What do these two images have in common?

Summer Assignment

For those of you who missed it or forgot or thought I was kidding:

Read Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut; when done, answer the following questions in brief, but well organized paragraphs:

What two social institutions are most directly critiqued and what is Vonnegut trying to say?

From a literary perspective, why the title? (Think: symbol)

Choose one paragraph or quotation that connects to the meaning of the work as a whole and closely examine it. What does it say literally? What larger ideas are suggested? How does it reflect those larger ideas and meanings?

This is due first day of class and is your first graded assignment.