Slaughterhouse-Five

This section presents terms and phrases that are central to understanding the text and may present a challenge to the reader. Use this list to create a vocabulary quiz or worksheet, to prepare flashcards for a standardized test, or to inspire classroom word games and other group activities.

1. So it goes (phrase):

an expression of resignation; in the story, the common verbal reaction of Tralfamadorians to inevitable tragedies

“He had a pleasant little apartment, and his daughter was getting an excellent education. His mother was incinerated in the Dresden fire-storm. So it goes.” (Chapter 1, page 3)

2. The Children’s Crusade (phrase):

a 13th-century scheme to sell children into slavery to pay for the religious Crusades in Palestine; the alternate title for the book Slaughterhouse Five

“Mackey told us that the Children’s Crusade started in 1213, when two monks got the idea of raising armies of children in Germany and France, and selling them in North Africa as slaves.” (Chapter 1, page 18)

3. random (adjective):

without reason or pattern; by chance

“He has seen his birth and death many times, he says, and pays random visits to all the events in between”. (Chapter 2, page 25)

4. Tralfamadore (noun): in the story, an alien planet occupied by time-traveling Tralfamadorians