Ender’s Game Vocabulary Chapters 1-­‐5 vengeance: juvenile: _________________________________________________________________________________________ taunt: _________________________________________________________________________________________ ambiguous: _________________________________________________________________________________________ tactical: _________________________________________________________________________________________ holographic: _________________________________________________________________________________________ arrogant: _________________________________________________________________________________________ martyr: _________________________________________________________________________________________ contempt: _________________________________________________________________________________________ sullen: _________________________________________________________________________________________ Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #1 Chapters 1-­‐2 (pg 1 – 15) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. Who is talking at the beginning of each chapter? Why is the type in different print? 2. Ender thinks, “Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth.” Why does he think this? 3. Ender returns to class and confuses Stilson with Peter. What does this reveal about Ender’s present state of mind? 4. Although he knows it’s forbidden to strike someone who’s already on the ground, Ender kicks Stilson. Why? What does this say about Ender’s character? 5. Government observers want to see how Ender will react to his brother, not what his angry brother will do to him. Why? 6. Does Ender believe Peter when he says the threat to kill him and Valentine was a joke? 7. Twice Ender cries: after the fight with Stilson, and after his brother apologizes to him. What do these tears say about Ender? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Do you think that Peter will actually try to kill Ender? Why or why not? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #2 Chapters 3-­‐4 (pg 16 – 36) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. Graff says it isn’t the fight that earned Ender an invitation to enter Battle School, it was why he fought as he did. Why is this important? 2. Ender is told that all who want to make it through the first year make it. What does this mean? 3. Ender’s family dynamics are very complicated. Do his parents want him to stay home or not? Do his brother and sister want him to go? 4. Why does Graff ask Ender three times if he wants to go to Battle School? 5. Why does Graff single Ender out and make the other boys dislike him? 6. Ender reacts to the blows on the head by anticipating his attacker’s movement and flipping him forward. After the boy is hurt, Ender feels terrible. What does this say about his character? 7. Why doesn’t Graff admit to Ender what he tells Anderson: “The kid’s wrong. I am his friend”? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: How will Ender make the other boys respect him? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #3 Chapters 5-­‐6 (pg 37 – 65) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. Dap says he’ll be the boys’ mother during their first few months. At the end of the first day, he checks on the boys in their bunks. Many cry because the “touch of kindness” (p. 44) makes their homesickness worse. Why does sympathy many times evoke tears? 2. Discuss the significance of Ender’s gratitude to Peter (p. 45). Will Peter’s lessons be important to Ender in the future? 3. Observing is one way that Ender learns the older boy’s holographic game. How does he convince the boy to play a second game after Ender is defeated in the first game? 4. On impulse, Ender goes over to Alai in the battleroom. Why does Alai’s reaction to Ender make the difference in the class bonding together? How does Ender’s idea to include Bernard and Shen help the bonding process? 5. Who would you vote for as launch leader? Why do you think Alai was elected? What do you think is Ender’s reaction? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will Alai become one of Ender’s allies? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #4 Chapter 7 (pg 66-­‐96) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. The author does not use dialogue tags (quotes) in discussions between Graff and other military officials. Rarely does the author let one address the other by name. Yet it’s easy to understand who is speaking. How does the author accomplish this? 2. Why does Ender feel Alai has given him a sacred gift? What was the “memory of holiness” his mother gave him and why does it affect him the way it does? 3. Ender’s game at the playground turns vicious. Do you think the children/wolves are symbols of the new army he will join, or symbols of a fight against the buggers? Explain your answer. 4. Why did Ender obey orders in one battle and disobey them the next time? 5. What is the difference in Bonzo’s “hot” anger and Ender’s “cold” anger? Do you know people who have these two types of anger? How do they behave? 6. Ender doesn’t respect Bonzo’s leadership style. What does he observe that works and doesn’t work? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will Ender be happier in Rat Army? Why or why not? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #5 Chapter 8 (pg 97-­‐119) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. Dink tells Ender that a commander has only as much power as his followers give him. Do you agree or disagree with Dink’s statement? Why or why not? 2. Ender takes Rose’s suicide order and makes the most of it by quickly icing and disabling several soldiers of the Centipede Army. What does this say about Ender’s character? Would you do the same thing in this situation? Why or why not? 3. Ender does not agree with Dink that the buggers are not real. Why does he think this? Do you agree with Ender’s analysis? Why or why not? 4. Why does Ender’s younger group have an advantage over the older boys in the fight? What does this say about Ender’s leadership skills? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will the adults allow Ender to make up his own army from those who practice with him? