Heinlein:Haldeman analogy question by SoupCatcher

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Heinlein:Haldeman analogy question

POSTED BY: SOUPCATCHER
UPDATED: Friday, October 22, 2004 20:16
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Friday, October 22, 2004 8:59 AM

I was doing a little web surfing and came across the following question on Brad DeLong's site (Brad is helping his kid get ready for the SATs and they've been working on analogies - here is a link just for attribution purposes: http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/movable_type/ - this link is in no way an endorsement of Brad's site. I enjoy it but I'm not pimping it.).

Quote:
via Brad DeLong
True or False?

Iliad : Odyssey :: Starship Troopers : Forever War

My immediate response was false. Like many analogies, however, I could also make an obtuse case for true. But it was just a little, "things that make you go hmmmmm" moment for me and I thought I'd pass it along.

* editted to add: I should probably throw in my intial reasoning in coming up with false... Iliad and Starship Troopers are both about epic confrontations focussing on the exploits of warriors. Odyssey is all about going home. That subtext is only a small component of Forever War, coming at the very end.

The thing I love about this question is that these are all great stories that can be interpreted on multiple levels and so the analogy can easily get quite hairy.

There are three kinds of people: fighters, lovers, and screamers.

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Friday, October 22, 2004 1:44 PM

ZARK1976

I read it as Iliad is to odyssey (original to sequel)

So I would have said false on those grounds as Troopers is not a prequel to Forever war, although I think that it owes a very direct link to troopers.

When I was younger I read both of those books for the first time back to back, so unfortunately when I try to remember either one without the book right in front of me, I criss cross the two novels in my head.

"Could be he's harboring some resentment at us for putting his man through our engine."

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Friday, October 22, 2004 7:05 PM

JEBBYPAL

Huh, they still do analogies on the sat? they took 'em off the gre the year after i took it (was glad i took it when i did cause i love 'em).

now then, I'd say false...cause yes, I'd say iliad to odyssey is prequel to sequel. But also, Forever war wasn't all about coming home. Haldeman actually continued series in several that I thought did that much better. Thought The Coming was a tad odd.

The Strawberry Monkey who defends tight pants everywhere!

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Friday, October 22, 2004 7:31 PM

TIGER

I would answer "false" without hesitation. The sequal/prequal argument is obviuosly false, and so is a question of comparitave content, themes, or plots.

Iliad is a war epic with a cast of thousands. Odyssey is one man's journey. Both Starship Troopers and Forever War show a horrible war through the eyes of one character, and the effect it has on him (although the effect is different for each character).

I'm more curious to know if Brad wrote this question himself to test his son, or if he found it in some test-prep book somewhere. If the latter, I'd say that's the most esoteric test analogy I've ever seen. If the former, I'd want to know what he thought was the right answer and why.

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Friday, October 22, 2004 8:16 PM

SOUPCATCHER

Brad doesn't say where the analogy comes from but based on an earlier post where he was having problems figuring out a different analogy, I would guess that this came form some test prep guide.

I sure wish this analogy had been on the SATs when I took the exam.

There are three kinds of people: fighters, lovers, and screamers.

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