Starship Troopers 5

Study Guide Questions for Chapter Five

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

Ignorance, Justice, Mercy

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. How did Johnnie describe Sergeant Zim’s capabilities as a fighter?

2. What did Ted Hendrick not understand about their present training?

3. According to Sergeant Zim, what is war and what is it not?

4. What about the ammunition used in the rifles during training kept the men alert?

5. What two reasons were given for why the instructors in the “white shirts” were fairly safe just walking around?

6. What two things happened at about the same time which made Johnnie “feel sorry for” himself?

7. According to the story, what was the only reason Sergeant Zim brought Ted Hendrick into Captain Frankel’s office?

8. What did Ted Hendrick object to after Captain Frankel assigned his initial punishment?

9. What did Ted Hendrick eventually say to Captain Frankel which made the situation even more serious than before?

10. What “pertinent articles” did Captain Frankel confirm had been properly published to all the soldiers in the battalion? 

11. What sentence did Ted Hendrick receive from the field court martial as a result of his actions?

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

1. Sergeant Zim said, “There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men.” What did he mean by that?

2. What was Zim getting at when he asked, “If you want to teach a baby a lesson, would you cut its head off?”

3. Why did Captain Frankel think it might be deemed necessary, and even praiseworthy, to kill one of your own officers “to put a stop to pusillanimous conduct in the face of an enemy?”

4. Why is it significant that Sergeant Zim “hadn’t said anything about” his blackeye and that “Captain Frankel hadn’t asked?”

5. Lieutenant Spieksma told Ted Hendrick, after issuing his sentencing, that “the authority which remanded you specified a field court-martial – why it so chose, this Court will not speculate.” Let us speculate instead. Why did Captain Frankel opt for an immediate field court martial rather than a regular court martial?

6. Why would a field court martial not be allowed to ascribe a higher penalty than that which Ted Hendrick was sentenced to receive?

7. After Hendrick’s court martial the story tells us, “At afternoon sick call Captain Frankel took me off orderly and sent me to see the doctor.” Why might he have done that?

8. When Johnnie talked about floggings that took place “back home” he stated that “they do it in public of course.” Why would the floggings of a convicted person be carried out in public rather than in private?

9. Ted Hendrick, who received a field court martial, is the same man who asked Sergeant Zim a question (earlier in the chapter) about the purpose behind the kind of training they were doing. Do you think there is a connection between his earlier question and his eventual court martial? Why or why not?

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

1. Captain Frankel said, “It is useless to punish a man unless he knows why he is being punished.” Do you agree or disagree with this claim? Explain your reasoning for your position.

2. Captain Frankel explained to Ted Hendrick about the reason why they used corporal punishment/discipline, stating, “Now about those batons -- They have two uses. First, they mark the men in authority. Second, we expect them to be used on you, to touch you up and keep you on the bounce. You can’t possibly be hurt with one, not the way they are used; at most they sting a little. But they save thousands of words.” To what extent is corporal (bodily) punishment and discipline an appropriate tool to be used in society? Give at least two examples where such discipline might be applied. Do you agree that corporal discipline is both necessary and effective? Why or why not?

3. Should striking a superior officer while on duty and in a state of war be a capital offense (an offense worthy of the death penalty)? Why or why not?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Proverbs 13:24 and Proverbs 19:25. How do these passages affect your thinking about the matter of corporal discipline?