The Eagle of the Ninth 6

Study Guide Questions for Ch. 6 “Esca”

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

Death and Resurrection, Friendship, Freedom

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. Why, according to the text, was Marcus able to afford to purchase this slave?

2. What did Esca tell Marcus it would have been easy for him to do if he had so chosen?

3. What problem has been plaguing the people of (and around) the city of Calleva?

4. What was decided to be done about the problem and what did Marcus tell Esca to do?

5. When Esca returned from his time away, what did he bring back with him?

6. What took place during Esca’s time away that made him return with a heavy heart?

7. After Esca tells Marcus what transpired between himself and Tribune Placidus, what does Marcus make very clear to Esca?

8. What did Marcus learn about Esca’s personal history, how he became a slave, and  life before he became a slave?

9. What story did Esca relate to Marcus which turned out to be of deeply personal interest?

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

1. Why is Esca willing to be Marcus’ slave even if he would have been no one else’s?

2. What might be metaphorically implied by the line in the story which tells us, “The weeks went by, and suddenly the rosebushes in the courtyard were gemmed with swelling leaf-buds”?

3. Despite their different societal standing at present, why are Esca and Marcus able to become close friends?

4. Consider what the story tells us about Esca’ parents. “My father and two brothers died.…My mother also. My father killed her before the Legionaries broke through. She wished it so.” Why might she have wished for this?

5. Why was it important to Esca that Marcus knew he was “lying for dead in a ditch when they took” him?

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

1. Given the fate of Esca’s mother it brings up the question of suicide (or assisted suicide). Is it ever legitimate to take one’s own life or the life of one you love at their request? Why or why not? Make your case with reason and Scripture.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read the New Testament epistle of Philemon and answer the following question: How did the gospel of Jesus Christ eventually make slavery impossible in Christian homes?