Movement Poem

As I wade into the chilling water,
A shiver crawls down my spine.
Cautiously, I walk careful not to slip on any algae-covered rocks.
I take one slow step at a time, until the water touches my belly-button.
Then, I dunk my head.
My body feels instantly shocked and refreshingly free.
I swim up for a breath and notice
The current has moved me.
I scoop the water with my hands
And kick the flowing liquid with my legs
Despite the sun rays soaking into my head,
I dip my face in the water, and do not see the bottom.
Panting, I continue to swim as the current swiftly carries me.
I will never make it, I fear.
My arms are growing tired
And it feels as though
This never ending river has stretched wider.
I have almost run out of breath,
So I allow one last stroke
Until I give up.
But as I place my hands in front of me
Ready to disappear in this infinite flow of water
I grab hold of a slimy rock,
Realizing I have reached the shore
And stand up.

Responding to I Have Seen and Still Faces

     I read the poem Still Faces by Orion Scheideler. This poem included many elements of poetry and was very deep because of the word choices. In the line, "I have seen eyes longing for things to do," I really like how he personified the eyes by making them long to do something. In the line "the plainness and grayness I cause," he adds internal rhyme by making plainness and grayness sound alike. Since they are approximate, they are also assonance. I also like how he chose these words instead of just stating that his abstract noun causes boring things. When Orion wrote, "somethings will never change," I felt that this was very relatable to everyone and can have a different meaning for each reader.  Orion gave a great comparison when he said, "it is oatmeal without a sweetening," because I know how that tastes and I can sense what he is talking about along with my own opinion on it. This line also brings great imagery and I can visualize the oatmeal in my head. The phrase, "I have seen many still faces, many still faces," emphasizes how still the faces are by adding repetition. I think that the abstract noun this poem is about is boringness, especially because of the lines, "I have realized that people do not like me because I am what helps people not like anything," and "there is no taste or color to be enjoyed." This poem ended with the line, "Still with the hope of finding a road to travel." I feel that this is a strong ending because it leaves the reader with something to think about. Throughout his whole poem there are many elements of poetry such as repetition, rhyme, assonance, and a strong ending. Along with all of these things, he chose interesting words and used direct language. I think that this poem was meant to be a lyric poem because it expresses the personal feelings of a speaker, that speaker being his abstract noun.

     I also read the poem I Have Seen by Hazel Talkington. In the first two lines of her poem, "I have seen nothing but the empty dark of night Nothing, but grey nothingness," she repeats the word nothing a few times. I think she did this to not only add repetition, but emphasize the fact that there really was nothing. Also, between the words "seen" and "nothing" there is assonance. Hazel used a simile in the stanza, "I am trapped in a closet left behind, forgotten Like your old pair of neglected sneakers Wishing for somebody to open the doors and let the light in Yet nobody cares whether I am ripped or falling apart they just leave me here to suffer." It is also a metaphor when she says, "Wishing for somebody to open the doors and let the light in." I believe that it literally means her abstract noun is wishing for somebody to find her and bring happiness to her. While describing this simile, she personifies the sneakers by saying they suffer. I like how in the line, "I’d rather be the growing warmth that you feel inside when happy," she left it very open so that this feeling could be relatable to everyone. I can also really relate to the line about the juicy strawberry at the top of the bowl that is favored because it's very true with me and I do go for that one first. This line also has good imagery. In the line, "I have tasted the unwanted taste you rinse out of your mouth in the morning," there is a little bit of alliteration with the words mouth and morning. In the last phrase of Hazel's poem, "I have learned to live, to be unwanted for all I am is exactly that. Unwanted," the page break added a pause before she repeated the word "Unwanted." It's also a satisfying ending because her abstract noun's last word was Unwanted and that left me with a summery of the whole poem. I think that this poem, as well as Orion's, is a lyric poem because it tells the feelings of a speaker. I think her poem is about loneliness because of the words she uses like trapped, nothingness, and unwanted. Hazel used many elements of poetry in this poem and added a lot of imagery.

Sophie in the House!

Yo, Sophie in the house

You think you’re cooler than me?

