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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
Chapter 1: Third
1. What is their concern about Ender?
2. Discuss the beginning of this book and how it might “hook” a reader.
3. Discuss the significance of Ender’s monitor.
4. Why can’t Ender be friends with Peter?
5. What happened to Ender when they did the procedure and why?
6. Why does the name calling please Ender? Why is that word an insult?
7. What does Ender decide he must do about bullies and why?
8. What doe Ender say he’s become and why does it distress him?
9. What does this distress tell us about Ender’s character?
10. Discuss the problems Ender faces as a “third.”
11. Write three passages describing Ender’s intelligence.
12. How old is Ender? Are his actions appropriate to his age?
13. Describe the fight with Stilson.
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
Chapter 2: Peter
1. Describe Peter. How does he feel about Ender? Be thorough in your answer, as this will
change over the course of the chapter.
2. What were dangerous moods for Peter and why?
3. “Buggers” is the word used to refer to the aliens that have attacked the earth on two
previous occasions. Describe the buggers as you understand them from this chapter.
4. Describe the game Buggers and Astronauts? How does it turn out for Ender?
5. Describe Valentine. What does Valentine become for Ender? What does Valentine have
to say about Ender?
6. Why is Ender upset that his father is “happy” that Ender is a third?
7. What does Peter do that night that surprised Ender? Why do you think Peter did it?
8. This book contains some language which is often considered objectionable. How do you
feel about this kind of language in books? Why do you think the author has his
characters use vernacular?
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Chapter 3: Graff
1. How do they plan to get Ender to do what they want him to do?
2. What does it first seem Graff has arrived to do? What does he really want?
3. What is unique about Ender being a third?
4. What is Ender’s answer to the IF officer as to why he kicked Stilson when Stilson was
down?
5. Why didn’t Ender ask a grown up for help?
6. When did Ender become property of the I.F.?
7. Why must Ender’s parents let him go?
8. “It wasn’t a charade, Mrs. Wiggin. Until we knew what Ender’s motivation was, we
couldn’t be sure he wasn’t another—we had to know what the action meant.“ What word
did Graff mean to end his original thought with? Why did he have to be sure of Ender’s
motivation?
9. Graff says Ender must volunteer to go to Battle School, and he personally tells Ender
many reasons which might convince Ender not to go. What aspects of Battle School does
Graff warn Ender about?
10. Why are Ender’s parents ambiguous about his going to Battle School?
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11. Explain how Ender is a composite between Peter and Valentine.
12. What does Ender learn about his parents? What does this tell us about this society?
13. Why does Ender ultimately choose to go with Graff?
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Reading Check: Ender’s Game ch. 1 – 3
1. What did the doctor remove from Ender’s neck?
(a) monitoring device
(b) freckles
(c) a second head
(d) hairy warts
2. How old is Ender?
(a) 6
(b) 16
(c) 21
(d) 31
3. Stilson makes fun of Ender by calling him
(a) Brainiac
(b) Superfly
(c) Farthead
(d) Third
4. Ender’s brother is named
(a) Peter
(b) Valentine
(c) Graff
(d) Stilson
5. What game does Peter want Ender to play with him?
(a) Cops and Robbers
(b) Heroes and Villains
(c) Buggers and Astronauts
(d) Cowboys and Indians
6. At the end of chapter two, Peter unexpectedly
(a) begins to cry
(b) apologizes to Ender
(c) threatens to kill Ender and Valentine
(d) runs away from home
7. The leader of Battle School is
(a) Valentine
(b) Bernard
(c) Graff
(d) Alai
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8. Ender thinks that the Military Colonel has come to his house to
(a) explain why his monitor is gone
(b) invite him to enter Battle School
(c) punish him for fighting with Stilson
(d) make his parents have another child
9. “I.F.” stands for
(a) International Fleet
(b) Imaginary Friend
(c) Ipso Facto
(d) Intelligence Factor
10. What are “buggers”?
(a) aliens
(b) listening devices
(c) thirds
(d) kids who don’t make it in battle school
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Chapter 4: Launch
1. How does Ender differ from the other nineteen boys in his launch group?
2. What do they plan to do to Ender?
3. What does Ender realize the officers are doing?
4. What does Ender’s understanding about gravity reveal about Ender’s ability to think?
How might this benefit him in outer space?
