Friday May 4

Sick with a mean stomach virus.

No class--9:00 am--email me your rough draft.

Quiz for Thursday 19 April and Friday 20 April

You may email me the answers to kwombles@gmail.com.






According to one of the journal articles, what can critics not agree on?

Is, according to most critics, SL-5 carefully structured or haphazard?

Who is the narrator of SL-5?

What does chapter 1 do for readers?

What does Matheson think Vonnegut's theme is?

How old was Vonnegut in 1968?

Who makes Vonnegut reconsider how he will approach his novel on Dresden?

What is the subtitle and why?

What two actors does Vonnegut promise will not be in the film of his book?

According to Nelson, what is "[o]ne of the most striking elements of the novel"?

What did the film do differently than the book concerning the Tralfamadorians? 

According to Nelson, Hill "perhaps lessened the anti-war didacticism of the novel" how?

What two things did Billy find in his coat pocket in the hospital before being transferred to Dresden?

What did Lazarro feed the dog and why?

What did Edgar Derby get shot over in the book? And in the film?

How did Billy meet Kilgore Trout and why is Trout important to the book?

How did Valencia die?

What did Billy say when he was rescued after the plane crash?

Friday class (scroll down to next post if you are in T/Th)

No class April 6.

April 13 We will go over chapters 1-6 and the following sources and will have a quiz.

Matheson, T.J. "This Lousy Little Book": The Genesis And Development Of Slaughterhouse Five As Revealed In Chapter One." Studies In The Novel 16.2 (1984): 228. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.

Nelson, Joyce. "Slaughterhouse-Five: Novel And Film." Critical Insights: Slaughterhouse-Five. 125-131. Salem Press, 2010.Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.

One page paper assignment. Reflect on Mead's piece and chapter one in Vonnegut, and compare/contrast their feeling about war. Cite both pieces. Due April 16 via email (no more late work will be accepted).


One page paper assignment: Using the Nelson source, the book and the film, please write a one page paper comparing/contrasting and analyzing the film and the book. Due April 20 in class (No late work will be accepted).

April 20


Discuss Chapters 7 and 8 and:


Cacicedo, Alberto. "You Must Remember This": Trauma And Memory In Catch-22 And Slaughterhouse-Five." Critique 46.4 (2005): 357-368. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.

Assignment: Discuss what you would like to focus on in your paper and why, how you will use the sources and what you see as the important parts that back up your focus (should be at least a page and will include a works cited page with all the sources, including Catch-22 (film and book), Slaughterhouse-Five (film and book) and all the sources so far used. Due April 27 printed out in class.


April 27

Discuss chapters 9 and 10.

Simmons, David. "The War Parts, Anyway, Are Pretty Much True": Negotiating The Reality Of World Ward II In Slaughterhouse-Five And Catch-22." Critical Insights: Slaughterhouse-Five. 64-79. Salem Press, 2010. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.

Go over as a class everyone's focus on the paper. Must have the assignment printed out at the beginning of class or it will count as a zero for a major grade (not a daily grade).


Assignment: You will begin your rough draft of your final paper. You will email the outline by May 1 (that means a real outline with a thesis sentence and three supports, with the sources that you will use. You can have additional sources for your paper (and for each additional journal article used from the Literature Resource Center, you will get 3 extra points on the paper --but I will check the citation and each in text citation will have a page number attached to it, so if you don't use that source, 10 points will be deducted).


May 4

Objective and essay test of Slaughterhouse-Five. Major grade.

LAST TIME WE WILL MEET. Bring printed out rough draft to class-must be complete, four pages with works cited.

May 7

Final paper due as and ATTACHMENT via email to kwombles@gmail.com.

REVISED! Remainder of the Semester--Tuesday/Thursday classes

NOTE: You will have quizzes on Slaughterhouse-Five for the remainder of the semester. The first one was no notes allowed. All other quizzes will allow you to use your notebook, so take good notes.


April 3  Pull the sources from the databases and email them to ourselves (go to the database and find these articles and download them; you will need to bring the articles to class printed out).  Literary Resource Center database. (class is not meeting but you are free to use the room during class time to do this)


Cacicedo, Alberto. "You Must Remember This": Trauma And Memory In Catch-22 And Slaughterhouse-Five." Critique 46.4 (2005): 357-368. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.


Matheson, T.J. "This Lousy Little Book": The Genesis And Development Of Slaughterhouse Five As Revealed In Chapter One." Studies In The Novel 16.2 (1984): 228. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.


