Technological Advance- Good or Bad?

I think that in this book technological advancement is quite negative. These are my reasons:

1. It is quite obvious that throughout this book Ender is becoming very depressed and struggling to keep his sanity in tact. I believe that this is because of the technology in the book. Everything that Ender experiences up in space has something to do with technology. When he is playing the Giants game, the battle room and even the space travel that he experiences. I believe that because of this technology he is not getting a proper child hood. He hasn't grown up as a normal child should, he hasn't grown up with board games and toys. No his childhood is in the battle room and slaying giants on the desk. I think that this has messed him up. 
2. 3/4 of the way through the book Valentine and Peter start to wonder into the world of politics with a motive, start the war again. Because of this technology these two children have been able to persuade much of the world into hating the Russians and the Russians hating the world. These two children have been able to move the world through the technology of the internet and the desks that they use. It is this easy to start a war that could split the world in half. If two children can do it then I believe that the world has advanced it's technology extremely rapidly and they need to slow down otherwise we will only be destroying ourselves.

In both of these instances humans are significantly involved. In the first point the innocent life of a child is destroyed and the calm playful memories and thoughts of a 10 year old is replaced with the vicious and tactful mind of a war bearer. This affects not only the boy but the people around the boy.

In the second point the whole of the human race is in jeopardy as a war erupts and slits the world in two. The thing that I find ironic about this point is how that something so complicated like taking over the world and plunging it into war, because of technology is possible for a child. 

This is why that I think that the technological advance in the story is very negative.

2-3 words on mum and dad

Compassionate. Responsible. Guardian.

Ender's Game Quiz Chapters 1-7

1. What person is the narrative told in? The book is told in first person to tell you of the emotions and thought that the characters are thinking and feeling.
2. What is a 'Third'? A 'Third' is a third born child. This is a bad thing as the government has put a cap of 2 children maximum unless you pay tax. These children are looked down upon.
3. What game does Peter want to play with Ender? He wants to play Bugger's and Astronauts. This is where a boy dresses up as an enemy alien called a Bugger and the other dresses up as an Astronaut and they have a pretend war.
4. What are two reasons why Ender doesn't want to go to battle school? He doesn't want to leave behind Valentine and not be able to see her grow up, and also because he will not be able to revisit earth for many years and he's scared his family will forget him.
5. What type of irony is used when the audience knows more than the characters? Dramatic
6. How does Graff treat Ender when he first gets to battle school? He treats him differently from the others and makes them not like him by the way that he talks Ender up and says he is great.
7. Who is Ender's room leader at battle school? Bonzo Madrid
8. What happens when Ender goes to the games room for the first time? He beats an older kid at the game
9. Who is Bernard and what is Ender's relationship to him? Bernard is a recruit a younger kid. And Ender is his commander in Dragon army
10. What role is Alai voted in to? What role does he now play for the group? He is voted to be a platoon leader and he looks after a bunch of kids
11. What mistake does Ender make immediately upon joining Salamander Army?
    What happens to Ender in the battle against Condor that gets him recognition? He disables his legs so he can get the other kids with less shooting area

Mum+ Dad Characterization Ender's Game

"'Where's mum?' asked Valentine. 'Out', said Peter. 'I'm in charge.' 'I think I'll call daddy'. This shows mum+dad as fairly protective characters. Their effect on me was that they were a retreat for Ender and Valentine to go if Peter the antagonist was to do something to them. There is also a scene where the children and mum is in the kitchen and Mum is trying to get Ender to eat. This shows me that she tries her best to look after her children, Ender then gestures to feed him through his wrists and the mum sarcastically says, 'Very funny', whether this means she doesn't have a good sense of humor I am not sure. In the kitchen they start talking about how the got their 'genius genes' from there mum and obviously not from their father. This shows that the mother is very intelligent. They are also very upset about Ender getting into the fight with Stilson which makes them fairly compassionate and caring parents in my eyes. They are also described as being extremely religious by Graff and they were baptized personally from the father. This means that the parents want the children to grow up religious aswell. Graff also starts to explain to Ender that he is a 'badge of shame' to his parents as he is a third. "They love you. The question is whether they want you here. Your presence in this house is a constant disruption. A source of tension. At the end of the chapter when Ender is leaving to Battle School his mother yells, "I love you, Andrew!" and his father yells, "We'll write to you!". This is more proof that they are compassionate as they will miss Ender, this makes you think about Graff's points further.

