Lesson Plans Starship Troopers

Eight Week Quiz E. Eight Week Quiz F. Eight Week Quiz G. Mid-Book Test - Easy. Final Test - Easy. Mid-Book Test - Medium. Final Test - Medium. Mid-Book Test - Hard. Final Test - Hard. View a FREE sample. More summaries and resources for teaching or studying Starship Troopers.

Starship Troopers from BookRags. What I think Heinlein was doing and doing it well is examining human history, proposing certain ideas and bringing things to their logical conclusions. Yes, he created a society where only veterans i. This enlistment could be prolonged should a need arrive as for instance in case of a war.

There is a sound logic behind that division between civilians and veterans that this novel proposes. It is known that revolution eats its own children. We know the history of mankind is a bloody mess. Here in this novel there are some suggestions how to avoid it. It is not to be taken too literally, it is not something you should preach but hopefully reading this novel will make you a little more open minded and make you questions thing.

What kind of novel is Starship Troopers? Well, one wouldn't be wrong if one described it as a classic SF novel. It is certainly considered a SF classic for a good reason. Like the best of science fiction works, this novel explores the complex creation that is human kind, using a future world to question our own as well as to propose possible corrections to our society. In addition, it could also be called a YA novel because the protagonist Rico indeed grows up before our eyes. From a young man that acts as a boy, he makes the transition into an adult which sadly as Heinlein noted in his Stranger In A Strange Land is not something everyone is capable of.

Not all people turn into adults, some remain caught into the limbo of shifting and avoiding to take the responsibility for their own lives forever. When it comes to my favourite authors, I seem to do rereading in cycles, every five years or so. I think rereading tells us a lot about a quality of any work of literature. In my opinion, there are two reasons why a novel gets reread again and again. It is either very good or it has a sentimental value for its reader. In this case, it might be both.

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I have a copy at my home that I will probably read at least once more and here is why. Because it is a great novel that functions perfectly on many levels. What I liked most about it, is surely its philosophical and intellectual aspect, but it functions perfectly both as a great SF and YA novel. If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review. He didn't include them as "grunts" probably because the training was sufficiently hard that most wouldn't have made it.

If you read the description of the training it wasn't just 12 weeks square-bashing, it reads far more like Special Forces. It might also have been because he was paying lip service to a society kind of modelled on 50s America where th If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review. It might also have been because he was paying lip service to a society kind of modelled on 50s America where the ladies were the home-makers and females in the frontline weren't even on the radar.

However, having said that, we have the fabulous line about females in high rank and esteem: The viewer was encouraged to look at the films as broad entertainment and then ask what the actions of the heroes had to do with American culture. She's chiefly a suspect because of her sexuality which is why GLAAD picketed the film and lack of shame about it. If you're into SF, read on. Space exploration has always been the realm of engineers and the military.

At the time when Heinlein wrote this novel the late s , the US Armed Forces had won World War II not so long ago, and were at the same time beefing up their nuclear arsenal against a potential strike from the USSR, sending troops overseas and starting an endless war in Vietnam, and sending the first unmanned missions to the face of the moon! Starship Troopers is mostly a Bildungsroman about the US Armed Forces Robert Space exploration has always been the realm of engineers and the military.

It is indeed quite instructive to understand how the military organisation works or might work: About half the novel is mostly action, with combat training and battlefields especially the battle scenes that frame the story, at the start and the end. The other half is all about moral and political doctrine, written in the form of philosophical dialogues. Dubois acting like an ill-tempered Socrates. Changing a few details, it could just as well have been an epic story set at the time of the Roman Empire. We , Brave New World and An ideology which sounds quite outdated today but that, in a way, still resonates with the cheerful militaristic inclination of the current US President Trump, Nevertheless, the story flows smoothly and merrily, and Heinlein does have a serious knack for writing good dialogues and confusing action scenes.

If you have seen the movie- forget it. Besides the names, it shares very little with RAH's study on why free men subject themselves to a loss of freedom in order to ensure freedom for others. This book greatly influenced me when I was a boy- and it still colors my thinking today- 35 years later. This should be on the reading lists of every high school.

I would like to correct what appears to be a common misconception about the society described in Heinlein's book: View all 4 comments. Will he make it out alive? Yeah, I don't really know what to think about this book. I picked it up solely because it was an inspiration for one of my favorite books, Old Man's War by John Scalzi. While the writing was very good, there was never an "I can't put it down" moment.

