Book: Slaughterhouse Five
Thesis:Â Through the implementation of nonlinear narrative discourse, metafictional citations, the creation of multiple worlds, instances of repetition, and the absence of closure, Vonnegut asserts the ideal that it is impossible to live a normal life after participating in warfare, thereby associating a negative connotation with combat and deglamorizing war itself.
Outline:
I.) Introduction- Thesis
II.) Nonlinear Narrative Discourse
A. Displays PTSD tendancies
B. Disjointed Life = Disjointed Narrative
III.) Metafictional Citations
A. Tralfamadorian literature holds not beginning, middle, or end, and allows for one simultaneous picture of event
B. Vonnegut forms novel in such a fashion–trying to create meaningful picture from meaningless disaster
IV.) Multiple World Creation
A. Tralfamadorian situations in novel are not real, displaying “hallucinogenic” PTSD
B. Mixup of nonreal world with real world–instances of Trout’s books that collide with real life
V.) Repetition
A. So it goes- displays situational apathy, and equalizes death
B. Children’s Crusade- emphasizes ludicrousy of sending young men to war and war itself
VI.) Absence of Closure
A. novel does not end with definitive closure —absence of closure in novel displaying insignificance of war itself
VII.) Conclusion
