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Another part I found very interesting was when suddenly, for 2 or 3 pages, the narrator started ripping apart Christianity. My only guess is that these are Vonnegut's views, because they were very random and seemed almost edited in. After the few pages, it returns back to the story, and was really in no way relevant.

The title refers to the slaughterhouse in Dresden where the US POW's were taken during the bombing. I'm sure later in the novel it will hold great importance, but the reading ended with Vonnegut having just explained the slaughterhouse.

The personification/ metaphor/ whatnot of all the characters in this book appearing as anthropomorphic animals adds a completely separate layer to the book. Before we learn of any character's personality, they are already given a label (The Jews are mice, the Poles are pigs, I'm sure there are more...)

The techniques Art (good name for an artist/author by the way) Spiegelman uses very commonly are shading and font. Since the drawing in the novel is all black & white, the shading is very important in portraying certain ideas. For instance, when the Swastika is shown, it is completely surrounded by black. When the story shifts time periods, the shading changes as well. The bolding and underlining of certain words also gives them meaning, as we've seen in most other comics like Calvin & Hobbes. I'm looking forward to continuing on reading this work. 

 He writes with extensive literary tools (like subtext) that enhance the reading and make it a very nonlinear experience. You can read it multiple times and learn something, or realize something new every time. I have a feeling that re-reading certain parts of A Farewell to Arms could lead to some interesting things, and we could learn from it. His second quote is him saying that he puts so much in the writing, that each time you read it you get more out of it.

In my writing, I could definitely add more sentences that make the reader have to..."think". Instead of immature linear "I walked to the grocery store in the rain, and bought some pop-tarts." it could be something like "Throwing on my pancho, I trudged my way through the adversity to my destination. Walking through the aisles of cereals, I happened upon my prize- the pop-tarts."

Themes & Ideas?

The rain is established as having a negative power (death, obviously) very bluntly in the final paragraph about cholera (essentially, death due to the rain...). Also, his repetitive diction is established (especially the usage of colors).

Continuations?

 The rain is obviously still a very important symbol in the book. His attention to the importance of scenery has continued as well, for when he decides to set up a new setting, he devotes an entire page (even chapter) to the description.

 In the last set of quotes we saw why Hemingway said he wrote, and in these quotes we see his goals in writing them. He wanted the reader to have a full, enriching experience. He wanted the book to stay with the reader long after the pages ended. He describes in his letter to Dr. Hemingway that he isn't fabricating or exaggerating anything, "so that when you have read something by me you actually experience the thing." It seems to me he not only reveled in the triumph of his own work, but more reveled in the experiences his readers felt when they read his work. In AFA Hemingway has explicit scenes like the hemorrhage scene that evoke feelings in the reader, yet at the same time he incorporates implicit scenes as well (Catherine & Henry's sex scene) that leave us to draw our own conclusions.

In my own writing I could incorporate more vivid descriptions of things, I could use some good adjectives that paint a very good picture for the reader. 

Hemingway, as he said in his Nobel Acceptance speech, acknowledges writing as something that is challenging and rewarding. He writes because it makes him happy and fulfilled. When any challenge is completed, you feel fulfilled, and to him writing is the greatest challenge of them all. (He also says that is why he is a writer- for the challenge).

We learn that Hemingway truly values being a writer, and the challenge and fulfillment that it brings him. He is humble about his writing talent and it shows here when he talks about how hard it is. 

I think in my own writing, I should challenge myself more. Writing is a very difficult process, and when it is completed it bings great triumph to the writer. If I challenged myself even more than I do now in my writing, wouldn't it be tha tmuch more triumph?