By:
Katherine Stewart & Giselle Ulep
The sci-fi novel “Ender's Game” by Orson
Scott card takes place far into the future.
In the beginning, the story takes place in a
lab where Ender is studied with his
monitor. Ender also attends a futuristic,
computerized school where he is often
teased/ bullied for being special. They have
a bus station where they wait long periods
of time for the buses. This is where Ender
cries because he's different. In Ender's
home, another setting, he and his brother
Peter play a game called Buggers and
Astronauts, where Ender always has to
wear a Bugger mask and gets beat up by
peter the astronaut in there room, while
their parents are out.
Ex. 1 “ I don't want to go,” said Ender, “but I will.” Graff nodded. “You can change your
mind. Up until the time you get in my car with me, you can change your mind. After
that, you stay at the pleasure of the International Fleet. Do you understand that?”
Ender nodded. “All right. Let's go tell them.” Mother cried. Farther held Ender tight.
Peter shook his hand and said, “You lucky little pinheaded fart-eater.” Valentine kissed
him and left her tears on his cheek. There was nothing to pack. No belongings to take.
“the school provides everything you need, from uniforms to school supplies. And as for
toys__there’s only one game.” “Good-bye,” Ender said to his family. He reached up and
took Colonel Graff’s hand and walked out the door with him. “Kill some buggers for
me!” Peter shouted. “I love you, Andrew!” Mother called. “We’ll write to you!” Father
said. And as he got into the car that waited silently in the corridor, he heard Valentine’s
anguished cry. “Come back to me! I love you forever!” pg. 26
The mood for this example is sad, because Ender is leaving his family at the age of six to
go of to Battle school, not to return until he is ten years old.
•Ex. 2 “Marching constantly around every boy’s desk was this message: I LOVE YOUR BUTT. LET
ME KISS IT – BERNARD
“I didn’t write that message!” Bernard shouted. After the shouting had been going on for some
time, Dap appeared at the door. “What’s the fuss?” he asked. “Somebody’s been writing messages
using my name.” Bernard was sullen. “What message?” “It doesn’t matter what message!” “It does
to me.” Dap picked up the nearest desk, which happened to belong to the boy who bunked
above Ender. Dap read it, smiled very slightly, gave back the desk. “Interesting,” he said. Yes,
Ender thought. The system was to easily broken. They mean us to break it, or sections of it. They
know it was me. “Well, who, then?” Bernard shouted. “Are you shouting at me, soldier?” asked
Dap, very softly. At once the mood in the room changed. From rage on the part of Bernard’s
closest friends and barely contained mirth among the rest, all became somber. Authority was
about to speak. “No sir,” said Bernard “Everybody knows that the system automatically puts on
the name of the sender.” “I didn’t write that!” Bernard said. “Shouting?” asked Dap. “Yesterday
someone sent a message that was signed GOD.” Bernard said. “Really?” said Dap. “I didn’t know
he was signed onto the system.” Dap turned and left, and the whole room filled with laughter.”
Pg.51-52
The mood for this example is Humorous, because Ender has found a way to break into the school
system and create a fake account using Bernard’s name but with a fake last name. But the
system doesn’t put the last name on when you send a message so Ender is getting away with
sending funny messages about Bernard using Bernard’s name, and making Bernard look bad in a
funny way that isn’t funny to the real Bernard.
Ex. 3 “But Valentine knew. She had seen a squirrel half-skinned, spiked by its little
hands and feet with twigs pushed into the dirt. She pictured Peter trapping it,
staking it, then carefully parting and peeling back the skin without breaking into
the abdomen, watching the muscles twist and ripple. How long had it taken the
squirrel to die? And all the while Peter had sat nearby, leaning against the tree
where perhaps the squirrel had nested, playing with his desk while the squirrel’s life
seeped away.”
The mood for this example is anger, because Peter is killing cute little forest
creatures, but the worst part is his method of killing the squirrels. Half skinned and
left to die a probably a slow painful death on a twig. And he just sits around
peacefully by a tree! He could at least use a stuff animal instead or go by a
simulator of a squirrel. Also he cloud try and eat the squirrel instead of letting its
body go to waste, but I guess a hungry wild animal would come by and eat the
skinned treat.
haracters
Ender Wiggin is the main character in Ender’s Game. He starts as a sixyear-old genetically engineered genius. He is constantly monitored by the
government with the monitor in the
back of his neck. Ender eventually gets it taken off and is
shipped off the Battle School. He is smart and brave and loves
to play “games”. He eventually stops the bugger war with the
help of his friends. He is a hero. He is a protagonist, but thinks he is an
antagonist because he is a hard-core killer. He even killed an entire race of
people─ the buggers. Ender is a person with amazing capabilities. He is
scared of himself. Later, he finds the cocoon of the hive-queen of the
buggers and helps her communicate for the rest of her dead people. Ender
is a dynamic character because he is always in action and coming up with
new things. Ender starts as 6, but in the end of the book, he is at least
twenty. Ender is quite extraordinary.
Ender is a young
boy who is
genetically
engineered with
special abilities.
He is the world’s
last hope to stop
the bugger wars.
He becomes the
world’s most
successful military
general the world
has ever known.
haracters
Valentine is Ender's loving sister and his only true friend before he is
shipped off to battle school. She is kind and compassionate, but can also
be skeptical when she wants to be. She is extremely smart, like Ender
and Peter. At the
beginning of the book, she is a minor character because she
is left behind when Ender leaves, but it soon befriending
Peter and helping him write articles on the net to become famous. She
is, at first, a protagonist because she is friends with Ender and helps him
when Peter is being cruel to him. Later, she is no longer as attached to
Ender and is neither working with him or against him. Valentine starts
as a static character, but the way she is working with Peter to write
articles may make her amount to something. She starts in the story at
age eight, but by chapter 9 is almost eleven.
This is what I think
Valentine would look
like, though her image
would change due to
age through out the
book.
haracters
Peter is Ender's cruel brother who liked to bully Ender before Ender left.
Peter also was tested with a monitor when he was young, but he got his
taken off when he was three. He can be cruel and jealous of
Ender, but deep, deep down, he is a complicated person who just
wants to make things right for himself. He used to be bluntly mean to
people, but later, he becomes smart enough to act like a sweet,
generous person to manipulate others to his will. He is also much brighter
than any other boy his age. Peter has an idea to become famous. He
convinces his sister to help him write political articles on the internet to gain
people's respect. Peter can be both a protagonist and an antagonist
because he tries to beat up and Ender and hurts him, but he also is trying
to take down the supposedly evil government with his articles and thereby
helping Ender. Peter, like Valentine, starts as a static character because he
is left behind. However, his recent activity could make him a dynamic
character if it affects Ender. At the beginning of the story, Peter is eight.
Later, at chapter 9 he is 12.
Peter Wiggin has
an evil aura over
him that his
siblings are
ashamed to
imitate. His facial
expression is
always conniving
and intricate.
haracters
Colonel Graff is an important person in the Battle School that
Ender is accepted to. He is a tough man when it comes to
teaching soldiers, but a gentle friend when he wants to be. So far,
he is a minor character that is testing Ender as he grows in battle
school. I think he is a protagonist because he has helped Ender
try to fit in. However, as explained by Dink later in the story, the
teachers are supposedly the real enemies in
the story, so Graff could an Antagonist. He doesn’t have too
much
motion, so he is a static character. He just sits back and watches
as the story unfolds and he adds helpful words to move things
along. We do not know his exact age, but we are guessing he is
in his mid-to-late thirties.
This is what Graff
would look like as he
trains the soldiers.
haracters
Dink Meeker is Ender's friend from battle school. He helps Ender
discover that the other armies Ender is fighting are not the real
enemies The teachers are. He explains to him that he thinks that
the bugger war isn't even real. They just use that as an excuse to
keep the I.F. government in control. Dink also helps Ender learn
and about different battle tactics and how to control and army.
When Bonzo tries to kill Ender, Dink tries to save Ender. Dink is a
strong friend who knows more that the average soldier should.
Ender first meets Dink when he is about 12, but later, he is about
14. He is a protagonist because he is help Ender fight his war.
Dink as a dynamic character when he is helping Ender, but we
don't see him again when Ender is shipped off to Command school.
Dink is younger than
he looks in the picture,
but he is older and
more Experienced than
Ender. Dink is a good
ally to have in a war.
Rising Action
Rising Action: Action happening in the story leading
up the climax.
In Ender's Game, the Rising Action is when Ender is at
school on Earth. He is being teased by a boy named
Stilson. Ender is a little angry, but can shrug off most
insults. Stilson and his friends corner him at the bus
stop and start taunting him and pushing Ender
around. Ender can't take the teasing anymore and
punches Stilson in the face and makes his bones
break. Stilson actually dies here, but Ender doesn't
know. Ender always wins, thoroughly. People are
watching him with cameras and decide he's ready
for Battle School. This paves his path to leadership.
After Ender is accepted to Battle School, he is
confronted with another person who wants to bully
him. Ender doesn't really hurt him bad, but he
accidentally breaks the other kid's arm. This
establishes Ender to stick out and have no one be his
friend. Later, Ender quickly moves up though the
armies and gains new friends.
Plot
Conflict
Man vs. Society: when the main
character(s) are put against a society.
In Ender's Game the main conflict was
man vs. society. Ender's destiny was to
destroy the buggers. He has the fight
them and spent most of his life
preparing to battle them. Eventually,
he destroyed them. The buggers kept
killing humans and were trying to
inhabit their planet..
Man vs. Self: The main character(s) is
having a battle with him/herself.
Ender is under the constant pain of
knowing he is a killer. He kills most
threatening enemies he comes across
and hates himself for it. When he kills
all of those pilots and buggers, he is at
war with himself.
Plot
Climax
Climax: Turning point of the story
I think that the Climax of Ender's
Games is when Ender leaves Battle
School for Command school. Ender
has a new teacher, Mazer
Rackham, the legendary fighter.
Ender trains with his friends for the
bugger wars. Ender becomes a
great Commander and teacher. As
it turns out, the "stimulation" game
used in training was actually real
battle of the bugger wars and
Ender led them to victory. Ender
was upset that even though they
won, he had killed a bunch of pilots
in the process. He had also wiped
out an entire race.
Plot
Falling Action
Falling Action: Action descending fro
the climax to the resolution.
After the buggers are wiped out, Ender
never returns to Earth. He travels in a
colony ship with his sister Valentine. The
trip takes fifty years, but only two for
them using the power of relativity. The
ship goes to populated a dead bugger
planet. Ender makes a new friend Abra,
and finds a place that the buggers
created for him. It is the fantasy game's
giant's corpse place. Behind the mirror,
Ender finds a cocoon of a hive-queen
and he interoperates her story for the
world. The world now understands how
the buggers lived what they wanted.
Plot
Falling Action
Resolution: How the story ends.
Ender's Game ends with Ender
searching for a place for the hivequeen to thrive in peace. Valentine
has published an entire history series
of the bugger wars. including Ender's
story. Peter, back on Earth is the
Hegemon, the ruler. It is fifty years
later on Earth and Peter is in his
eighties and dying. He and Ender
talk on the nets for days before he
dies. Ender is just in his Early
twenties. All of Ender's friends are on
Earth in their twenties willing to
fight for him. Ender spends many
years in exile.
Plot
Theme and Resolution
Ender’s Game has many themes and morals. One of them is, be loyal to your friends no matter what. Ender had
many friends and loved ones that were loyal to him throughout the entire story. Even though Ender was gone for
several years, Valentine still celebrated his birthday. This shows how much she still loves him. Dink and Petra were
Ender’s friends in battle school. When they were separated into different armies as commanders, they didn’t get
angry when Ender beat them. They even helped him when he needed it. Together, all of Ender’s friends stopped the
bugger wars. Another moral of this story is, there is no winning without sacrifice. Ender had sacrificed hundreds of
pilots to win the bugger wars without even knowing it. “‘I was ordering pilots to go in and die without even
knowing it.’[Ender said.] ‘They knew it, Ender, and they went anyway. They knew what it was for.’[said Graff.] ‘You
never asked me! You never told me the truth about anything!’ ‘You had to be a weapon Ender…’ (Card pg. 209)”.
This quote shows they even had to trick Ender to get the job done. The story resolves with Ender being a speaker for
the dead bugger hive-queen. The humans learned about the bugger race. Valentine is a published author of the
history of the bugger wars. Valentine, Ender, and his friends are all in their twenties. His friends are living on Earth.
Ender and Valentine are living on an uninhabited bugger planet. The trip there took fifty years, but by the power
of relativity it only took them two. On Earth, however, Peter never left, so he is in his eighties and has heart failure.
He is Hegemon, ruler of the Earth. He and Ender have a long talk on the nets before he slips away.