Anne emerges more human, more vulnerable, and more vital than ever. Anne Frank and her family, fleeing the horrors of Nazi occupation, hid in the back of an Amsterdam warehouse for two years. She was thirteen when the family went into the Secret Annex, and in these pages she grows to be a young woman and a wise observer of human nature as well. With unusual insight, she reveals the relations between eight people living under extraordinary conditions, facing hunger, the ever-present threat of discovery and death, complete...

Words: 102787 - Pages: 412

Free Essay

Child Labour

...10000 quiz questions and answers www.cartiaz.ro 10000 general knowledge questions and answers 10000 general knowledge questions and answers www.cartiaz.ro No Questions Quiz 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Carl and the Passions changed band name to what How many rings on the Olympic flag What colour is vermilion a shade of King Zog ruled which country What colour is Spock's blood Where in your body is your patella Where can you find London bridge today What spirit is mixed with ginger beer in a Moscow mule Who was the first man in space What would you do with a Yashmak Who betrayed Jesus to the Romans Which animal lays eggs On television what was Flipper Who's band was The Quarrymen Which was the most successful Grand National horse Who starred as the Six Million Dollar Man In the song Waltzing Matilda - What is a Jumbuck Who was Dan Dare's greatest enemy in the Eagle What is Dick Grayson better known as What was given on the fourth day of Christmas What was Skippy ( on TV ) What does a funambulist do What is the name of Dennis the Menace's dog What are bactrians and dromedaries Who played The Fugitive Who was the King of Swing Who was the first man to fly across the channel Who starred as Rocky Balboa In which war was the charge of the Light Brigade Who invented the television Who would use a mashie niblick In the song who killed Cock Robin What do deciduous...

Words: 123102 - Pages: 493

Premium Essay

Pr Cases

...Public Relations Cases This collection of contemporary international public relations case studies is an invaluable resource for teachers, researchers and students working in public relations, corporate communications and public affairs, as well as offering practitioners an indepth understanding of the effective use of public relations in a range of organizational contexts. Including cases from the UK, Norway, Sweden, Spain, South Africa, Canada and the USA, with a focus on such global corporations as Shell, BBC America, Worldcom, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Marks & Spencer, it offers important insights into the development of public relations and communications strategies. These include: • • • • • • • • Corporate identity change and management Global reputation management Crisis management in the oil, shipping and tourism industries Developing strategic alliances between voluntary and private sector organizations Public relations support for international branding and market entry The importance of internal communications during international mergers The integration of public relations and marketing communications Business-to-business communication The cases examined in this book demonstrate the breadth of contemporary public relations practice and the increasing importance of the public relations function in both public and private sector organizations worldwide. Danny Moss is Co-Director of the Centre for Corporate and Public Affairs at the Manchester Metropolitan University...

Words: 107599 - Pages: 431

Free Essay

Art and Story Proceedings 2004

...William Novak Narrative, Allegory, and Commentary in Emil Nolde’s Legend: St. Mary of Egypt…… William B. Sieger A Narrative of Belonging: The Art of Beauford Delaney and Glenn Ligon…………… Catherine St. John Art and Narrative Under the Third Reich ……………………………………………… Ashley Labrie 28 15 1 22 25 27 36 43 51 Hopper Stories in an Imaginary Museum……………………………………………. Joseph Stanton SECTION FOUR: Photography and Narrative Black & White: Two Worlds/Two Distinct Stories……………………………………….. Elaine A. King Relinquishing His Own Story: Abandonment and Appropriation in the Edward Weston Narrative………………………………………………………………………….. David Peeler Narrative Stretegies in the Worlds of Jean Le Gac and Sophe Calle…………………….. Stefanie Rentsch SECTION FIVE: Memory Does The History of Western Art Tell a Grand Story?…………………………………… Eugene E. Selk Storylines………………………………………………………………………………… Bozenna Wisniewsak SECTION SIX: Art and Identity Two Late Crisis Paintings by Van Gogh………………………………………………….. Robert Wauhkonen Personal Stories and the Intransigent Critic…………………………………………….. Charles S. Mayer The Role or Story in the Development of a...

