Starship Troopers 16

Study Guide Questions for Chapter Thirteen (Part 2)

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Last Line of the Reading: “I wondered if the Roughnecks had a spot open for a buck sergeant.”

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Duty, Prudence, Leadership, Humility

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What were at least three of the jobs Johnnie had as the “George” of the ship?

2. What were many soldiers continuing to do, “war or no war?”

3. Of the four possibilities before Johnnie, which three would not require him to finish his math assignments?

4. What was different from usual about the way in which Johnnie and the Blackguards reached the surface of Planet P?

5. What were the three main goals of the raid on Planet P?

6. “In the few moments” Johnnie had been out of the boat, what had Johnnie seen which disturbed him?

7. What did the “Battle Plan” for Operation Royalty dictate the M.I. should not do (which they normally would do)?

8. What had happened to the Cherubs before the Blackguards had arrived?

9. How did Johnnie respond to his platoon sergeant’s two suggestions?

10. What had “Blackie…been right” about?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why might Johnnie have felt it prudent to insist on “a sight inventory on everything for which” he had to sign?

2. Why would the M.I. set their clock according to “greenwich standard” and their calendar to the “universal calendar?”

3. What might be inferred about Captain Blackstone from his conversation with Johnnie about being prepared for his next drop and doing his math work?

4. Why would the Bugs have just as difficult a time understanding humans as humans have understanding them? What, in particular, would confuse them about the way humans operate?

5. Why might the human impetus (i.e. urge or desire) to rescue or ransom prisoners of war be a weakness? Why might it be a strength?

6. Johnnie said, “How often have you seen a headline like this? -- TWO DIE ATTEMPTING RESCUE OF DROWNING CHILD. If a man gets lost in the mountains, hundreds will search and often two or three searchers are killed. But the next time somebody gets lost just as many volunteers turn out. Poor arithmetic . . . but very human. It runs through all our folklore, all human religions, all our literature a racial conviction that when one human needs rescue, others should not count the price.” Do you think this is consistent with Mr. Dubois’ claim from chapter 8 that “Man has no moral instinct?” Why or why not?

7. Why was Planet P an ideal testing ground for the M.I.’s “Operation Royalty?”

8. What did Captain Blackstone mean when he said to Johnnie, “The situation is whatever you see that it is – so stir around and see?” Why was this instruction necessary?

9. Why might Johnnie have rejected his platoon sergeant’s first suggestion but accepted his second?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Johnnie mentioned that many soldiers were doing “correspondence courses” to further their education. C. S. Lewis wrote an essay called Learning in Wartime in which he defended the idea that people should not allow even a world war to stop them from pursuing their education. Is it important to seek to gain an education when there is a real possibility that you may die tomorrow? Why or why not?

2. Captain Blackstone reasoned with Johnnie about his priorities based upon the possibilities which lay ahead of him. Should we make decisions about what to do in the present based upon what is possible (or even probable) in the future? What difficulties present themselves when trying to reason about your present course of action based upon things that might happen in the future? On the other hand, what would be the result of never taking into account future possibilities when making present decisions? In light of all of this, to what degree should we make decisions in light of future possibilities versus making them based upon present realities? Explain your answer thoughtfully.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Proverbs 1. How does this impact your thinking about the first Rhetoric question?