I'd say ninety percent of the book was Juan Rico's military life. There wasn't a lot of action until the end. I liked the universe Heinlein set up. This was probably the first appearance of power armor in sf. Aliens looking like giant bugs aren't overly original but they sure are creepy. Heinlein's depiction of military life seemed pretty accurate from what I've heard from people who've served.

It seems like I have more gripes than I thought. The rah-rah attitude toward military life got on my nerves after a while. For a story including power armor and giant bugs, Starship Troopers was kind of boring. I also never bought Juan Rico's reasons for joining. I'd better balance this with a few more positives. I liked the reunion of Rico and his father.

The look behind the curtain at the command structure did a lot to flesh out some of the supporting cast. The future tech was great considering the time in which Starship Troopers was written. To wrap things up, I can see why Starship Troopers is a classic of science fiction but, just like with other classics, it doesn't mean you have to worship it. I'm glad I read it so I could see the inspiration for parts of Old Man's War but I doubt I'll feel the urge to re-read it any time soon. Nov 16, R. I was talking about it with my brother last night because he brought up an organization he's doing work for that looks to fund candidates who are community service oriented.

One of their goals is to have half the House and Senate be veterans by I said i thought that was a great idea and that I thought we should go even further and demand all public servants have some sort of military service to achieve a high office. He disagreed and said it takes all types to be a leader a Love this book. He disagreed and said it takes all types to be a leader and some fit in different way sand bring different things to the table. Keep in mind that we're both veterans with him having been an officer in the USMC and myself in the Navy from a long line of men and women who have served.

He's never read the book so he's downloading it and then we can talk about it again after he's gone through it. I really love books that are written as a fun adventure story but have all these deep nuances when you dig into them. I like this one and the Empire by Orson Scott for the same kind of writing although it's a lot more overt in that novel.

Nov 27, Apatt rated it liked it Shelves: I started reading sci-fi quite intensively in the 80s as if my life depended on it and if you had asked me at the time who my favorite of the Big Three of Science Fiction is I would have said Robert A. He was, I thought, the funniest, the liveliest, the least dry, and basically the most badass of the Three.

In recent years have been re-reading a lot of classic sci-fi and my answer today would be different. I would place Isaac Asimov first then Arthur C. Clarke and Heinlein would be t I started reading sci-fi quite intensively in the 80s as if my life depended on it and if you had asked me at the time who my favorite of the Big Three of Science Fiction is I would have said Robert A.

Clarke and Heinlein would be trailing them a little. I may be a little unfair to Heinlein here as recently I have been reading his less well received books from the 80s, Friday , and the dreadful I Will Fear No Evil. The funny thing is I remember loving Starship Troopers too. Starship Troopers starts off with a bang where the protagonist Juan Rico is about to go on a raid against some aliens called The Skinnies. Scenes of combat, explosions, heroism, and death ensued. Where the Drill Sergeant spends all his time cussing and cursing at the trainees and generally making their lives miserable for their own good, and to weed out those who are not tough enough to cope with the rigors of the training.

This is just as well as the boot camp chapters takes up most of the first half of the book. I expect the storyline to become even livelier subsequent to the boot camp, especially as I already knew some insect-like aliens are about to make an appearance. I was very surprised at how the second half of the book turned out. The lecturing scenes are Heinlein at his didactic worst. Even though Heinlein can be very persuasive I was not entirely convinced of the political and philosophical points he is making here.

Worse than that, I was a little bored of reading these thinly disguised lectures.

Starship Troopers

It seems to me that the pacing of the novel grinds to a halt at this point and Heinlein has sacrificed the storytelling to espouse his personal views. The last section of the book where Rico has graduated from the Officer Candidate School and goes on another raid to capture literally the brains behind the Bugs operations resumes the storyline and pick up the pacing. Unfortunately by that point the book has already lost my goodwill and I have already stopped caring about how Rico or even the rest of humanity fare.

Besides, the ending of the book is inconclusive as far as the Bug War is concerned. This is not at all surprising because, in spite of initial appearances, this is not a sci-fi thriller about Humanity vs. It is not my place to criticize Heinlein's views on these matters as he has clearly thought long and hard about them and I have not, but all his pontifications plays hell with the narrative flow and as a work of fiction Starship Troopers is by and large not a lot of fun to read. Feb 14, Kat Kennedy rated it really liked it Shelves: I watched Starship Troopers first.

