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Free Slaughterhouse-Five Essays: An Analysis

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The first moment I had learned our prospective reading assignments, I felt a shadow of doubt intruding on that little cloud of confidence somewhere in my mind. Every year of my high school career, an English teacher has so wholeheartedly and enthusiastically presented a novel to the class that, to anyone who had the privilege of receiving the brunt of their excitement, that novel in particular had to be the most cathartic, astounding, metamorphic novel we could ever hope to lay eyes on. I expected each page to grace my mind with profound knowledge, enlighten with scholarly insight, entertain with the skill of a master artist and performer; and yet, each time my hopes shattered like the windows of a building in an earthquake. The entire foundation, which had been so carefully and devotedly constructed, crumbled within minutes of opening the book. …show more content…

The introduction of Slaughterhouse Five presented a daunting task, as I had heard so many contradicting opinions. One person could swear that it was the absolute worst novel they had ever encountered, that reading it was the equivalent of awaiting a slow, painful death. Yet, another person could describe the novel in intriguing detail with very little prompting and a spark of excitement in their eyes, eager to introduce a new victim to the world of Kurt Vonnegut and swearing that it was of the utmost literary merit and would most definitely live up to any and all expectations. So it is with equal parts trepidation and inquisitive anticipation that I allowed myself to open up to what I would discover to be one of the best novels that has every graced my

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