Nelson, Joyce. "Slaughterhouse-Five: Novel And Film." Critical Insights: Slaughterhouse-Five. 125-131. Salem Press, 2010.Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.



Simmons, David. "The War Parts, Anyway, Are Pretty Much True": Negotiating The Reality Of World Ward II In Slaughterhouse-Five And Catch-22." Critical Insights: Slaughterhouse-Five. 64-79. Salem Press, 2010. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.


One page paper assignment. Reflect on Mead's piece and chapter one in Vonnegut, and compare/contrast their feeling about war. Cite both pieces. Due April 10 (no more late work will be accepted).

April 5 Will discuss through chapter 4.
Read and discuss the letter Vonnegut sent home to his family after being released.

April 10   Watch Slaughterhouse-Five. Discuss Chapter 5 and the source:

Matheson, T.J. "This Lousy Little Book": The Genesis And Development Of Slaughterhouse Five As Revealed In Chapter One." Studies In The Novel 16.2 (1984): 228. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.

April 12  Watch Slaughterhouse-Five. Discuss Chapter 6.

April 17 Discuss Chapter 7.  Discuss the source:

Nelson, Joyce. "Slaughterhouse-Five: Novel And Film." Critical Insights: Slaughterhouse-Five. 125-131. Salem Press, 2010.Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.

One page paper assignment: Using the source above, the book and the film, please write a one page paper comparing/contrasting and analyzing the film and the book. Due April 19 (No late work will be accepted).

April 19 Discuss Chapter 8 and this source:

Cacicedo, Alberto. "You Must Remember This": Trauma And Memory In Catch-22 And Slaughterhouse-Five." Critique 46.4 (2005): 357-368. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.


Assignment: Discuss what you would like to focus on in your paper and why, how you will use the sources and what you see as the important parts that back up your focus (should be at least a page and will include a works cited page with all the sources, including Catch-22 (film and book), Slaughterhouse-Five (film and book) and all the sources so far used. Due April 26.

April 24 CHANGE: No class today--please see the assignments for the 26th.

April 26 Discuss Chapter 9. Discuss this source:

Simmons, David. "The War Parts, Anyway, Are Pretty Much True": Negotiating The Reality Of World Ward II In Slaughterhouse-Five And Catch-22." Critical Insights: Slaughterhouse-Five. 64-79. Salem Press, 2010. Literary Reference Center. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.


Go over as a class everyone's focus on the paper. Must have the assignment printed out at the beginning of class or it will count as a zero for a major grade (not a daily grade).


Assignment: You will begin your rough draft of your final paper. You will EMAIL ME the outline (that means a real outline with a thesis sentence and three supports, with the sources that you will use by the 28th. You can have additional sources for your paper (and for each additional journal article used from the Literature Resource Center, you will get 3 extra points on the paper --but I will check the citation and each in text citation will have a page number attached to it, so if you don't use that source, 10 points will be deducted). 

Discuss Chapter 10. Go over outlines together and make sure they are sufficiently detailed.

May 1 Objective and essay test of Slaughterhouse-Five. Major grade.

May 3   LAST TIME WE WILL MEET. Bring printed out rough draft to class-must be complete, four pages with works cited.

May 7 Final paper due as an ATTACHMENT via email to kwombles@gmail.com.

Citing a DVD in-text and works cited

from http://library.defiance.edu/files/mlafilmdvdtv.pdf

When your writing is about the plot, story, characters, theme, etc., be sure to put the film title in the index position. The entry below, taken from MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (197), shows the focus on the film, the production company, and the original release date.

It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. RKO, 1946. Film.

The entry below, taken from MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (198), shows how the entry would look if the writer is using a DVD of the film. Notice that while the original release date is given, the production company is not. Instead, the distributor and distribution date are stated, as is the distribution medium.

It’s a Wonderful Life. Dir. Frank Capra. Perf. James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Thomas Mitchell. 1946. Republic, 2001. DVD.

Cite the film in parentheses in the text every time you refer to the film.

Cisco College Autism Walk Team

You can sign up for the walk at this site.

We will show up at the zoo on the 14th at 7:30 to set up for the walk--we will be assigned jobs to do during the event, and have time to walk through the zoo, as well. We'll start cleaning up at 12:00.

Week 9 (the week after spring break) and Week 10

Tuesday/Thursday classes:

Tuesday 20th: please bring what you have for your four page paper and your Slaughterhouse-Five novel.

Thurday 22nd: your four page paper is DUE printed out at the beginning of class. Bring your paper on your flash drive or online in an email so that you can work the entire class with your group.
        Also, you will have a quiz (open notes) that will equal a major paper grade over the material covered in class.
        Paper (one page) will be assigned and directions given out on Thursday.