I found it amusing, gory, action based and fluffy. Turns out that he never finished this book and made the story up as he saw fit. Suddenly everything made sense to me. As far as pacing and plot go, you won't find any of that here. There isn't much of a plot to this book and the story arc, so to speak, is more like a low lying limbo poll. What I absolut I watched Starship Troopers first. What I absolutely loved about this book, though, is the characters and message to this book.

Of course, Heinlein's theories about citizenship and government are seriously flawed. But they're fascinating if you like that sort of thing and the description of military life is both rich and well depicted. Of course, you have to have a passion for both the military AND theory of government to enjoy this book. If not, put it down and go read Twilight.

Starship Troopers, the book, is one of my all-time favorites. This military sci-fi novel has all the aspects of hard science fiction I love: By contrast, Starship Troopers the movie is also one of my favorites, but for completely different and admittably shallow reasons. The movie only vaguely resembles the book, but it has hot-hot-oh-SO-HOT cha Starship Troopers, the book, is one of my all-time favorites. The movie only vaguely resembles the book, but it has hot-hot-oh-SO-HOT characters, space adventure and wonderfully campy dialogue. I hate hearing someone say "the movie was so cheesy, why would I read the book?

They should both be enjoyed for their distinct merits. Mar 03, Melissa Rudder rated it did not like it. Its cover advertises controversy and boasts of the exciting journey of Johnnie Rico through the intergalactic military camp of the future. It sounded promising; unfortunately, I was not awed or entertained. If anything, I was pleased the novel was a quick read so that I could more readily set it aside. To follow a character through the ups and downs of boot camp and warfare and to revel in his victories and sympathize with his failings, i Robert A.

Or, for the opposite effect, hate him. I neither liked nor hated Johnnie. I was completely indifferent as to his plight. Maybe Heilein left him underdeveloped because he was going for a sort of Everyman approach. If he was, it was ineffective. Next, the novel seemed to be constantly moving to a climactic ending that it never reached. Sure, the last chapter was a nice wrap-up and finished a nice cycle to connect it to the beginning of the story and I do love that structuring , but all the training for warfare and battle and the one great war scene was cut short and lacked any real action.

Johnnie spent pages and pages training, but the reader never gets to see him master what he learned. When I read a war book, I wanna read T he Red Badge of Courage or some equivalent that critiques the devastation of war, rather than pages and pages of dialogue in which characters argue for a state ruled by soldiers, support a "colonize them before they colonize us" policy, and praise cruel and unusual punishment. So maybe if my vision of the perfect future included military rule, maybe I would like Starship Troopers. Aug 13, TK rated it really liked it.

No doubt that if you're looking at this review, you have probably seen the movie of the same name I read this one in high school after having seen a green placard on I that said "Movie Location: Sometime later, I bought a copy at a us No doubt that if you're looking at this review, you have probably seen the movie of the same name Sometime later, I bought a copy at a used bookstore. From the first few pages I was hooked. Yes, there is a bunch of militaristic propaganda and you probably could write a pretty interesting dissertation about all the -isms that populate the thoughts and actions and messages within the pages.

But I was a kid when I read this, and I didn't really care about all that But these scenes never really came. There are some moments of battle, a few others ruminated about from the older generations, but mostly this novel is about courage and what it means to sacrifice your personal life in the name of citizenship. At the time of the reading, I never really thought about this.

I was born in the good 'ol US of A and therefore had automatic citizenship.

But now, I wonder what it would be like if America had a mandatory military enlistment. I like to think that I would be brave enough to enlist and serve my country. My family has a very strong record of military service: I am proud of all these family members And at the tender age of seventeen, I never really understood these psychological implications. Even as a man in my twenties I never understood this.

It has only been with the birth of my son that I have really gained an appreciation and deeper insight into the real world of war. Do I want my son to be a soldier? I really don't know. Is there a cause worth fighting for? Is there a cause worth killing for? Again, I'm not sure. All I know is this: If an alien species eradicated a portion of the world while attempting a hostile takeover, I'm glad that there are men and women that are ready to serve faithfully, while others, like me, remain lost in philosophical debate.