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #6 Chapter 9 (pg 120-­‐153) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. How is the Battle School computer more intelligent than the men in charge of the school? 2. What does Peter mean by his statement, “The world is always a democracy in times of flux, and the man with the best voice will win” (pg 131)? 3. Peter says that he doesn’t hate his siblings, but he just has to have control. Valentine feels she has control over Peter. Ender despairs because he is not in control of his life. Why is control so important to each of these characters? 4. Why does Valentine feel as if she’s “sold” Ender? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will the multitude of Peters in the fantasy game rise up in revolt against Ender? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #7 Chapter 10 (pg 154-­‐172) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. Major Andersen and Colonel Graff decide there is a good side to Ender’s early promotion. Their words include “privacy”, “isolation”, and “loneliness of power”. Do you think these are good things? Why or why not? 2. Ender wants to be a good commander, yet he does things that he thinks he shouldn’t have done during the first practice. What does he do right and what does he do wrong? 3. Ender reacts with force when Bean questions his honesty. Why? What does this say about Ender’s character? 4. Is Ender being honest with Alai when he tells him he was not holding anything back during their practices? Why or why not? 5. Ender thinks he is only what he remembers. What does he mean? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will Ender defeat his teachers? If so, how? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #8 Chapter 11 (pg 173-­‐199) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. What has happened to politics on Earth and who might be responsible? Why? 2. When he talks to his army, Ender is brutal, but when he talks to an individual, he is patient and makes suggestions quietly. What does this say about Ender? 3. Carn Carby is gracious in defeat, and Ender admires this. He adds Carn to his list of human beings. Who else do you think is on Ender’s list? Defend your answers. 4. Why does Ender ask Bean to train five soldiers? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will Ender play the fantasy game again? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #9 Chapter 12 (pg 200-­‐226) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. Why does Graff think Ender must believe there will never be any help for him? What does this say about Graff’s character? 2. Dragon Army has fought every day for more than four weeks. How is the army reacting to this constant stress? 3. Ender realized that Bonzo wants others to know that he is in control. What does this say about Bonzo’s character? 4. After Ender defeats Bonzo, he realizes that Peter was right about the power to cause pain being the only power that matters. What is Peter’s philosophy? Why do you think Ender thought of his brother at a time like this? 5. Ender sees Bean as both a man and a child. What evidence does the author give to portray this? 6. Why does Ender believe he fought dishonorably against Bonzo? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will Ender ever see Bean again? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #10 Chapter 13 (pg 227-­‐254) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. Why does Graff recommend the identities of Locke and Demosthenes not be revealed? 2. Why does Valentine sometimes feel ashamed of what she’s writing? 3. Valentine wonders if it’s possible to assume another identity and not become that person. Do you think it’s possible? Why or why not? 4. Compare and contrast the personalities of Valentine and Ender. What holds them together? 5. Why does Valentine believe jealousy is what has made the Wiggin children feel different from each other? 6. Why does Ender hate himself? 7. Why does Ender want Peter to love him? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will Ender defeat the buggers? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #11 Chapter 14 (pg 255-­‐304) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. Ender practices the simulator for a year before he is given squadron leaders to command.. Why is he given this time to practice? 2. When Mazer is ready to walk out of Ender’s room, Ender attacks him. Why? What does this say about Ender’s character? Is this what the I.F. is looking for? 3. Mazer tells Ender that humans have the advantage of having a person who is capable of making decisions inside their warships. Do you think this eliminates the importance of the commander? Why or why not? 4. Why does Ender have nightmares? 5. On the day of the final exam, Ender is not locked in his room. He is free, but he goes to the simulation room anyway. Why did the adults let him free on the final day? 6. Ender doesn’t tell his squadron leaders about the final exam. The adults don’t tell Ender that he’s fighting a real war. Why doesn’t anyone tell the truth? 7. Why does Ender have a physical and emotional collapse after the bugger war? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: What will happen to the children now that the bugger war is over? Ender’s Game Name: _____________________________ Discussion Questions #12 Chapter 15 (pg 305-­‐324) -­‐ Choose one of the questions below to answer. Please make sure you are including details from the story to support your response, and that you have answered the question completely. Your answer should be in paragraph form (50-­‐75 words). 1. The final chapter starts with a conversation between Graff and Anderson, but it is not in bold print like the beginnings of the other chapters. Why? 2. Why does it not occur to people that Ender could be as good at peace as he was at war? 3. Ender goes to the new colony to learn about the buggers’ past because he feels guilty for destroying their future. What does this say about Ender’s character? 4. What type of government replaced Ender as governor? What is Ender’s new position? Will he be good at it? Why or why not? 5. What does the “Speaker for the Dead” do after a person dies? Question #_____: _____________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Make a prediction: Will Ender find a place for the bugger queen to live in peace?