The Short Fiction of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. A Canon of Illusion, Courtesy and Science Fiction Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was one of the twentieth century’s most original, post-modern authors, a hero to the baby-boomer generation and an icon for secular humanists. He penned stories and novels that included settings ranging from small-town New England to the outer moons of Saturn. He threw his everyday characters into humiliating situations to see how they would react. A pessimist at times, KVJ desired to extract the largest amount of humanity from his characters and from his readers. Our class will be reading select short stories from his two compilations, “Welcome to the Monkey House” and “Bagombo Snuffbox.” Class time will be spent analyzing film, video, and audio clips as well as discussing assigned reading, conducting experiments, and playing games. "The Short Fiction of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr." is intended for students from grades 8 through 10 and will explore issues related to KVJ's most prominent themes and analyze his tongue-in-cheek dialogue and literary techniques. Students are asked to bring a notebook, a few writing utensils and an open mind to each and every class. Handouts of each story will be provided.