Tuesday 27th: finish group paper in class and submit via email as an attachment.
Thursday 29th: begin discussion of Vonnegut (read through chapter 2). Be prepared for quiz and to begin reading and discussing a journal article.
Friday class 23rd:

Your completed paper is due to me, printed out. Please bring the Vonnegut novel.
Also, you will have a quiz (open notes) that will equal a major paper grade over the material covered in class.

You will write an in-class one page paper as well, assignment to be given in class.


Friday 30th:
begin discussion of Vonnegut (read through chapter 2). Be prepared for quiz and to begin reading and discussing a journal article.

Assignment for 1302 Classes week of March 5.

Writing Assignment for week 7-- read the following from Catch-22 and write a comparison/contrast between it and the film. Use Amazon to help you find the information to create a citation for the novel and make sure you have a citation for the film. Due Thursday beginning of class printed out for Thursday classes and Friday for Friday classes.

Reading from Catch-22 – by Joseph Heller
When fellow administrative officers expressed astonishment at Colornel Cathcart’s choice of Major Major, Captain Black muttered that there was something funny going on; when they speculated on the political value of Major Major’s resemblance to Henry Fonda, Captain Black asserted that Major Major really was Henry Fonda; and when they remarked that Major Major was somewhat odd, Captain Black announced that he was a Communist.
“They’re taking over everything,” he declared rebelliously. “Well, you fellows can stand around and let them if you want to, but I’m not going to. I’m going to do something about it. From now on I’m going to make every son of a bitch who comes to my intelligence tent sign a loyalty oath. And I’m not going to let that bastard Major Major sign one even if he wants to.”
Almost overnight the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade was in full flower, and Captain Black was enraptured to discover himself spearheading it. He had really hit on something. All the enlisted men and officers on combat duty had to sign a loyalty oath to get their map cases from the intelligence tent, a second loyalty oath to receive their flak suits and parachutes from the parachute tent, a third loyalty oath for Lieutenant Balkington, the motor vehicle officer, to be allowed to ride from the squadron to the airfield in one of the trucks. Every time they turned around there was another loyalty oath to be signed. They signed a loyalty oath to get their pay from the finance officer, to obtain their PX supplies, to have their hair cut by the Italian barbers. To Captain Black, every officer who supported his Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade was a competitor, and he planned and plotted twenty-four hours a day to keep one step ahead. He would stand second to none in his devotion to country. When other officers had followed his urging and introduced loyalty oaths of their own, he went them one better by making every son of a bitch who came to his intelligence tent sign two loyalty oaths, then three, then four; then he introduced the pledge of allegiance, and after that “The Star-Spangled Banner,” one chorus, two choruses, three choruses, four choruses. Each time Captain Black forged ahead of his competitors, he swung upon them scornfully for their failure to follow his example. Each time they followed his example, he retreated with concern and racked his brain for some new stratagem that would enable him to turn upon them scornfully again.
Without realizing how it had come about, the combat men in the squadron discovered themselves dominated by the administrators appointed to serve them. They were bullied, insulted, harassed and shoved about all day long by one after the other. When they voiced objection, Captain Black replied that people who were loyal would not mind signing all the loyalty oaths they had to. To anyone who questioned the effectiveness of the loyalty oaths, he replied that people who really did owe allegiance to their country would be proud to pledge it as often as he forced them to. And to anyone who questioned the morality, he replied that “The Star-Spangled Banner” was the greatest piece of music ever composed. The more loyalty oaths a person signed, the more loyal he was; to Captain Black it was as simple as that, and he had Corporal Kolodny sign hundreds with his name each day so that he could always prove he was more loyal than anyone else.
“The important thing is to keep them pledging,” he explained to his cohorts. “It doesn’t matter whether they mean it or not. That’s why they make little kids pledge allegiance even before they know what ‘pledge’ and ‘allegiance’ means.”
To Captain Piltchard and Captain Wren, the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade was a glorious pain in the ass, since it complicated their task of organizing the crews for each combat mission. Men were tied up all over the squadron signing, pledging and singing, and the missions took hours longer to get under way. Effective emergency action became impossible, but Captain Piltchard and Captain Wren were both too timid to raise any outcry against Captain Black, who scrupulously enforced each day the doctrine of “Continual Reaffirmation” that he had originated, a doctrine designed to trap all those men who had become disloyal since the last time they had signed a loyalty oath the day before. It was Captain Black who came with advice to Captain Piltchard and Captain Wren as they pitched about in their bewildering predicament. He came with a delegation and advised them bluntly to m ake each man sign a loyalty oath before allowing him to fly on a combat mission.
“Of course, it’s up to you,” Captain Black pointed out. “Nobody’s trying to pressure you. But everyone else is making them sign loyalty oaths, and it’s going to look mighty funny to the F.B.I. if you two are the only ones who don’t care enough about your country to make them sign loyalty oaths, too. If you want to get a bad reputation, that’s nobody’s business but your own. All we’re trying to do is help.”
Milo was not convinced and absolutely refused to deprive Major Major of food, even if Major Major was a Communist, which Milo secretly doubted. Milo was by nature opposed to any innovation that threatened to disrupt the normal course of affairs. Milo took a firm moral stand and absolutely refused to participate in the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade until Captain Black called upon him with his delegation and requested him to.
