Slaughterhouse Five Lesson Plan

In Chapter Two, a dog barks somewhere in the distance (though Billy and Weary don’t hear it) just before they are captured by the Germans and taken as POWs. In Chapter Four, “somewhere a big dog barked” as well, just before the Tralfamadorian spaceship arrives to take Billy away. Another instance of a dog barking occurs in Chapter Four when Billy’s train of POWs arrives at a prison. Why do you think Vonnegut repeats this detail?

In general, repetition is used in fiction for emphasis. That emphasis can, for example, serve to highlight something to make it more memorable or to connect seemingly unrelated things or events. So far, readers might note that a dog barking...