5. How does Ender think of earth?
6. What effect does Graff’s assertion that Ender will be a commander while the other boys
are still learning have? How does Ender feel about this statement?
7. Why doesn’t Graff stop the boy from hitting Ender on the head? What happens to the
boy?
8. Why does the incident on the shuttle distress Ender?
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9. Why did Ender think Graff was his friend? What is Graff’s response
10. How can Ender make friends?
11. What does Graff say humanity is often?
12. What is Graff’s estimation of Ender and do you think it is accurate?
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Chapter 5: Games
1. What is unique about where Ender’s bunk is located?
2. Who is Dap? Why is he important to the Launchies?
3. Write three passages describing Ender’s isolation.
4. What does the kid at dinner call Ender and why?
5. What does Ender do to keep from crying?
6. Why does Ender thank Peter?
7. What advice does Mick give Ender? How does Ender feel about Mick?
8. Of what importance are the games that the boys play? How does Ender do at these
games?
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9. Who becomes Ender’s first friend? Under what circumstances?
10. How does Ender overcome Bernard’s malice?
Chapter 6 The Giant’s Drink
1. Describe the battleroom. What importance do gravity, lasers, and spacesuits have there?
2. How do Ender and Alai become friends? What is surprising about Ender’s friendship
with Alai?
3. Who do the boys choose to be their launch leader? Why does their choice seem
appropriate?
4. Describe the computer game. Why can’t Ender beat the giant at first? How does he
eventually win? What lesson does this teach Ender?
5. What upsets Ender about the way he won the game? What does this tell us about Ender’s
character?
6. How have the dynamics of the group changed?
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QUIZ
Chapters 4-6
_____1. Whose arm gets broken on the voyage from Earth to Battle School?
a) Ender’s
b) Graff’s
c) Bernard’s
d) Shen’s
_____2. When Graff tells the other Launchies that Ender is the best in their launch, the other
boys
a) applaud
b) salute him
c) dislike him
d) gang up to attack him.
_____3. Who is the launchies’ “mom”?
a) Ender
b) Dap
c) Bernard
d) Alai
_____4. Bernard and his friends pick on Shen because
a) he is crippled
b) he wiggles his butt when he walks
c) he scores lowest on a math test
d) he is the first to be “iced”
_____5. In the battle rooms there is no
a) gravity
b) light
c) sound
d) oxygen
_____6. Guns in the battle rooms shoot
a) bullets
b) blanks
c) paintballs
d) light
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_____7. The person that Ender first teams up in the battle room with is
a) Alai
b) Shen
c) Bernard
d) Anderson
_____8. Why can’t Ender originally beat the Giant?
a) The giant is too big
b) Whatever Ender chooses is always wrong
c) Ender has not received his password to the Giant’s castle
d) The Giant is immortal
_____9. Ender eventually beats the Giant by
a) turning himself invisible
b) typing in the special password that Shen gave him
c) attacking the Giant’s eye
d) kicking over a glass of acid
_____10. What does Ender do after he defeats the Giant?
a) He calls his friends over to see his monitor
b) He registers his high score with the school’s database
c) He turns off his computer and thinks about how violent he has become
d) He writes a letter to his sister
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Chapter 7: Salamander
1. What disturbs the command about how Ender won the Giant’s drink game?
2.
How does Command continue to justify how they treat the kids?
3.
Why is Ender promoted? What is surprising about his promotion?
4.
What does Alai want Ender to do?
5.
Describe the computer game now that Ender has beaten the giant. How does
Ender identify with the children in the game?
6. What does Ender find at the “End of the World”?
7. What does Ender want to do that he’s never done before?
8. Why is Petra Arkanian exactly the wrong kind of friend to have? What valuable
skill does she eventually teach Ender?
9. What lessons does Ender learn from Bonzo Madrid about being a commander?
What instructions does Bonzo give Ender concerning battles?
10. Where is Ender’s bunk and what does it indicate?
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11. Why is it stupid of Bonzo to make everyone wear uniforms, but Petra can be
naked? Do you agree that it’s stupid?
12. Why are adults the real enemies?
13. Why does Ender practice with his original Launchie group? What sorts of things
does he teach them? How does Bonzo feel about Ender’s practices?
14. Discuss Salamander’s battle with Condor. What does Ender realize at its
conclusion?
