Thursday, April 3, 2008

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Susie Bang
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Entry of My Choice

Thoughts about this book…:)

To be honest, in the beginning the only reason I chose to read Ender’s Game was because it seemed like an easy book to read. The cover didn’t really attract me; neither did the short description on the back. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it; in fact, I was preparing myself for the long tedious task of reading it. However, I was in for a surprised; I thoroughly enjoyed the book!
Ender’s Game really grabbed my attention, I couldn’t put it down. I think one of the reasons it captured me was that it always had something suspenseful going on. I can’t think of a time in the book when there wasn’t any action. This book was lively and didn’t have any dull parts.
I also like how Orson Card wrote the book. I don’t like reading fluffy books filled with impossible vocabulary. I like books that have some flare and voice in their writing, but still is easy to understand. I found that Card’s voice was like that, and I like his style of writing. It was sort of simple, but it clearly brought across the message.
Another reason Ender’s Game interested me was that I could relate to the character. In Fahrenheit 451 I couldn’t really relate to Guy. Guy didn’t seem like a real person. But I can relate to Ender. Ender seems more like an actually person who could possibly be alive today. When Ender felt sad, I felt sad, and when Ender felt happy, I felt happy.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think it is a superb book full of action. I would recommend anyone to read it. Ender’s Game is a captivating book and I’m pretty sure that if you read it, you won’t be able to put it down. Just like I couldn’t.

Current Situation


In the book Ender’s Game, children who look promising are taken from their homes and placed in Battle School. There they learn how to fight in space, in order to be ready to possibly fight the buggers. But while the kids are at the Battle School they are not treated well. In a sense the teachers brain wash them. I say ‘in a sense’ because they didn’t completely brain wash them. But rather the teachers isolated them from the outside world, in hope that they will only remember their life at the Battle School. They used manipulation to achieve what they wanted: an army/person (chosen one) to defeat the buggers.
This relates to a current situation that is going on in the world today. That situation is child soldiers. Guerillas kidnap children from their homes and brain wash them into the point where killing is just normal for the kids. The kids at the Battle school were forced to learn how to fight, just like the child soldiers are taught how to kill. Both the teachers and guerillas manipulated these kids into doing what they wanted them to do. Sadly, child soldiers are taught to destroy human life, not buggers.
What happened in Ender’s Game is not just a story that Orson Card came up with, it is actually happening in reality.


Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Mood

Even though Ender’s Game is a fun, action packed book, the mood is very depressing and cold.Ender spent 6 years of his life at the Battle School, following orders and fighting battles. But he was never happy there. The teachers isolated him from everyone in hope that he will become a better fighter. Not only did they isolate him, but they also forced him, and his army, to complete outrageous tasks (like fighting 2 battles in day one). The teachers weren’t the only ones who Ender feel sad, depressed and angry. Ender, because of his greatness, was often bullied and backstabbed. Even some of his friends started acting cold towards him, when Ender became the number 1 commander (Alai for example: he was friends with Ender when Ender was a commander, but not a close, true friend). All of this pressure and isolation made Ender depressed. Ender was never truly happy at the Battle School. That’s why I think the mood is depressing. The mood is also cold. Not cold as in temperature cold, but cold as in unaffectionate and unfriendly. When reading this book you get the impression that the battle school is a place where hardly any love lives. In fact, nearly everyone is the book is cold towards each other (with exceptions of course). The teachers tried so hard not to be Ender’s friend, people often acted distant with Ender because of his rank, and there was unspoken hatred between armies and ranks. Overall everyone was cold towards each other, not really wanting to make close relationships. However, even though I thought the mood was depressing and cold, I really liked this book. It was full of adventure and suspense; I couldn’t put the book down. The author wrote this book in an attention-grabbing way.

Main Characters

So long...

