Ender's Game Questions Chapters 1-5

Chapter 1 – Third
1. What attitude motivates the adults to lie to Ender?
     When adults always say it won't hurt when it is going to hurt, you know it will hurt so you will be prepared.

2. Explain what it seems to mean for Ender to be born a "Third". Show whether this is a negative or positive fact to:
- his parents: For his parents it is negative and positive because they love him and are proud to have have, but they are also embarrassed by him.
- his brother, Peter: It is very negative because Peter knows that Ender is living proof that he wasn't good enough.
- his sister, Valentine: For Valentine it is positive because she loves him very much and doesn't care that he's a third.
- his classmates: For his classmates it's negative and positive because they seem to pick on him because they're jealous, but they also have someone to taunt.

Chapter 2 – Peter
1. Was Peter joking when he threatened Ender and Valentine?  Support your answer with evidence from the novel.
     He was kidding because he said "Not a joke, a game.  I can make you guys believe anything."  And later when he thinks Ender's asleep, he says "Ender, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know how it feels, I'm sorry, I'm your brother, I love you."

2. Why is Peter’s behavior at the end of the chapter so completely different from the rest of the chapter?
     Because he realizes that since Ender's monitor was taken out, the battle school didn't want him.  That meant that Ender wasn't better than Peter, so Peter didn't need to be mean to Ender.
 
3. How do you feel about each of these characters (Ender, Valentine, Peter)?  What did the author do to help create these feelings?  Give examples.
     I think Ender is a boy still trying to figure out who he is.  He seems nice, but sometimes he's like Peter, and can hurt somebody.  An example is when he fought Stilson.  Other times he keeps to himself, and is kind of scared, like when he was on the launch. 
     Valentine is a really nice person, and very caring.  An example is when she protects Ender from Peter and talks Peter out of his "killing them" idea.  Another is when Graff is saying how Peter wasn't mild enough, Ender was just right, and Valentine was too mild.
     Peter seems really tough, and mean.  He also seems jealous of Ender because he thinks he isn't good enough.  Some examples are when he says "They might have realized I was the best of the lot after all."  Then the author said, Peter's feelings were hurt, and so he was being a snot, as usual.  Another one is when the author said, Peter is a murderer at heart.

Chapter 3 – Graff
1. What did Graff mean about evolution working against girls?
     He meant that girls didn't want to go, because they weren't as willing to fight in battle, and they were milder and nicer so it would be harder for them to fight.

2. Ender is leaving to learn how to fight a war, yet he takes Graff’s hand. Why does Orson Scott Card (OSC) include this action?
     Because he was scared and wanted reassurance because he just made a big decision, and he was only six.

Chapter 4 – Launch
1. Explain the meaning of the following statement: “Individual human beings are tools that the others use to help us all survive.”
    This statement means that humans fight better when they are alone and can't depend on anybody, because then they won't depend on someone else to rescue them if they are in tight situation and things like that.

2. Explain the following quote: "Isolate him enough that he remains creative -
otherwise he'll adopt the system here and we'll lose him." Your answer should
include the terms: isolation, creative, adopt, lose.
   This quote means that with isolation, people will think of creative ways to help themselves in a battle and adopt techniques that only work with one person, and if they fight with somebody else, they will lose that creativeness.

3. Did Ender mean to break the other boy’s arm?  What does this incident tell us about Ender?  Is it acceptable to do despicable things for survival?  Why or why not?  No, he didn't mean to break the other boy's arm, he just wanted him to stop poking him, but in zero gravity, he was stronger that he thought.  It tells us that Ender is a very powerful person and sometimes, it is acceptable to do despicable things for survival if somebody is trying to hurt you because it's considered self defense.

Chapter 5 – Games
1. Ender works hard to express his feelings in private and not show homesickness in front of any other person. Is it healthy for him or not?   What is positive and what is negative about showing feelings?  What is positive and what is negative about not showing feelings?
     It's not healthy for him because if you let your feelings show, sometimes it will help you get over them.  It's positive for the same reason, but it's negative because people might tease him about it.  What's positive for not showing feelings is that you won't get teased and you can just push them away sometimes, and what's negative is that it will be harder and harder to not show them.

2. How did Ender beat Bernard?  Is this an unusual solution to his problem?
     He beat Bernard by sending messages to everyone on their desks.  The first one said "Cover your butt.  Bernard is watching. -God," because Bernard had been saying how Shen's butt wiggled, and the second one said "I love your butt.  Let me kiss it. -Bernard," so it made Bernard humiliated.  It's an unusual solution because it's very clever and nobody else would've thought of it.

3. List the different coping mechanisms (ways of dealing with difficulties) Ender
shows. For each one describe whether the overall result of each is helpful or
harmful to Ender.
     First, he started counting doubles when he was sad so he wouldn't start crying, and that was helpful because he didn't start crying. Then,  that night, he cried silently so that nobody would know.  That helped him because if he showed his sadness, then other kids might tease him.  Next, when he wanted to play a game in the game room and the boys wouldn't let him, he said he guessed that they were scared they wouldn't beat him, so he did play, and beat them two out of three, so it was helpful for his satisfaction.  Lastly, Ender sent messages to everyone on his desk so that Bernard wouldn't be the ruler of the class any longer, and it was helpful because it worked.