“National defense is everybody’s job,” Captain Black replied to Milo’s objection. “And this whole program is voluntary, Milo – don’t forget that. The men don’t have to sign Piltchard and Wren’s loyalty oath if they don’t want to. But we need you to starve them to death if they don’t. It’s just like Catch-22. Don’t you get it? You’re not against Catch-22, are you?”
Doc Daneeka was adamant.
“What makes you so sure Major Major is a Communist?”
“You never heard him denying it until we began accusing him, did you? And you don’t see him signing any of our loyalty oaths.”
“You aren’t letting him sign any.”
“Of course not,” Captain Black explained. “That would defeat the whole purpose of our crusade. Look, you don’t have to play ball with us if you don’t want to. But what’s the point of the rest of us working so hard if you’re going to give Major Major medical attention the minute Milo begins starving him to death? I just wonder what they’re going to think up at Group about the man who’s undermining our whole security program. They’ll probably transfer you to the Pacific.”
Doc Daneeka surrendered swiftly. “I’ll go tell Gus and Wes to do whatever you want them to.”
Up at Group, Colonel Cathcart had already begun wondering what was going on.
“It’s that idiot Black off on a patriotism binge,” Colonel Korn reported with a smile. “I think you’d better play ball with him for a while, since you’re the one who promoted Major Major to squadron commander.”
“That was your idea,” Colonel Cathcart accused him petulantly. “I never should have let you talk me into it.”
“And a very good idea it was, too,” retorted Colonel Korn, “since it eliminated that superfluous major that’s been giving you such an awful black eye as an administrator. Don’t worry, this will probably run its course soon. The best thing to do now is send Captain Black a letter of total support and hope he drops dead before he does too much damage.” Colonel Korn was struck with a whimsical thought. “I wonder! You don’t suppose that imbecile will try to turn Major Major out of his trailer, do you?”
“The next thing we’ve got to do is turn that bastard Major Major out of his trailer,” Captain Black decided. “I’d like to turn his wife and kids out into the woods, too. But we can’t. He has no wife and kids. So we’ll just have to make do with what we have and turn him out. Who’s in charge of the tents?”
“He is.”
“You see?” cried Captain Black. “They’re taking over everything! Well, I’m not going to stand for it. I’ll take this matter right to Major —— de Coverley himself if I have to. I’ll have Milo speak to him about it the minute he gets back from Rome.”
Captain Black had boundless faith in the wisdom, power and justice of Major —— de Coverley, even though he had never spoken to him before and still found himself without the courage to do so. He deputized Milo to speak to Major —— de Coverley for him and stormed out impatiently as he waited for the tall executive officer to return. Along with everyone else in the squadron, he lived in profound awe and reverence of the majestic, white-haired major with the craggy face and Jehovan bearing, who came back from Rome finally with an inuured eye inside a new celluloid eye patch and smashed his whole Glorious Crusade to bits with a single stroke.
Milo carefully said nothing when Major —— de Coverley stepped into the mess hall with his fierce and austere dignity the day he returned and found his way blocked by a wall of officers waiting in line to sign loyalty oaths. At the far end of the food counter, a group of men who had arrived earlier were pledging allegiance to the flag, with trays of food balanced in one hand, in order to be allowed to take seats at the table. Already at the tables, a group that had arrived still earlier was singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in order that they might use the salt and pepper and ketchup there. The hubub began to subside slowly as Major —— de Coverley paused in the doorway with a frown of puzzled disapproval, as though viewing something bizarre. He started forward in a straight line, and the wall of officers before him parted like the Red Sea. Glancing neither left nor right, he strode indomitably up to the steam counter and, in a clear, full-bodied voice that was gruff with age and resonant with ancient eminence and authority, said:
“Gimme eat.”
Instead of eat, Corporal Snark gave Major —— de Coverley a loyalty oath to sign. Major —— de Coverley swept it away with mighty displeasure the moment he recognized what it was, his good eye flaring up blindingly with fiery disdain and his enormous old corrugated face darkening in mountainous wrath.
“Gimme eat, I said,” he ordered loudly in harsh tones that rumbled ominously through the silent tent like claps of distant thunder.
Corporal Snark turned pale and began to tremble. He glanced toward Milo pleadingly for guidance. For several terrible seconds there was not a sound. Then Milo nodded.
“Give him eat,” he said.
Corporal Snark began giving Major —— de Coverley eat. Major —— de Coverley turned from the counter with his tray full and came to a stop. His eyes fell on the groups of other officers gazing at him in mute appeal, and, with righteous belligerence, he roared:
“Give everybody eat!”
“Give everybody eat!” Milo echoed with joyful relief, and the Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade came to an end.
Captain Black was deeply disillusioned by this treacherous stab in the back from someone in high place upon whom he had relied so confidently for support. Major —— de Coverley had let him down.
“Oh, it doesn’t bother me a bit,” he responded cheerfully to everyone who came to him with sympathy. “We completed our task. Our purpose was to make everyone we don’t like afraid and to alert people to the danger of Major Major, and we certainly succeeded at that. Since we weren’t going to let him sign loyalty oaths anyway, it doesn’t really matter whether we have them or not.”
Seeing everyone in the squadron he didn’t like afraid once again throughout the appalling, interminable Great Big Siege of Bologna reminded Colonel Black nostalgically of the good old days of his Glorious Loyalty Oath Crusade when he hh ad been a man of real consequence, and when even big shots like Milo Minderbinder, Doc Daneeka and Piltchard and Wren had trembled at his approach and groveled at his feet.