15. Why does Ender become suddenly homesick?
16. Discuss Salamander’s battle with Leopard. How does Bonzo react to Ender’s
action during the battle?
17. Is Bonzo a good leader? Why or why not?
18. Where are Ender’s belongings?
19. What important things does Ender learn from Bonzo?
20. Is Ender a good leader? Is he a good friend? Can he be a leader and a friend?
(Paragraph!)
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Chapter 8: Rat
1. How is Rat Army different from Salamander?
2. What will happen if they change the game?
3.
What surprising information does Dink Meeker relay to Ender?
4. What does Rose order Ender to do in his first battle with Rat? How does Ender
respond to the order?
5. Why does Dink keep refusing to be promoted?
6.
Summarize Dink’s discussion with Ender as they float in the battleroom’s antigravity. What surprising opinion does he have about the Bugger Invasion? Does
Ender believe him?
7. How does Dink’s revelation start to change Ender’s way of think?
8.
Describe Rat’s battle with Centipede. How does Ender turn Rose’s foolish order
to his advantage?
9.
Describe the other commanders’ attempts to stop Ender’s practices with the
Launchies.
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10. Why aren’t the teachers doing anything?
11. What had the computer game come to mean for Ender and why?
12. Describe where Ender is in the computer game. What does he see in the mirror
after he defeats the snake? How does he react?
13. What happens the next day with Ender’s practice session?
14. What has Ender figured out about the game and about himself?
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Reading Check: Ender’s Game chapters 7 – 9
_____1. Where in the computer game does Ender go after he beats the Giant?
a) back to the beginning
b) to fairyland
c) to the winner’s circle
d) to steal the Giant’s golden harp
_____2. Who teaches Ender to shoot his weapon more effectively?
a) Alai
b) Bonzo
c) Graff
d) Petra
_____3. The leader of Salamander Army is
a) Ender
b) Bonzo
c) Petra
d) Shen
_____4. Bonzo tells Ender
a) that he is not allowed to draw his weapon in the battle room
b) that he reminds him of Peter
c) that Petra will help him learn self-defense
d) that Mazer Rackham is his father.
_____5. With whom does Ender practice maneuvers in the battle room?
a) Salamander Army
b) Graff and Anderson
c) the kids in his original launchie group
d) Bonzo
_____6. Before Ender is transferred to Rat Army, he
a) is struck by Bonzo
b) meets Rose de Nose
c) receives a letter from his sister, Valentine
d) leads an important mission for Salamander Army.
_____7. Dink Meeker tells Ender that he believes
a) that the buggers were defeated in the second wave of attacks
b) that he wants to become commander of his own army
c) that he has been doing Rose de Nose’s homework
d) that Ender will be iced after the next battle.
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_____8. What position does Ender suggest for fighting in the battle room?
a) Feet first, knees folded
b) somersaulting up to the ceiling
c) Head first, arms extended to both sides
d) head turned to the left, gun clenched in the right hand
_____9. What happens to a soldier when he is shot in the battle room?
a) his suit freezes up and he is unable to fight
b) he is knocked unconscious
c) he must leave the room immediately
d) he must surrender his gun to the other army’s commander
_____10. What image does Ender see looking back at him from the mirror in the computer game?
a) his own
b) a dragon
c) Peter
d) a bugger
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Chapter 9: Locke and Demosthenes
1. According to Graff and the Aministrator, what is the computer game for?
2. What does the “end of the world” mean for Ender?
3. Why is Peter important to Ender?
4. Why had Ender’s family forgotten him?
5. Why did the Wiggin family move from the city to rural North Carolina?
6. Explain how the following people perceive Peter: his parents...his
teachers...Valentine.
7. Valentine says “to keep herself safe, all she had to do was make sure it was more
in Peter’s interest to keep her alive than to have her dead.” How is she valuable to
Peter?
8. What is Peter’s plan to change the world? How does he manipulate Valentine
into helping him? What is her role in his scheme?
9. What is Peter’s “greatest gift”?
10. Why is Valentine so upset that her father agrees with Demosthenes?
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11. How has Ender gained the respect of everyone at Battle School? What has he
lost?
12. Why does Valentine think the I.F. is at her school? What does Graff really want?
13. Why, according to Valentine, does Ender see Peter in the mirror?
14. How does Ender respond to the letter from Valentine? Why?
15. How does Ender defeat the snake? What does he see when he looks in the mirror
afterwards?
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Chapter 10: Dragon
1. Names are exchanged in the introductory dialogue to this chapter. Who has been
talking about Ender?
2. What army is Ender given command of? Why was this name retired in the past?
3. Why did Graff give Ender all new soldiers he had not worked with before?
4. Which way is the enemy’s gate?
5. What does Ender realize about the hook and other commanders?
6. In what ways does Ender treat Bean exactly the way Graff treated Ender when he
came to battle School? How does Ender’s discussion with Bean show what he
has learned from Graff?
7. Starting with this chapter, pay attention to how the teachers change the rules.
What rules are changed, and why do you think the teachers change them?
8. What does Ender realize about his early training and how his teacher’s treated
him?
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9. What does Salaam mean and why can it not be?
10. When was the last time Ender let them hurt him?
11. Who is Ender’s enemy?
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Chapter 11: Veni Vidi Vici
1. Why are they speeding up the battles for Ender?
2.
What do the teachers worry about with this new schedule?
3.
What is Ender doing differently with his troops?
4.
What lessons does Ender learn from his battle with Rabbit Army?
5.
Where is Dragon Army ranked after their battle with Rabbit?
6.
How does Ender’s friendship with Dink and Petra change?
7. How does Ender inspire confidence and loyalty in the soldiers in his army?
8.
Why does Ender begin to watch the propaganda videos from the First and Second
Invasions?
9.
Why do Graff and Anderson question Ender seven days after his first battle?
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10. Describe Dragon’s battle with Salamander. How does Ender insult Bonzo
Madrid’s Spanish honor?
11. Why do most kids think the game is important? What does Ender reveal to Bean
about the game’s importance?
12. What does Ender ask Bean to do? Why does he choose Bean for this task?
13. What rules are changed, and why do you think the teachers change them?
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Chapter 12: Bonzo
1. Why is the General concerned about the running of the school? Do you think he is
justified?
2.
Why must Ender fell no adult will ever help him?
3.
What is one of Bean’s new tricks?
4.
What is the new change in the game?
5.
What mistake did Ender make and how does it bring shame to Bonzo?
6.
Why won’t the adults save Ender from Bonzo? Does Ender think the teachers will
save him from real danger?
7.
What warning does Petra give Ender? Is he surprised?
8.
How many boys come to beat Ender up in the shower? How does Ender control the
situation so he only has to fight one?
9.
Who comes to save Ender? How does his intervention ensure Ender’s death?
10. What does Ender realize after the fight?
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11. How is the fight with Bonzo similar to the earlier fight with Stilson?
12. Why does Ender cry after the fight with Bonzo?
13. Describe Dragon’s battle with Griffin and Tiger. What does Ender decide after this
battle?
14. What happens to all of the soldiers in Dragon Army? What happens to Ender?
15. How does Ender related to being earthside?
16. In addition to the introductory dialogue, this chapter has an ending dialogue. What
do we discover about Bonzo and Stilson? Are you surprised?
17. Do you think Ender is a murderer?
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Reading Check: Ender’s Game chapters 10 – 12
_____1. Ender is given command of
a) Werewolf Army
b) Dragon Army
c) Unicorn Army
d) Snake Army
_____2. The enemy’s gate is always
a) to the left
b) to the right
c) up
d) down
_____3. The smallest soldier in Ender’s army is
a) Crazy Tom
b) Hot Soup
c) Bean
d) Carn Carby
_____4. Which army is the first to beat Ender’s?
a) Salamander
b) Leopard
c) Donkey
d) No army ever beats Ender’s
_____5. The commander who led earth’s defense during the second wave of bugger attacks was
named
a) Andrew Wiggin
b) Hiram Graff
c) Mazer Rackham
d) Oedipus Rex
_____6. Ender asks Bean to
a) think of things he hasn’t thought of yet
b) do his homework
c) lead the A toon of soldiers
d) find propaganda videos of the second invasion
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_____7. Petra warns Ender that
a) some boys want to kill him
b) Phoenix Army will defeat him
c) he is going to be expelled from Battle School
d) his light gun has been stolen
_____8. Where do Ender and Bonzo have their final fight?
a) in the mess hall
b) in the battle room
c) in the hallway
d) in the shower
_____9. How does the fight between Ender and Bonzo end?
a) the teachers break them up
b) Ender wins
c) Bonzo wins
d) Ender and Bonzo are both knocked out
_____10. Ender’s fight with Bonzo ends very similar to
a) the second bugger invasion
b) the computer game
c) Ender’s fight with Stilson
d) the propaganda videos Ender watched
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Chapter 13: Valentine
1. What has been discovered and what are their concerns regarding the Russians?
2. Do you think two children can really influence politics? Why or why not?
3.