Characterization

What are important elements of characterization? (Literal)
Actions, speech/Dialogue, thoughts, physical description, other characters reactions, persona (who they are...readers reactions), effect on others, names, personality, background.


Why is characterization important? To be able to connect and feel the emotions of the character. Gives you an insight into the story in different scenarios as to why things happen. Add interests to the story. Adds depth to the story. Adds realism to the story and make it seem more believable.


(Figurative= greater conclusion) 

Techniques in first 4 chapters

Techniques- Omniscient narrator (all knowing) 

                    - Dramatic Irony

                     - Dialog

                    -Description (sparse) 

                    Action (used to develop characters and Enders thoughts)

1. Name one technique you feel the author successfully utilized in the first 4 chapters. In one sentence say what the technique is and how it is successfully used in the book. Omniscient narrator- this technique is used successfully because not many people understand how Ender feels but the narrator can explain how he feels, what he is thinking and what he is going to do. This helps the reader understand Ender and create an emotional connection towards him.
2. Find at least two examples of this technique in different chapters. "The monitor gone. Ender tried to imagine the little device missing from the back of his neck". "It was not his fault he was a third. It was the Governments idea, they were the ones who authorized it- how else could a Third like Ender have got into school?" 
3. Discuss how the author is using the technique in the section where you find it and why it is important to the novel. (You can not say 'he uses it to make the section interesting'.) In the first example- (This means that the narrator knows how Ender feels and is knowing of what he is thinking). In the second example- (This shows the narrators point of view he is talking about the origin of 'Third' and why Ender is looked down upon). 

Questions Chapter 4: Launch

• (27) How do the updates from the soldiers at the start of the chapter represent dramatic irony? They talk about Isolating him in order to be a strong leader, but this is fairly ironic as to be a strong leader you need to have good social skills and if you are isolated it will be very hard to learn social skills.
• (28) How do we know that this society is capitalistic? One of the men asks for the raise because he thinks that if he works harder he gets a raise. This is Capitalistic because he is allowed a raise. 
• (29) Is there censorship? If so, how do you know? It says that it would be censored out if he ran up to the cameraman and screamed out "I love you Valentine".
• (31) What does Ender do while Graff is speaking to the boys? How does he react to Ender? Why does he react this way? He laughs. He praises him and makes him and outcast towards the other boys. This will make him have to defend himself, every man for himself.
• (35) How does Graff view humans? He says that they are tools to save the world and that they belong to the Government. They don't have their own life.
• (36) What does Graff say about ‘doing bad things’ as soldiers? He says that he is screwing up kids and making them different not giving them a childhood.
• What role has Ender been given for the survival of the human species? Is to command the human fleet and save the human kind from the buggers.

Student Speak vs. Teacher Geek

Student speak (Literal)           Teacher Geek (figurative
   Bad Guy             =             Antagonist
  Good Guy           =              Protagonist- characterization    3rd person omniscient 
   Speaks               =              Dialogue
                                            Round emotional person, personality
                                            Flat- plot purposes

                                          

Questions Chapter 3: Graff

1. (19) What does Ender get chosen for in the end? Why does he get picked? He gets chosen out of the three children to go to Battle School. He is obviously very important to the I.F. He gets picked because he is the most stable of the three children, the sister is too soft and the brother is too unpredictable.
2. What reservations does Ender have? Because he will not see Valentine for a long time. He is scared that when he comes back she will not remember him, and might not love him.
3. (22) What does the soldier say about religion and large families? So is this a religious or secular society? Why? He says that religion says that you can have more children but the Government doesn't want more than two. It is a secular society as people are trying to escape their religious families. 
4. What does ‘Third’ mean? Why is this such a big deal? Third means a third child and they are despised because they believe it is unlucky or too many children. The first two children get a free education to get people to only have 2 children. Taxes are enforced for every child born after 2.
5. (22) What do we learn about the ‘society’ what countries on earth make it up? That they are unified in order to keep Earth alive. All of America, Russia, Mexico are part of the 'society'.
6. What big decision does Ender have to make? What are the reasons against it/for it? What does he decide? Why? What would you decide? He has to decide whether he wants to go to Battle School. He does not want to go because he will be leaving his sister and parents and his childhood and may be 'changed'. He wants to go because he believes that he will be doing his parents good and might save the world and be like 'Mazer Rackham'. Because he's scared of that many people dying again and being in constant terror. He doesn't want the world to end because he didn't go to Battle School. I would go as I would feel guilty if I didn't.

