View a FREE sample

1. How does the novel open?

The story begins with Private Mandella sitting through a training class intended to teach several ways to kill without making any noise. Mandella notes that while he has recently been educated on many ways to kill, not a single one of them has been silent.

2. What are the students' responses to the film?

In response to the film, Rogers, a female recruit, asks the sergeant how likely it would ever be that one would face a Tauran armed solely with a compact shovel. The sergeant answers that this is a prime example of how the recruits must get creative in finding the Tauran's weak spots. They have to be prepared to kill even if they are armed with only a nail file.

3. Why are the heating mechanisms turned off in the opening chapter?

The soldiers are preparing for space war by building a bridge in freezing cold Missouri. The heating mechanisms are turned off to demonstrate how cold it will be on Charon, the planet where they will be heading for their next training phase.

(read all 60 Short Essay Questions and Answers)

This section contains 3,122 words (approx. 11 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample