60 pages • 2 hours read
Player Piano
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-5
Reading Check
1. What is the name of the part of Ilium where most of the people live?
2. What is Doctor Halyard’s job in the novel?
3. How does Berringer plan to beat Paul at checkers?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does Paul not want the people at the Homestead bar to know who he is?
2. How does Kroner present himself to his employees?
3. Who expresses concern to Kroner about Paul’s health? Why does he do this?
Paired Resources
“Remembering Author Kurt Vonnegut, Who Would Have Turned 100 on Friday”
- This brief article from NPR includes the transcript of an interview excerpt with Kurt Vonnegut Jr. from 2006 in which the author discusses several of his famous works, including Player Piano.
- The interview connects to the themes of Industrialization and Humanity’s Loss of Agency, Disconnection, and Technology as Deity.
- How did Vonnegut’s life and beliefs influence his writing?
- This account from The Atlantic describes how the game of checkers was solved using a computer program. (Subscription may be needed to view.)
- The information in this resource connects to the theme of Technology as Deity.
- How does the checkers-playing program “Chinook” illustrate the potential and limitations of machines and artificial intelligence? How does the novel approach machines’ potential and limitations?
CHAPTERS 6-11
Reading Check
1. Who allows Finnerty to roam the Ilium plant unescorted?
2. Why does Finnerty say he stole Paul’s gun?
With whom does Finnerty decide to stay instead of Paul?
3. Why do the police want to question Paul?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why is Bud Calhoun fired? How does Paul respond to this news?
2. What is Halyard’s explanation for why the computer EPICAC XIV is more reliable than human brainpower?
CHAPTERS 12-17
Reading Check
1. Besides Paul, who is the other man being considered for the Pittsburgh job?
2. Why is it significant that Paul is chosen as the leader of the blue team at the Meadows?
3. Who is Mr. Haycox?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What does Kroner ask Paul to do in exchange for the Pittsburgh job?
2. Why does Paul decide not to tell Anita right away that he is going to quit his job?
3. Why is Doctor Pond surprised at Paul’s desire to buy the farm?
Paired Resource
“Good Genes Are Nice, But Joy Is Better”
- This article in the Harvard Gazette discusses the connection between community, relationships, and happiness.
- The ideas in this article connect to the theme of Disconnection.
- Why is a sense of community and connection so important in helping people find happiness? How is the novel’s theme of Disconnection developed in this section?
CHAPTERS 18-25
Reading Check
1. Where does Paul tell Anita that he plans to quit his job?
2. Who is Paul’s tent mate at the Meadows?
3. Who is revealed to be Anita’s lover?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. In the keynote play, what argument does the young engineer use to defeat the radical?
2. How is Director Gelhorne’s rise to his position anomalous?
3. Why do Gelhorne and Kroner fire Paul?
4. Why is Paul so impressed by Ed Harrison?
Paired Resource
“How ChatGPT and Generative AI Will Shape the Future of Work”
- This Stanford article offers ideas on the impact of advances in artificial intelligence on the way people work.
- This resource connects to the themes of Industrialization and Technology as Deity.
- How is new technology changing the way we work? What comparisons can be drawn to the impact of mechanization on work in the novel?
CHAPTERS 26-35
Reading Check
1. Why does Paul give up on staying at his farm?
2. While at the police station, whom does Paul see being arrested?
3. Who brings Paul into the Ghost Shirt Society?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why does the Ghost Shirt Society want Paul as their Messiah?
2. Why did Lasher push for an uprising against the machines even though he did not expect it to succeed?
Recommended Next Reads
Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
- This satirical science fiction novel was published in 1963; it takes a darkly comic look at the end of the world.
- Shared themes include Technology as Deity and Disconnection.
- Shared topics include the consequences of advanced technology and adapting to social change.
- Cat’s Cradle on SuperSummary
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- One of the most influential English-language dystopian novels, this work was cited by Vonnegut himself as a source of inspiration for Player Piano.
- Shared themes include Technology as Deity and Disconnection.
- Shared topics include societal upheaval and the consequences of advanced technology.
- Brave New World on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-5
Reading Check
1. Homestead (Chapter 1)
2. To show the Shah of Bratpuhr around the country (Chapter 2)
3. By employing the help of a machine, dubbed “Checker Charley” (Chapter 5)
Short Answer
1. Paul prefers not to be recognized in the lower-class residential area of Homestead because the people who live there envy the careers of the engineers across the river. (Chapters 1-5)
2. Kroner presents himself as a father figure to his employees, even encouraging them to refer to his wife as “Mom.” (Chapter 5)
3. Lawson Shepherd tells Kroner that he is concerned about Paul’s nerves. He does this because he and Paul are rivals and because he wants to undermine Paul’s bid to a prestigious new position. (Chapter 5)
CHAPTERS 6-11
Reading Check
1. Paul (Chapter 8)
2. Because he was considering shooting himself (Chapter 9)
3. Reverend Lasher (Chapter 9)
4. Because they found his gun in the river (Chapter 10)
Short Answer
1. Bud Calhoun is fired because he invented a machine that could perform his job more efficiently than he could. Paul is disturbed by this news and by the fact that machines dictate who can be hired and who cannot be hired. (Chapter 8)
2. As Halyard explains to the Shah, humans cannot be trusted to consistently do the right thing, as their reasoning is compromised by their emotions. As a computer, EPICAC XIV does not suffer from this handicap. (Chapter 11)
CHAPTERS 12-17
Reading Check
1. Fred Garth (Chapter 12)
2. Because the blue team is unofficially regarded as the most prestigious team (Chapter 14)
3. The caretaker of the farm Paul buys (Chapter 15)
Short Answer
1. Kroner promises that Paul will be given the Pittsburgh job if he agrees to say that Finnerty and Lasher are both saboteurs. (Chapter 12)
2. Afraid of losing Anita, Paul decided to introduce Anita to new values and to a new way of living before he tells her that he is going to quit his job. (Chapter 13)
3. Doctor Pond is surprised that Paul wants the farm as the farm is very primitive and lacks the machinery that most people would regard as necessary for a comfortable permanent residence. (Chapter 15)
CHAPTERS 18-25
Reading Check
Short Answer
1. The young engineer argues that the witness, John Averageman, has nicer things now than he did before industrialization and mechanization. He accuses the radical of trying to make people’s lives worse by recreating the Dark Ages. (Chapter 21)
2. Director Gelhorne rose to his position without even holding a college degree, using nothing but his wits and knack for business. Today, nobody would hire a man with Gelhorne’s lack of official credentials. (Chapter 22)
3. Gelhorne and Kroner fire Paul so that he can infiltrate the saboteur organization headed by Finnerty and Lasher. (Chapter 22)
4. Harrison helps Paul after he is thrown out of the Meadows out of decency, even though doing so is likely to jeopardize his own career. Harrison’s kindness moves Paul. (Chapter 23)
CHAPTERS 26-35
Reading Check
1. Because he finds the work too hard (Chapter 27)
2. Fred Garth (Chapter 27)
3. Finnerty and Lasher (Chapter 29)
Short Answer
1. The Ghost Shirt Society regards Paul as the ideal Messiah because of the importance of his father in spearheading the drive for mechanization. (Chapter 29)
2. Though Lasher did not expect the uprising to succeed, he wanted to go through with it because he believed it was important to try “for the record.” (Chapter 34)
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By Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