Apr 07, Mr. Matt rated it liked it Shelves: Starship Troopers is a Military Science Fiction classic. It is also a cheesy movie. I watched the movie on Netflix, and then read the book. I'm happy to report that the book is much, much better than the movie. The story follows Rico, a generic soldier in the Terran Infantry in the lead up to and the full fledged explosion of war against the alien "bug" species.

The aliens are kind of like ants in that there is a Queen and a vast army or soldier and worker bugs dedicated to a specific role. These roles do not think beyond fulfilling their obligation to the collective. The story is in many ways the story of this alien species clashing with the frenetic, individualistic humanity.

Very cool little story. Kind of generic, but fun. Additionally, the author definitely injects a firm libertarian bent into the story. It's OK, I guess, but I generally want to avoid books with too firm of a message. Except for Animal Farm. That book is fun. View all 3 comments. Jul 19, Jason Koivu rated it liked it Shelves: While this is sci-fi, it also seems semi-autobiographical. Robert Heinlein was in the Navy and it appears this novel is based on his experiences.

He takes us through boot camp, gives a rundown of his invented space corps and finishes up with a short battle with overgrown bugs. Overall it feels like an introductory to a series or little more than an outline, as if Heinlein wanted a walk down memory lane in book form. In fact, if this is any indication, he was very fond of his time in the services While this is sci-fi, it also seems semi-autobiographical.

In fact, if this is any indication, he was very fond of his time in the services. Critics have called this military propaganda. Since he was writing through the voice of an unreliable narrator, I'll leave that topic to others to fight over and limit my criticism to the lack of action.

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There's just too much lead up to a whole lotta not much. In other words, in a novel about soldiers learning how to fight, there should be more fighting. Aug 31, Eric rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: A must for sci-fi fans. I had been meaning to read this for a while, and am glad I finally got around to it.

I have a bunch of unrelated thoughts, which I'll just list below in no particular order of importance. The book is far, far superior. While the slant is obviously pro-military -- the main character did choose to join up, after all -- the military is never glorified. There are scenes of corporal punishment, arguments and frustrations with military decision makers, a number of violent and unnecessary deaths, and grizzled veterans with numerous missing limbs. Their cause is never made out to be righteous, either. The entire military system is also set up as volunteer-only, with no penalties for dropping out at any time, separating it from the dark days of Vietnam-era America.

There is an old song which asserts 'the best things in life are free. This was the tragic fallacy which brought on the decadence and collapse of the democracies of the twentieth century; those noble experiments failed because the people had been led to believe that they could simply vote for whatever they wanted All in all, this is not only a classic, prototypical sci-fi novel, it is also an interesting look at military organization and the philosophy of social responsibility and duty.

A must-read for fans of those genres. Mar 18, Chris rated it it was ok Shelves: This book is controversial. What is certainly true is that it's a book that is guaranteed to make someone, somewhere very angry. In the unspecified future, humanity has taken to the star This book is controversial. In the unspecified future, humanity has taken to the stars. In our efforts to colonize planets that are hospitable to us, we have spread as far and as wide as possible.

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Unfortunately, this has brought us into direct contact with alien races who are not entirely keen on sharing land with us, and, as we have always done, we are willing to fight, bleed and die for every inch of it. Our main enemy is the Bugs, whose proper name we never actually learn, and they are a vicious enemy indeed.

They possess a hive mind, made up of Soldiers, Workers and Brains. The Soldiers are, of course, the most dangerous, not least because they have no individual sense of self-preservation. Unlike the human soldiers, who value their comrades and brothers-in-arms highly, the Bugs will never go back for a fallen comrade and never consider the safety of their own when prosecuting a campaign against the humans.

In other words, the Bugs truly are alien to us, and therefore need to be eliminated. The story follows a young man, Juan Rico, in his journey from enlisted grunt in the Mobile Infantry to Officer in the Terran Federation. Through his eyes, we learn about the technological lengths that we have gone to in order to be able to fight the Bugs.

Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation (Video ) - IMDb

First among these is the powered armor that the Mobile Infantry wears - an all-purpose exoskeletal suit that vastly increases its wearer's speed and strength, in addition to providing him with instant contact with his squadmates and vital information that he needs to fight the enemy. Humanity in the future has made great strides in terms of warfare, all out of need to defeat the Bugs. You might be forgiven, then, for thinking that this was a grand military adventure. That we would feel the thrill and terror of a young military recruit as he experiences a universe larger and wilder than he ever could have imagined.