Why is Demontheses more popular?
4.
What have Peter and Valentine learned by putting together their information?
5. Why does Valentine go with Graff?
6.
Why has Ender been on earth for two months instead of the originally planned
three days?
7. Do you think Ender is crazy? Why or why not?
8.
Why has Ender won every fight he has had, according to him?
9.
Why does Ender hate himself? After you have this answer, think about it for a
few moments and tell how you feel about what has been done to Ender.
10. Ender says he doesn’t want to beat Peter. What does he want? Does Valentine
think this is likely?
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11. Why can’t Valentine tickle Ender?
12. Why doe Ender crush the wasp, what point is he trying to make?
13. Why won’t Ender go on with his studies?
14. Why was Ender afraid to see Valentine?
15. What was the purpose of Ender’s shore leave?
16. What is Graff’s new assignment and what does it make Ender realize?
17. On which planet is I.F. Command? Why won’t the pilot of the ship be able to
leave once he arrives?
18. Summarize the information Graff shares with Ender about the Buggers.
19. What is the Third Invasion? What does everyone else think it is?
20. What does an ansible do?
21. According to Graff, why are we fighting the buggers?
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Chapter 14: Ender’s Teacher
1. Why doesn’t Ender like Eros? Track your answer, as you will discover more as
you read further into the chapter.
2.
What is the simulator? Track your answer; it will develop as you read on in this
chapter.
3.
Who is Ender’s teacher? Why was he chosen? How does he explain the fact that
he is still alive?
4.
Why does Mazer Rackham say that “there is no teacher but the enemy”? Do you
agree with him?
5. Why does Mazer Rackham beat Ender physically? What lesson is he trying to
teach?
6. How did Mazer Rackham defeat the buggers in the Second Invasion?
7. How do the Bugger’s communicate?
8. What killed all the Buggers?
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9. What did they learn from the Buggers?
10. According to Mazer Rackham, how many Buggers have they killed?
11. What was the purpose of the First Invasion? the Second Invasion? the Third
Invasion?
12. What/Who is Dr. Device?
13. Who are Ender’s squad leaders when he begins training with Mazer Rackham?
14. Characterize the fighting style of the following characters:
Bean -
Alai -
Dink -
Petra 15. What, according to Mazer, are Ender’s advantages and disadvantages when he
faces the bugger fleet?
16. “But as their trust in Ender as a commander grew their friendship...gradually
disappeared....Ender was their teacher and commander, as distant from them as
Mazer was from him.” Why must Ender be isolated from friends? What dangers
could arise from having “friendship” with those you must lead?
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17. What happens to Petra?
18. Describe Ender’s “final examination.” How does Ender win? How is this victory
like every other victory he has ever had? What does Ender discover after it is
done? Were you surprised?
19. Why did they trick Ender?
20. What does Ender want to be for Petra, Bean, and Alai? What will he be.
21. Now that you know it all, think about how Ender was guided to this point. How
do you feel for Ender? Why?
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Chapter 15: Speaker for the Dead
1. Why do you think there is no introductory dialogue for this chapter?
2. Why did they put Graff on trial and how did it turn out?
3. Who argued that Ender should stay on Eros?
4. What is Graff going to do now that the war is over? What is Anderson going to
do?
5. What happens to Ender’s friends?
6. Why can’t Ender come back to earth?
7.
What happens to Locke and Demosthenes?
8. How did Valentine win her and Ender’s freedom from Peter? What
does Valentine intend to do?
9. Why does Ender want to go to the buggers’ home world?
10. How did the buggers control Ender’s computer game? What does he find when
he looks behind the mirror?
11. Why does Ender refer to himself as Speaker for the Dead? Whose deaths does he
speak?
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12. Why did the Bugger’s attack?