MAIN CHARACTERS

There are a lot more characters in this book than there were in my first book, Fahrenheit. But I think Ender’s Game needed a lot of characters to bring the story line across.
As you can probably guess from the title the main character is Ender.
Ender is at the beginning of the book 6 years old but over time matures into a 11??? Year old. At the age of six he was considered a Third and was often the target for bullying. However, at the age of six Ender is sent off to Battle school, where he faced isolation, sadness, regret, and anger. The root of all these dark feelings mostly grew because the instructors were pushing Ender hard they thought he may be the chosen one who would defeat the buggers once and for all. All this time and work at the battle school molded Ender into two people; the good Ender and the bad Ender. From the very beginning of the book, I knew Ender was a good person. He cared about people, hated it when someone was bullied, and didn’t judge others by their size. Ender saw people for who they really were. But then there was the dark side of Ender. Ender killed 2 boys in this book (Bonzo and Stilson). Part of the reason he killed Bonzo and Stilson was out of self defense but the other reason was this ‘killer instinct’ deep inside of him. I think that this dark side grew because of the harsh conditions Ender was forced into when he came to the Battle School. But overall I like Ender because at the end of the day Ender always tries to do the best for everyone. Ender is also very smart and talented. Extremely talented. He defeated the whole race of buggers not with strength but with pure brains. Ender reveals to me, about the human experience, is that there is more to people than what meets the eye. If I met Ender when he was 6 years old I would have never guessed that he would be the one to defeat the buggers. Ender could also see hidden qualities in people. Bean was small and lots of people thought he was useless yet Ender knew that he was a very smart guy.
Valentine and Peter, Ender’s older brother and sister, are also main characters. Valentine was a great sister to Ender. She stood up to Peter for him, and loving received Peter’s punishment that was meant for Ender. Valentine also never stopped loving Ender and near the end of the book decided to live her life away from earth so that she could be with Ender. Valentine was also a very smart girl. She had the brains to keep Peter in check and convince a whole nation that she was Demosthenes. I like Valentine because she showed unconditional love towards Ender. She revealed to/showed me, about the universal human experience, that love can keep someone (Ender in her case) going/living on. Sometimes people just need a bit of love to overcome the once impossible obstacle. However, I didn’t like Peter. Peter was a mean, cold hearted boy who took joy in torturing people and things. Even though he does turn ‘good’ near the end of the book, I still believe that the old Peter is living deep down inside of him. Peter revealed to be that there are some people in this world who love to hurt people, and sadly they take joy in doing that. But there is hope that they might change a little bit.
Mazer and Graff were Ender’s main teachers during his time at the battle schools. I think they are very similar characters. Both wanted badly to be friends with Ender and to show him kindness, but if they did there would be a chance that Ender wouldn’t become the best fighter he could be. So they didn’t, instead they treated him roughly and pushed him to his limits. I couldn’t say they were kind teachers but rather influential teachers. In a way I do like Mazer and Graff because they put a lot of effort into helping Ender. They really cared about his success. But then I don’t like Mazer and Graff because of the way they treated Ender. However, through all this Mazer and Graff showed me that there are people in this earth that do care about you even through they are pushing you so hard to achieve great things.
Ender didn’t have many friends, but his friends were close friends. Bean, Alai, Dink, and Petra were Ender’s closest friends. I also think these 4 people are very close. When Ender was a part of their group they loved him and showed it. However, when Ender moved army or moved up in rank, they still loved him they just didn’t show it. Bean, Alai, Dink and Petra revealed to me that friendships will have up and downs, but they will always pull through. Just like how Dink, Bean, Petra, and Alai became great friends at the end of the book.
Ender did have friends, but he also had bullies like Bonzo and Stilson. I didn’t like these two guys because they tortured and ridiculed Ender. These two boys revealed to me that there are mean hearted people on this earth who find joy in torturing others.

Climax

I think the climax of Ender’s Game is when Ender defeated the buggers once and for all. Ender was told that it this game was his final examination but in truth, he was fighting the buggers in the Third Invasion. Even though Ender lost many fighters, he destroyed the bugger’s planet, along with all the buggers. He wiped out the whole race of them and saved the human race.
I think this is the climax because it is the most intense, exciting part. When Ender first enters the ‘game’ he finds out that he was outnumbered 1000 to 1. This seems like an impossible task to overcome. There are also people/inspectors watching his every move. At first it seems like if Ender fails this game all of his work before would have been useless. It is an intense part. (Afterwards we found out that if he failed the entire human race would be non existent). Overall, the tone of this part is intense and exciting.
I also think this is the climax because it is the turning point in Ender’s life. Ever since he entered the battle school at the age of 6 Ender had been fighting battles and moving up in the ranks. There was always a next step for Ender, and always a rank/position higher than the one he was in. The battles never seemed to end for Ender. But after this last battle against the bugger’s entire fleet, Ender life at the battle school was over. He had accomplished the task that was chosen for him (to defeat the buggers). This chapter of Ender’s life was over; his life is now changed. That’s another reason why I think this is the climax of Ender’s Game.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Significant Passage


Page 242 paragraph 12

Finally Valentine, the sweat dripping off her, the mosquitoes beginning to hover as the dusk came on, took one final dip in the water and then began to push the raft in to shore. Ender showed no sign that he knew what she was doing, but his irregular breathing told her that he was not asleep. When they got to the shore, she climbed onto the dock and said, “I love you, Ender. More than ever. Mo matter what you decide.”


I like this passage because it shows Valentine’s deep love for Ender. Valentine always loved Ender. Ender loved her to. Valentine would stand up for him when Peter was torturing him, and just overall she was a great sister. But Ender got sent off to battle school and he and Valentine were separated for a long time. Valentine missed him dearly. While at battle school, Ender did some questionable things. When they were finally allowed to meet for the first time in a long time, things were different. Ender had changed and Valentine had changed. Yet even though Valentine knew all of Ender’s flaws, she still loved him, she even said it. “I love you, Ender. More than ever. No matter what you decide.” I think Valentine was one of the reasons that kept Ender alive. Overall I like this passage because it shows the love of a sister to a brother that was unconditional no matter what. It reminds me of God’s love. That’s why I like this passage.
SECOND BOOK


ENDER'S GAME



**The posts from here on up are on Ender's Game**