Words: 117240 - Pages: 469

Premium Essay

Business

...C h a p t e r 1 Prewriting GETTING STARTED (OR SOUP-CAN LABELS CAN BE FASCINATING) For many writers, getting started is the hardest part. You may have noticed that when it is time to begin a writing assignment, you suddenly develop an enormous desire to straighten your books, water your plants, or sharpen your pencils for the fifth time. If this situation sounds familiar, you may find it reassuring to know that many professionals undergo these same strange compulsions before they begin writing. Jean Kerr, author of Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, admits that she often finds herself in the kitchen reading soup-can labels—or anything—in order to prolong the moments before taking pen in hand. John C. Calhoun, vice president under Andrew Jackson, insisted he had to plow his fields before he could write, and Joseph Conrad, author of Lord Jim and other novels, is said to have cried on occasion from the sheer dread of sitting down to compose his stories. To spare you as much hand-wringing as possible, this chapter presents some practical suggestions on how to begin writing your short essay. Although all writers must find the methods that work best for them, you may find some of the following ideas helpful. But no matter how you actually begin putting words on paper, it is absolutely essential to maintain two basic ideas concerning your writing task. Before you write a single sentence, you should always remind yourself that 1. You have some valuable ideas to tell your reader,...

Words: 234754 - Pages: 940

Free Essay

Me Before You

...Jojo Moyes a fter you Contents CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN CHAPTER EIGHTEEN CHAPTER NINETEEN CHAPTER TWENTY CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE CHAPTER THIRTY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FOLLOW PENGUIN For my grandmother, Betty McKee chapter one The big man at the end of the bar is sweating. He holds his head low over his double Scotch, but every few minutes he glances up and out, behind him, towards the door. A fine sheen of perspiration glistens under the strip-lights. He lets out a long, shaky breath, disguised as a sigh, and turns back to his drink. ‘Hey. Excuse me?’ I look up from polishing glasses. ‘Can I get another one here?’ I want to tell him it’s really not a good idea, it won’t help, it might even put him over the limit. But he’s a big guy and it’s fifteen minutes till closing time and, according to company guidelines, I have no reason to tell him no, so I walk over, take his glass and hold it up to the optic. He nods at the bottle. ‘Double,’ he says, and slides a fat hand down his damp face. ‘That’ll be seven pounds twenty, please.’ It’s a quarter to eleven on a Tuesday night and the Shamrock and Clover, East City...

Words: 120665 - Pages: 483

Free Essay

Longman

...Instructor’s Manual to Accompany The Longman Writer Rhetoric, Reader, Handbook Fifth Edition and The Longman Writer Rhetoric and Reader Fifth Edition Brief Edition Judith Nadell Linda McMeniman Rowan University John Langan Atlantic Cape Community College Prepared by: Eliza A. Comodromos Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New York San Francisco Boston London Toronto Sydney Tokyo Singapore Madrid Mexico City Munich Paris Cape Town Hong Kong Montreal NOTE REGARDING WEBSITES AND PASSWORDS: If you need a password to access instructor supplements on a Longman book-specific website, please use the following information: Username: Password: awlbook adopt Senior Acquisitions Editor: Joseph Opiela Senior Supplements Editor: Donna Campion Electronic Page Makeup: Big Color Systems, Inc. Instructor’s Manual to accompany The Longman Writer: Rhetoric, Reader, Handbook, 5e and The Longman Writer: Rhetoric and Reader, Brief Edition, 5e, by Nadell/McMeniman/Langan and Comodromos Copyright ©2003 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Instructors may reproduce portions of this book for classroom use only. All other reproductions are strictly prohibited without prior permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please visit our website at: http://www.ablongman.com ISBN: 0-321-13157-6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 - D O H - 05 04 03 02 CONTENTS ...