13. Describe the Bugger’s story.
14. Do you think the Bugger’s can live in peace?
15. What mission does Ender go on at the end of the book?
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Quiz: Ender's Game
1. What is unusual about Ender's family?
2. What is Ender's real name?
3. Describe the relationship between Peter and Ender.
4. Describe the relationship between Valentine and Ender.
5. Who is Mazer Rackham?
6. Who is the principal of the Battle School?
7. Who is in charge of the battle rooms?
8. Ender breaks Bernard's arm on the flight to Battle School. As a result, Bernard assembles a
gang of boys who persecute Ender. Explain what Ender does to humiliate Bernard and take
away his power.
9. Describe the battle room.
10. During the battles, what is the goal the armies must achieve in order to win?
11. Where does the giant promise to take Ender if he wins the guessing game?
12. How does Ender defeat the giant?
13. Who teaches Ender how to shoot his weapon better?
14. What foolish command does Bonzo Madrid give to Ender during all battles?
15. Ender, Dink, and Petra are wise enough to realize that it is not the boys in the other armies
that are the real enemies. Who are the real enemies?
16. With whom does Ender first practice battle room tactics?
17. Name three new strategies that Ender comes up with as a battle room commander.
18. Who are Demosthenes and Locke?
19. Who or what does Ender see in the mirror at the "end of the world" in his computer game?
20. Why were Peter and Valentine rejected from the Battle School?
21. Why does Graff ask Valentine to write a letter to Ender?
22. What army does Ender command?
23. Who is the smallest soldier in Ender's army?
24. How many battles does Ender's army lose?
25. Where is the enemy's gate?
26. What does the word salaam mean?
27. What does Ender do in order to learn new strategies?
28. What does Ender ask Bean to think about?
29. Why does General Pace threaten Colonel Graff with court martial?
30. With whom does Ender fight in the shower?
31. Who is Ender's teacher?
32. What is an ansible?
33. Who originally built Eros?
34. What is the simulator?
35. What is the common name for the Molecular Detachment Device?
36. Which of Ender's commanders is the first to have a breakdown?
37. How does Ender pass his "final examination"?
38. Who becomes the Hegemon on earth?
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
39. What does Ender find behind the mirror on the bugger home world?
40. Who becomes Speaker for the Dead?
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
Ender's Game: Questions for Discussion
Compiled by Tor Books
1. Is childhood a right? Does a person robbed of a "normal" childhood have any
possibility of stability as an adult? Does Ender have any chance of living "happily
ever after"?
2. The Buggers communicate telepathically using no identifiable external means of
communication. Was it inevitable that war would have to occur when two sentient
species met but were unable to communicate?
3. Card has stated that "children are a perpetual, self-renewing underclass, helpless
to escape from the decisions of adults until they become adults themselves."
Does Ender's Game prove or disprove this opinion?
4. The government in Ender's world plays a huge role in reproductive decisions,
imposing financial penalties and social stigma on families who have more than
two children but exerting pressure on specific families who show great generic
potential to have a "third" like Ender. Is government ever justified in involving
itself in family planning decisions? Why or why not?
5. Is genocide, or in the case of Ender's Game where an entire alien race is
annihilated, xenocide, ever justified? Was the xenocide of the buggers
inevitable?
6. Ender's Game has often been cited as a good book to read by readers who are
not fans of science fiction. Why does it appeal to both fans of science fiction and
those who do not usually read science fiction?
7. Peter appears to be the personification of evil, but as Locke, acts as a good
person. How does Card treat the concept of good versus evil in Ender's Game?
8. In their thoughts, speech, and actions Card describes children in terms not
usually attributed to children. In the introduction to Ender's Game he states that
he never felt like a child. "I felt like a person all along -- the same person that I
am today. I never felt that my emotions and desires were somehow less real than
an adult's emotions and desires." Do contemporary teens feel this same way? Do
only gifted children feel this way or is it a universal feeling?
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
Locke and Demosthenes
Demosthenes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Where is Demosthenes from?
When did he live?
What was his profession?
What was his political reputation?
Philip of Macedonia II was Demosthenes' political target. Who was Philip II?
What did he do? Who was his son? What did his son try to do? (Do you think
Card chose the character's name on purpose?)
6. Why is Valentine as Demosthenes an unlikely choice?
Locke
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Where is Locke from?
When did he live?
What is his profession?
What was his political reputation?
What did Locke think of monarchies and the "sovereign" rights of kings?
What three things did Locke think an individual was entitled to? (What does the
answer remind you of?)