Questions Chapter 2: Peter

1. (9) Who are speaking at the beginning of the chapter again? They are two soldiers discussing what Ender had previously done and if he 'passes'.
2. From what these voices say what can we speculate the ‘monitor’ allowed these people to do with Ender? It allowed them to look at what he was thinking and see what was happening through his eyes to see if he was in distress or needed help.
3. How do the soldiers react to Ender attacking the bully? They say that he 'passes' so they are obviously hesitantly proud and pleased with what he has done.
4. What effect do the soldiers admit that they had on Ender’s brother Peter? That because of the monitor this was somehow protecting Ender from him and now that it was off they believe it is a 'risk'.
5. What voice do we switch into when the soldiers section of the text is through? We switch into Valentines voice who is being soothing towards Ender.
6. (10) What is Ender’s sister’s name and what is implied by her name? Valentine, and it shows that she is a calm loving character as this time of the year is the year for love.
7. What are the two sides of Peter? Towards parents he was the 'beautiful 10 year old boy with dark tousled hair and a face like Alexander the Greats. But to Ender and to Valentine they saw anger and boredom that 'always led to pain'.
8. (11) What do we learn about the greater world from the description of the game that Peter forces Ender to play called Buggers vs. Astronauts? It shows us that this is a way of Peter to gain power and bring pain to Ender through a game. 'But here in the flat, the games start mean, and the bugger couldn't just go empty and quit the way buggers did in the real wars. The bugger was in it until the astronaut decided it was over.' This shows how violent the games were.
9. (13) What informatioin does Valentine have that she uses to keep Peter under control? She says that she will 'Call daddy' meaning that if things got out of hand she could tell her father what was going on in order to protect Ender from Peter.
10. (15) Who tells the Wiggins to have 3 children? What does this tell us about the power of the government? The Government only allows a maximum of three children and they told the Wiggins to only have three children. But they knew that one of the children would be the chosen one. It tells us that the power of the Government is very strong and that they have power of the rest of the humans on Earth.
11. What does Ender do at the end of the chapter? What emotional state is he in? Why?

Settings of Enders Game!

The settings used in Enders Game are:

• Space: 

Battle School- Space ship/station (laser guns- cliche), (hand print locks), (gravity), (sustainable life in space)
Command School- CoD
Other Planets- 

• War:
• Future: 
• Battle:
• Spacecraft:
• Anti-gravity:
• Gravity:
• Earth: 

Home- 
North Carolina- Juxtaposition
Futuristic Tech- (monitors),
Desk Computers-
School-
Virtual-
Internet servers- chat rooms
Fantasy Game- giant's game
Monitors

Sci- Fi in my life. Super cereals!

As I opened my cupboard I had prayed that mum had bought the Speed Quick Strawberry Cereal. Since these cereals came out that enhanced your abilities tenfold I'd always hoped of getting the Speed Quick box. I'd had almost all of them; Bench More Blueberry (strength), Breathe Deep Banana (Breathe Under Water) and Leap Galaxy Lemon (Jump extremely high). I'd only get these boxes of cereal on special occasions because 1 they were extremely sugary and 2 very expensive.
As I started to open my brand new box of cereal. I started thinking of ways that I could use this brand new ability to my advantage. The hardest part was learning to adapt to them quickly before the time wore out. The abilities last for 2 hours and It usually took a while to learn how to use them.
A thought then occurred to him, he just remembered that it was the athletics carnival. Teachers would know that he would be using the cereal for sure if he was to go too fast but if he moderated his speed to be just fast enough to beat the others then today would be a breeze. He finished his cereal and felt his legs shoot out in spasm. He felt like he had drunk a store load of Red Bull, he had more energy than he had ever felt. He grabbed his bag and ran put the door. Within 30 seconds he was at the school. He awaited eagerly for the races. He finished 100m 400m and 800m in 1st place and destroyed several school records. But the energy started to fade and he felt his body become heavier and heavier. Until eventually he collapsed to the ground and fell asleep. The side affect came clear to him now the more you use the more tired you become. He dreamt of the next cereal his mum would pick up for him. He then thought after cheating at the athletics carnival and using the cereal to do so, he wouldn't be getting another box for a while, and he was not looking forward to going to school the next day.