A Note on Absences and Not Doing Assignments

A reminder that four absences and a failing grade will result in me dropping you from the course. Guess what? When you come to class you get an automatic daily 100. When you text or use your phone while we're watching a film, you get a 0. When you have an unexcused absence and don't get your work in, you get a 0.

You are responsible for getting your assignments done on time. If you choose not to do so, that's your right, but it is a right that is not consequence-free. Points will be deducted for late work. If you have an issue because of life situations, you need to inform me prior to the assignment's due date, not after (and given the amount of heads up time on the papers, that does not extend to major papers).

If you are not in class to participate in group work, your group members who are there will receive a  100 and you will NOT--you get the 0. If you are not there when the group paper is being written when we return after spring break, you will have points deducted from your group paper grade. Your classmates will not.

If you do not have the full four page paper done and turned in on the 22nd (this is for Tuesday/Thursday classes, but not Friday), you will earn a 0 for the individual paper and FOR THE GROUP PAPER. This will mean you are FAILING the course; these will count as TWO unexcused absences, and if that means you have four--you will be dropped from the course.

The syllabus states no late work--you really don't want me to apply that across the board. If you can't be in class, email me, make sure you get your work, and make sure you turn it in on time. Excused absences do not earn 0s in the daily gradebook. I understand when life gets in the way, but I also can tell when people are simply choosing not to show up and do the work. This class needs regular attendance--your group needs you there or communicating with them when you can't be there.

One Page Paper Assignment/Info on 4 page paper

Due Thursday at the beginning of class (or Friday depending on what day you have class): one page double spaced, MLA-formatted essay comparing/contrasting the friendship between Archie and Frank in Gallipoli and the friendship between Yossarian and Nately in Catch-22. Must have a works cited page with the films and ANY other sources you consult.
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By the end of this week, your group will have completed the four agreed upon sources, a thesis statement and supports. Everyone in the group MUST use the same word-for-word thesis statement in the introduction and the same three support statements. Each student can have additional supports and sources for the individual paper, as well.

You must have a thesis that incorporates the fictional piece and the particular war--this is a synthesis of a literature analysis and history research paper. Use the actual history to back up the literary analysis. You may use Mead's piece as a framework and support (strongly encouraged).

Use reliable sources. Dig in the database. Spend time reading and learning and synthesizing the material. Make sure you GET SOMETHING out of this assignment. If you don't come away from it with a greater understanding of human nature, of the need for romanticism of war in order for good men and women to stand up and face the possibility of death, if you don't appreciate the absurdism and dark humor of Catch-22 and MASH, that facing the horrifying reality of war and what it does to man, then you have wasted an opportunity.