7. Why is Locke an unlikely choice for Peter?
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
Visualizing the Superior Fighting Position
for after Chapter 7
Educational Benefits:



Teaches close reading - causes students to go back into the text really figure out
what it is saying
Student ownership - final products are displayed in the room so each student can
point to something they made
Appeals to visual/tactile learners
Materials Needed:



One package of pipe cleaners (1.5 pieces per student)
String or whatever you can use to hang soldiers from the ceiling
Scissors for cutting the ½ pieces and string
Activity:
1. Make sure each student has one and ½ lengths of pipe cleaner. Note: some may
want an extra ¼ or so to make a gun - up to you and or school policy about guns
2. Make them WATCH before they DO.
3. Demonstrate how to make a figure - see figure (no pun intended)
4. Once they have made their basic figure, refer them to page 97 (it'll be different in
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
different editions - look for the passage over half way through chapter 7 "Abruptly he felt himself reorient…") and have them put their little Ender into the
proper fighting stance.
5. It should look like this (or something like it):
Be prepared for slightly perverse snickers about this from some of your students.
6. Then, demonstrate the advantages.
Ask - Why do people hit the ground when someone's firing a gun?
Smaller target.
This is the same principle.
Have two students demonstrate: an upright Ender fire at a positioned Ender
Ask - How can the positioned Ender have the advantage?
7. Then you can do all kinds of fun things:
Post Enemy and Home gates on two of the walls - have them talk about what is
down/up etc.
Put them in toons to simulate movement through null grav.
Null grav is easy to simulate when you're holding a pipe-cleaner Ender.
8. Have each student show you their properly positioned Ender for participation
points and have them hang them around the room.
Note: I did this activity with SENIORS in high school and they loved it - especially
showing off their embellished fighters - some Petras had pony tails.
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
Create your Own Species
1. Divide the class into groups of three to five students. Tell the students that each
group will create a new species. Direct each group to discuss the following
aspects of its species' life and community:
a. Appearance
b. Form of communication
c. Technological advancement
d. Transportation
e. Weapons
f. Form of government (if any)
g. Society
h. Daily life
i. Culture
j. Religion
k. Careers
l. Social stratification
2. After each group has had ample time to create the species, ask each group to
pair up with another group and compare their species: e.g., how are their species
similar or different; if they were in a war against each other, who would win and
why. Direct the groups to discuss how the species would react in different
situations such as:
a. Being at one species' home planet or the others's
b. Being in outer space
c. Being on land, sea, air, etc.
d. Being in an environment of fighting -- acid rain, fog, dark, light, etc.
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
3. Allow the groups to share their species and outcomes with the class.
4. Conclusion Questions:
a. What characteristics were the most important to your species' success in a
war?
b. What were the most unusual things that each group came up with?
Communication Through Adversity
[Note to Teacher: This activity should be done outside.]
Preparation:
Place the following items on a table: banana slices, a jar of peanut butter, cucumber
slices, honey, butter, bread, cheese, various deli meats, any other food suitable for
making sandwiches, condiments, ice cream, and ice cream toppings.
Procedure:
1. Divide the class into pairs
2. Direct one student in each pair to request, without speaking, that the other
student make him or her a particular sandwich (a peanut butter and banana
sandwich or any other sandwich of his or her choice). Tell the students that
verbal signals are now allowed.
3. Next, cover the eyes of all students. Direct one student in each pair to ask the
other student to make him or her an ice cream sundae.
Conclusion Questions:
1. How did it feel to be unable to communicate with another person?
2. Did you succeed in communicating with the other person in the group? If so, how
did you accomplish this goal?
Live Chess
Preparation:
Find a large open area. Outline a normal chess grid on that field with tape or squares of
paper. Each square should be at least 1 yard by 1 yard.
Procedure:
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Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Study Guide
1. Select two students to be the chess players. Assign the rest of the students the
roles of chess pieces (these students will move just like the chess pieces they
are assigned to represent).
2. As a class, set a point value for each piece.
3. Proceed through the game as you would a regular game of chess, with the
student chess players telling the student chess pieces how to move.
4. The winner receives the points (specified earlier) for each person in his or her
army of chess pieces who remains standing at the end of the game.
Conclusion Discussion:
1. What affect does assigning a value to each person have on the play?
2. Is it more useful to give specific or general commands in such a setting?