Words: 78100 - Pages: 313

Free Essay

Novel

...Salman Rushdie Midnight's Children First published in 1981 Excerpts from the Koran come from the Penguin Classics edition, translated by N. J. Dawood, copyright (c) 1956, 1959,1966,1968,1974. for Zafar Rushdie who, contrary to all expectations, was born in the afternoon Contents Book One The perforated sheet Mercurochrome Hit-the-spittoon Under the carpet A public announcement Many-headed monsters Methwold Tick, tock Book Two The fisherman's pointing finger Snakes and ladders Accident in a washing-chest All-India radio Love in Bombay My tenth birthday At the Pioneer Cafe Alpha and Omega The Kolynos Kid Commander Sabarmati's baton Revelations Movements performed by pepperpots Drainage and the desert Jamila Singer How Saleem achieved purity Book Three The buddha In the Sundarbans Sam and the Tiger The shadow of the Mosque A wedding Midnight Abracadabra Book One The perforated sheet I was born in the city of Bombay ... once upon a time. No, that won't do, there's no getting away from the date: I was born in Doctor Narlikar's Nursing Home on August 15th, 1947. And the time? The time matters, too. Well then: at night. No, it's important to be more ... On the stroke of midnight, as a matter of fact. Clock-hands joined palms in respectful greeting as I came. Oh, spell it out, spell it out: at the precise instant of India's arrival at independence, I tumbled forth into the world. There were gasps. And, outside the...

Words: 217909 - Pages: 872

Free Essay

Grammar Worksheet

...GLENCOE LANGUAGE ARTS Grammar and Language Workbook G RADE 9 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Copyright © by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Send all inquiries to: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill 936 Eastwind Drive Westerville, Ohio 43081 ISBN 0-02-818294-4 Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 024 03 02 01 00 99 Contents Handbook of Definitions and Rules .........................1 Troubleshooter ........................................................21 Part 1 Grammar ......................................................45 Unit 1 Parts of Speech 1.1 Nouns: Singular, Plural, and Collective ....47 1.2 Nouns: Proper and Common; Concrete and Abstract.................................49 1.3 Pronouns: Personal and Possessive; Reflexive and Intensive...............................51 1.4 Pronouns: Interrogative and Relative; Demonstrative and Indefinite .....................53 1.5 Verbs: Action (Transitive/Intransitive) ......55 1.6 Verbs: Linking .............................................57 1.7 Verb Phrases ................................................59 1.8 Adjectives ....................................................61 1.9 Adverbs........................................................63 1.10 Prepositions...

Words: 107004 - Pages: 429

Premium Essay

Consumers Survey

...A ∑ E= mc 2 This eBook is provided by www.PlentyofeBooks.net Plenty of eBooks is a blog with an aim of helping people, especially students, who cannot afford to buy some costly books from the market. For more Free eBooks and educational material visit www.PlentyofeBooks.net Uploaded By Bhavesh Pamecha (samsexy98) 1 INFLUENCE The Psychology of Persuasion ROBERT B. CIALDINI PH.D. This book is dedicated to Chris, who glows in his father’s eye Contents Introduction 1 Weapons of Influence 2 Reciprocation: The Old Give and Take…and Take 3 Commitment and Consistency: Hobgoblins of the Mind 4 Social Proof: Truths Are Us 5 Liking: The Friendly Thief 6 Authority: Directed Deference 7 Scarcity: The Rule of the Few Epilogue Instant Influence: Primitive Consent for an Automatic Age Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments About the Author Cover Copyright About the Publisher v 1 13 43 87 126 157 178 205 211 225 241 INTRODUCTION I can admit it freely now. All my life I’ve been a patsy. For as long as I can recall, I’ve been an easy mark for the pitches of peddlers, fundraisers, and operators of one sort or another. True, only some of these people have had dishonorable motives. The others—representatives of certain charitable agencies, for instance—have had the best of intentions. No matter. With personally disquieting frequency, I have always found myself in possession of unwanted magazine subscriptions or tickets to the sanitation workers’ ball. Probably...

