Cat's Cradle (Final Exam)

Question 1

What is the subject of the author’s proposed book?

Answer 1

Day the bomb actually was dropped.

Question 2

What is the author’s new religion?

Answer 2

Bokononism

Question 3

What is a karass?

Answer 3

Join together to do God’s will and not actually know what they are doing.

Question 4

What does the statement “Man created the checkerboard; God created the karass” mean?

Answer 4

Ignores national, institutional, occupational, familial, and class boundaries.

Question 5

What does the author “intend” to do “in this book?”

Answer 5

Include as many karass as possible.

Question 6

Who is Dr. Felix Hoenikker?

Answer 6

Personal who helped build it; main guy over the bomb.

Question 7

What does the author ask of Newton Hoenikker?

Answer 7

What was your father doing that day.

Question 8

What was Dr. Hoenikker doing on the day the atomic bomb dropped?

Answer 8

Playing with string.

Question 9

Where did Dr. Hoenikker get the string he was playing with?

Answer 9

Crazy book a person sent him in prison.

Question 10

What is a “cat’s cradle”?

Answer 10

String, web, more and more complicated.

Question 11

What did Dr. Hoenikker try to do with Newt the morning the bomb dropped?

Answer 11

Tries to play with him, sings crazy song.

Question 12

How did Newt respond to Dr. Hoenikker’s song?

Answer 12

Burst into tears and ran outside.

Question 13

Why is Newt “privileged”?

Answer 13

Doesn’t have to go to classes anymore.

Question 14

Why did the two girls commit suicide?

Answer 14

They didn’t get into sorority they wanted.

Question 15

After Newt ran from his father, what did he find his brother Frank doing?

Answer 15

Watching bugs fight, to get them to fight he shook the jar.

Question 16

What is ironic about treating Dr. Hoenikker as a child?

Answer 16

Character to use for science but uses it as a child.

Question 17

What did Dr. Hoenikker get interested in for a while that took him away from working on the bomb?

Answer 17

Turtles.

Question 18

How did they stop him?

Answer 18

Stole the turtles then he gets focused back on the bomb.

Question 19

Why doesn’t Newt think his family can be called “illustrious”?

Answer 19

Midget, brother is a criminal, he is wanted.

Question 20

Why does Newt believe he is proof that “there is love enough in this world for everybody”?

Answer 20

Found someone to marry another midget.

Question 21

Who is Zinka?

Answer 21

Newts girlfriend.

Question 22

Why do Newt and Zinka break up?

Answer 22

42 years old, old enough to be his mom. More materialistic gone back to Russia.

Question 23

Why does the author travel to Illium, New York?

Answer 23

Another assignment, weird reason don’t really know. Appointment.

Question 24

How does Dr. Breed feel about Dr. Hoenikker?

Answer 24

No moral can control him. Supernatural hero.

Question 25

Why did Dr. Hoenikker’s classmates call him “Agent X-9”/

Answer 25

Super secret, awkward, always wants to be somewhere else.

Question 26

What, according to Sandra and the bartender, is the newly found secret of life?

Answer 26

Protein.

Question 27

What did Dr. Breed do on the day the atomic bomb was dropped, according to the older bartender?

Answer 27

Bought a poor guy a drink.

Question 28

What does the author’s soul seem as “foul” as?

Answer 28

Smoke from burning cat fur. Drunk having sex.

Question 29

Who does the town believe fathered the three Hoenikker children?

Answer 29

Breed.

Question 30

What does Dr. Breed believe the author should write a book about? Why?

Answer 30

Killing 26 people. Bomb killed a lot more.

Question 31

What really caused Emily’s death “when little Newt was born”?

Answer 31

Car wreck.

Question 32

What does Miss Pefko find in her mind?

Answer 32

Scientist walks around Miss Pefko used napkins, being negative when he isn’t.

Question 33

Why does the woman who approaches Miss Pefko and Dr. Breed represent “almost all mankind”?

Answer 33

Hates people that think to much.

Question 34

What, according to Dr. Hoenikker, proves that a scientist isn’t a charlatan?

Answer 34

Can’t explain things (science) to a 8 year old.

Question 35

Why does Dr. Breed get annoyed with Miss Pefko?

Answer 35

Walks into room lights come on tells her to stop it.

Question 36

Who is Faust (in literature)?

Answer 36

Transcend himself, destroyed his soul in process.

Question 37

What hasn’t the laboratory had in over six months?

Answer 37

An accident.

Question 38

What is the “Girl Pool”?

Answer 38

Typing Bureau in basement. Type everything scientist say.

Question 39

Why does Dr. Breed get “sore” with the author?

Answer 39

Seemed like everyone else, doesn’t like scientist.

Question 40

What is “pure research”?

Answer 40

Not trying to create anything. Trying to just understand the world.

Question 41

Who especially gave suggestions to Dr. Hoenikker?

Answer 41

Generals.

Question 42

What did one general ask Dr. Hoenikker to fix?

Answer 42

Mud.

Question 43

What did Felix suggest would solve the problem?

Answer 43

Ting grain fit under finger nail.

Question 44

What is the “miracle” of Felix?

Answer 44

Approached old puzzles like they are new, like he has never seem them before.

Question 45

What is ice-nine? Why would it be problematic?

Answer 45

All water would be ice and never melt.

Question 46

Why is it ironic that the girls changed the lyric “The hopes and fears of all the years/Are met in thee tonight” to their “interpretation”?

Answer 46

Christ changed to scientist.

Question 47

What would be the result of dropping ice-nine on mud?

Answer 47

Freeze.