Starship Troopers 6

Study Guide Questions for Chapter Six

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

Freedom, Fear, Appearance vs. Reality, Happiness

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What had Johnnie determined to do after witnessing the flogging of Ted Hendrick?

2. What had Ted wanted to do with his life after serving his term of service?

3. According to Captain Frankel, who was the one who really “goofed” things up in the matter of Ted Hendrick?

4. According to Sergeant Zim, why was Ted able to catch him off his guard as he did?

5. Who had also been one of Captain Frankel’s trainers during boot camp?

6. What warning did Captain Frankel issue to Zim that he wanted passed on to the other officers at Camp Currie?

7. What was the gist of the letter which Johnnie received from his mother?

8. What is the one thing the M.I. never deprived their soldier of?

9. What was the gist of the letter which Johnnie received from Lt.-Col. Dubois?

10. According to Mr. Dubious, what are the two factors which determine a thing’s value?

11. As Johnnie was marching, singing, and listening to the band play, what did he suddenly realize?

12. What did Sergeant Zim learn about Johnnie which “faintly” impressed him?

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

1. Thomas Paine’s quote at the beginning of the chapter states, “What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.” What did he mean by this? 

2. Why did Captain Frankel blame Zim for Ted Hendrick’s court martial?

3. Why did Captain Frankel say that an instructor cannot afford to “like” or “hate” a soldier he is training?

4. Do you think Frankel and Zim are friends? Why or why not?

5. Why was Johnnie more shaken by the realization that Sergeant Zim “could feel that he had failed” than by “seeing Ted flogged?”

6. What would you say Johnnie’s eavesdropping ultimately taught him about the M.I. and his superior officers?

7. What seems to have been Johnnie’s biggest fear about staying in the M.I.?

8. Why might the M.I. have insisted on making sure the men always got their mail, even if they didn’t give them food, water, or sleep?

9. What principle did Mr. Dubois’ awarding of the false medal to Johnnie (for the hundred-meter sprint) prove?

10. What do you think ultimately changed Johnnie’s mind about resigning from the M.I.?

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

1. Col. Dubois wrote, “Basic truths cannot change and once a man of insight expresses one of them it is never necessary, no matter how much the world changes, to reformulate them. This is an immutable, true everywhere, throughout all time, for all men and all nations.” Would you agree that certain truths have been perfectly captured in the past by great minds and that they only need to be repeated and not amended? Further, are there statements that are simply incontrovertible, which cannot be contradicted, and are true for all people, in all places, and at all times? If you think there are, offer an example and defend it as such. If you think there are not such immutable truths, explain why and defend your answer. 

2. Col. Dubois was critical of the “Marxist theory” of value which argues that a thing's value corresponds to the amount of labor (time and effort) required to produce it. What exactly do you understand Dubois’ critique of this claim to be? Do you agree with his critique and why? Finally, do you think his contrary conception of Value is the better view of the two? Is there any room for critiquing the view of value proposed by Dubois? Explain all your answers carefully and with the use of good reason.

3. Are things only valuable if they are useful? Explain and defend your answer.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Col. Dubois told Johnnie, “The noblest fate that a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and the war’s desolation.” Compare this sentiment with Jesus’ own words in John 15:13. Do they convey the same message? Why or why not?