Words: 111279 - Pages: 446

Premium Essay

Influence

...INFLUENCE The Psychology of Persuasion ROBERT B. CIALDINI PH.D. This book is dedicated to Chris, who glows in his father’s eye Contents Introduction v 1 Weapons of Influence 1 2 Reciprocation: The Old Give and Take…and Take 13 3 Commitment and Consistency: Hobgoblins of the Mind 43 4 Social Proof: Truths Are Us 87 5 Liking: The Friendly Thief 126 6 Authority: Directed Deference 157 7 Scarcity: The Rule of the Few 178 Epilogue Instant Influence: Primitive Consent for an Automatic Age 205 Notes 211 Bibliography 225 Index 241 Acknowledgments About the Author Cover Copyright About the Publisher INTRODUCTION I can admit it freely now. All my life I’ve been a patsy. For as long as I can recall, I’ve been an easy mark for the pitches of peddlers, fundraisers, and operators of one sort or another. True, only some of these people have had dishonorable motives. The others—representatives of certain charitable agencies, for instance—have had the best of intentions. No matter. With personally disquieting frequency, I have always found myself in possession of unwanted magazine subscriptions or tickets to the sanitation workers’ ball. Probably this long-standing status as sucker accounts for my interest in the study of compliance: Just what are the factors that cause one person to say yes to another person? And which techniques most effectively use these factors to bring about...

Words: 111189 - Pages: 445

Premium Essay

Asdasd Asdasdasd

...INFLUENCE The Psychology of Persuasion ROBERT B. CIALDINI PH.D. This book is dedicated to Chris, who glows in his father’s eye Contents Introduction 1 Weapons of Influence 2 Reciprocation: The Old Give and Take…and Take 3 Commitment and Consistency: Hobgoblins of the Mind 4 Social Proof: Truths Are Us 5 Liking: The Friendly Thief 6 Authority: Directed Deference 7 Scarcity: The Rule of the Few Epilogue Instant Influence: Primitive Consent for an Automatic Age Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgments About the Author Cover Copyright About the Publisher v 1 13 43 87 126 157 178 205 211 225 241 INTRODUCTION I can admit it freely now. All my life I’ve been a patsy. For as long as I can recall, I’ve been an easy mark for the pitches of peddlers, fundraisers, and operators of one sort or another. True, only some of these people have had dishonorable motives. The others—representatives of certain charitable agencies, for instance—have had the best of intentions. No matter. With personally disquieting frequency, I have always found myself in possession of unwanted magazine subscriptions or tickets to the sanitation workers’ ball. Probably this long-standing status as sucker accounts for my interest in the study of compliance: Just what are the factors that cause one person to say yes to another person? And which techniques most effectively use these factors to bring about such compliance? I wondered why it is that a request stated in a certain way will be rejected...

Words: 111189 - Pages: 445

Premium Essay

California an Interpretive History - Rawls, James

...HISTORY, TENTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2008, 2003, and 1998. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on acid-free paper. 1234567890 QFR/QFR 10987654321 ISBN: 978-0-07-340696-1 MHID: 0-07-340696-1 Vice President & Editor-in-Chief: Michael Ryan Vice President EDP/Central Publishing Services: Kimberly Meriwether David Publisher: Christopher Freitag Sponsoring Editor: Matthew Busbridge Executive Marketing Manager: Pamela S. Cooper Editorial Coordinator: Nikki Weissman Project Manager: Erin Melloy Design Coordinator: Margarite Reynolds Cover Designer: Carole Lawson Cover Image: Albert Bierstadt, American (born in Germany), 1830–1902 Valley of the Yosemite, 1864 (detail) Oil on paperboard 30.16 × 48.89 cm (11 7/8 × 19 1/4 in.) Museum of Fine Arts, BostonGift of Martha C. Karolik for the M. and M. Karolik Collection of American Paintings, 1815–1865 47.1236...

Words: 248535 - Pages: 995