You would be wrong. Not entirely wrong, of course. If you read it right, you can infer the newness and strangeness of the circumstances that Juan Rico finds himself in. But this book isn't about Juan Rico, even though he is the narrator. In fact, we don't even learn his proper name until nearly two-thirds of the book is finished. Before then he's just "Johnnie," which is one of the most generic soldier names out there.

Juan Rico is so irrelevant to the story that we don't even find out that English isn't his native tongue until three pages before the end of the book.

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Juan Rico is nothing more than a cipher in this tale, about as important to the content of Starship Troopers as Glaucon is to The Republic. In the classic tale of Socrates, the philosopher talks about justice and politics and society, with his wisdom inspired by a question-and-answer session with his students. Somehow, the students always manage to ask just the right questions to allow Socrates to expound on his theories, and they're usually wrong in just the right ways to make Socrates look smart.

So it is with Starship Troopers. Juan Rico is the means by which Robert Heinlein is able to put forth his opinions on war and society, politics, citizenship, crime, child-rearing and, of course, military service. Instead of writing a series of straightforward essays, unfortunately, he decided to make his readers slog through Starship Troopers. This book is a love letter to the military and all it stands for.

Not just war and death and destruction, of course, but also loyalty, sacrifice and devotion to duty. It is an examination into why people become soldiers, why some succeed and others fail, and about the historical importance of the soldier class in human history. It's about war as a tool of diplomacy, both in its startling effectiveness and its unfortunate inevitability, as well as the importance of the chain of command and proper military discipline.

It's about the comradeship of veterans and the lessons they learn during the service. There's a good reason why this book is on the reading lists for both the Navy and the Marines. What it is not about is any of the characters that are actually involved in the story. View a FREE sample.

The Lesson Plan Calendars provide daily suggestions about what to teach. They include detailed descriptions of when to assign reading, homework, in-class work, fun activities, quizzes, tests and more. Use the entire Starship Troopers calendar, or supplement it with your own curriculum ideas. Calendars cover one, two, four, and eight week units. Determine how long your Starship Troopers unit will be, then use one of the calendars provided to plan out your entire lesson.

Chapter abstracts are short descriptions of events that occur in each chapter of Starship Troopers. They highlight major plot events and detail the important relationships and characteristics of important characters. The Chapter Abstracts can be used to review what the students have read, or to prepare the students for what they will read. Hand the abstracts out in class as a study guide, or use them as a "key" for a class discussion.

They are relatively brief, but can serve to be an excellent refresher of Starship Troopers for either a student or teacher. Character and Object Descriptions provide descriptions of the significant characters as well as objects and places in Starship Troopers. These can be printed out and used as an individual study guide for students, a "key" for leading a class discussion, a summary review prior to exams, or a refresher for an educator.

The character and object descriptions are also used in some of the quizzes and tests in this lesson plan. The longest descriptions run about words. They become shorter as the importance of the character or object declines. This section of the lesson plan contains 30 Daily Lessons. Daily Lessons each have a specific objective and offer at least three often more ways to teach that objective. Lessons include classroom discussions, group and partner activities, in-class handouts, individual writing assignments, at least one homework assignment, class participation exercises and other ways to teach students about Starship Troopers in a classroom setting.

You can combine daily lessons or use the ideas within them to create your own unique curriculum. They vary greatly from day to day and offer an array of creative ideas that provide many options for an educator. Fun Classroom Activities differ from Daily Lessons because they make "fun" a priority. The 20 enjoyable, interactive classroom activities that are included will help students understand Starship Troopers in fun and entertaining ways.

Fun Classroom Activities include group projects, games, critical thinking activities, brainstorming sessions, writing poems, drawing or sketching, and countless other creative exercises. Many of the activities encourage students to interact with each other, be creative and think "outside of the box," and ultimately grasp key concepts from the text by "doing" rather than simply studying. Fun activities are a great way to keep students interested and engaged while still providing a deeper understanding of Starship Troopers and its themes.

Students should have a full understanding of the unit material in order to answer these questions. They often include multiple parts of the work and ask for a thorough analysis of the overall text. They nearly always require a substantial response. Essay responses are typically expected to be one or more page s and consist of multiple paragraphs, although it is possible to write answers more briefly. These essays are designed to challenge a student's understanding of the broad points in a work, interactions among the characters, and main points and themes of the text.