Science Fiction Genre

1. Origins

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with the impact of imagined innovations in science or technology, often in a futuristic setting. Exploring the consequences of such innovations is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it a "literature of ideas". Science fiction was invented as a means of understanding the world through speculation and storytelling. Science fiction goes as far back as the 2nd century in cases such as 'Lucian's True Story'. With the invention of technologies such as electricity and telegraph and new forms of powered transportation writers caught up and started to elaborate on possibilities, setting their sights higher and to new places. 

2. Categories

There are many categories in science fiction some include:

Hard Science Fiction: is when the books describes the possibility of different scenarios using science such as physics, biology and chemistry. Many accurate predictions of the future come from the hard science fiction sub genre.

Soft/ social science fiction: The description "soft" science fiction may describe works based on social sciences such as psychology, economics, political science, sociology, and anthropology. Some writers blur the line between soft and hard science fiction.

Cyberpunk: The time frame for cyberpunk is usually near-future and the settings are often dystopian (characterized by misery). Common themes in cyberpunk include advances in information technology and especially the Internet (visually abstracted as cyberspace)

Time travel: this genre is quite self explanatory time travel uses the idea of gliding through different time periods by means of machine or other ways. These types of books are very popular. 

Superhuman: These stories usually are based on beings that have powers and abilities beyond the normal. These powers are usually amazing and abilities people wish they had. These stories usually focus on the alienation that these beings feel as well as society's reaction to them. These stories have played a role in the real life discussion of human enhancement.

Apocalyptic:  Apocalyptic fiction is concerned with the end of the civilization through war, pandemic, astronomic impact, ecological disaster, or mankind's self-destruction, or some other general disaster or with a world or civilization after such a disaster. Apocalyptic fiction generally concerns the disaster itself and the direct aftermath, while post-apocalyptic can deal with anything from the near aftermath to 375 years in the future to hundreds or thousands of years in the future.

Space Opera: is adventure science fiction set in outer space or on distant planets, where the emphasis is on action rather than either science or characterization. The conflict is heroic, and typically on a large scale. The immensely popular series 'Star Wars' falls into this category.

Space Western: could be considered a sub-genre of space opera that transposes themes of the American books and film to a backdrop of futuristic space frontiers. These stories typically involve "frontier" colony worlds (colonies that have only recently been terraformed and settled) serving as stand-ins for the backdrop of lawlessness and economic expansion that were predominant in the American west

3. Conventions 

Almost all science fiction books are based in space or the future. These books are what makes sci-fi sci-fi. Many good series have both put into their books. Sci-fi also uses aliens and some sort of superhuman or other being as the enemy of the book. Things that fit into the genres of sci-fi are also techniques that are used for example in the Apocalyptic genre the plot of the book is the 'end of the world'. Sci-fi books also are mostly based around different science subjects. As mentioned above hard science uses sciences such as physics, biology and chemistry, whereas soft science uses sciences such as psychology and economy. These are also techniques that are used and are a big influence on sci-fi and the things that make these books stand out. The genre is very popular as seen with the book and now movie star wars. No one on earth hasn't heard of this series, showing that science fiction is quite popular. Many science fiction genres mentioned above are in many of the books read today. Science fiction uses space travel, aliens, ufo's, superhumans, time travel, speed travel and other things to captivate it's audience and maintain an alternate reality. These books all have one thing in common. The whole purpose of the book is a big ' what if?' which makes them very popular. In these books yes we can time travel, yes we can fly and yes there are other beings in outer space. The sky is the limit with the things used in these books.