Well, you ain’t nothin’ but a mouse,

Be careful not to eat this cheese.

You think you have the right

To criticize, antagonize,

Look into these eyes,

But you’re mistaken.

I hope you know

The coaster’s about to fall

You be boasting at the top

But you won’t be there for long.

Lazy, Old Ted (Three Limericks)

There once was a man named Ted

Who lost his good hat before bed

He searched high and low

Little did he know

It was sitting on top of his head

Ted had a wife named Daisy

She claimed that her husband was crazy

Ted said, “I am ill!

I cannot pay the bill!”

Sure enough, Ted was just being lazy.

This man Ted turned on the television

But felt guilty about his decision

So he picked Daisy flowers

Bunching them up for hours

And tied a bouquet with precision.

Under the Harvest Moon

The poem, Under the Harvest Moon, by Carl Sandburg includes many elements of poetry. This poem includes a lot of imagery. I first see a full moon shining over a garden, then I see red roses in the summer. The  way Sandburg describes the moon, "When the soft silver Drips shimmering Over the garden nights," is very poetic and much more interesting than just saying the moon is silver. In the line, "Death, the gray mocker, Comes and whispers to you As a beautiful friend Who remembers," I think this was meant to be a metaphor. It is literally saying that those who have passed away may not be physically there, but haven't forgotten about the memories shared. Sandburg uses personification by making death come and whisper. I think that the line, "Love, with little hands, Comes and touches you With a thousand memories, And asks you Beautiful, unanswerable questions," is also a metaphor. Love doesn't actually have hands, but comes unexpectedly and brings memories that make someone think hard about life. This line is also personifying love. In the line, "Drips shimmering," I found assonance and there is alteration in the line, "Love, with little hands." There isn't any rhyme in this poem, so I think it was meant to be free verse. This poem was split up into two stanzas and it is almost like they are different poems, but they go together. They both start with , "Under the..." and each one represented a season, the first one fall, and then summer. I think Carl Sandburg wrote this poem to try to describe these two beautiful seasons. He used things that we would see in the fall such as "harvest moon" and garden nights." In the second stanza, he used words that bring summer to my mind like "summer roses." This poem was narrated in third person and doesn't tell a story, but describes objects. I think this poem has a satisfying ending because it ends with, "...With a thousand memories, And asks you Beautiful, unanswerable questions." This is satisfying because it leaves me thinking about and questioning my memories. 

Three Haikus

Fresh Air, Crisp as toast

The Fragrant smell of lilacs

Melting in my nose.

Needles leap from trees

Eager to someday grow up

And shade their children.

Pencils on paper

Air filled with conversations

Daring to be heard.

A Life Misunderstood

I have seen several trash cans filled with neglected food and materials,
The ground on which people stand, along with gooey clumps of sticky saliva
And sometimes, briefly, a gaping whole like those in space that are left with an unpleasant surprise-
Only to spit me out.

I hear gags, caused by my revolting smell,
And the giggles and shouts from others.
The high-pitched screams that ring in the ears
Of those who surround my victim.

I feel squished by fingers as fat as sausages
And the souls of shoes grinding me to a dust,
I am a miserable, misunderstood millipede.
A forbidden, fearful fly.

I long to be desirable;
To be held in a safe
Where treasures are kept
And valuables are treated with care.

I accept that I am unwanted,
That I am hated,
That my presence in the world has only a negative outcome
And the answer to my problems does not rest in my hands,
But in the hearts of others.

Po' Boys Blues

The poem, Po' Boy Blues, by Langston Hughes is an honest poem about himself in a time that wasn't very happy for him. In this poem, the first phrase of every stanza is repeated. I think this was done to put emphasis on those words. The vocabulary that he uses adds character to the poem and I know more about him because of it. Words like "de" instead of "the" and the word "an'" instead of "and." In the line, "When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold," I think that the poet used a more interesting way to say that he was a poor boy growing up and was very grateful for the free gifts like sunshine. In the line, "Since I come up North de Whole damn world's turned cold," the poet gives the reader more information about where he was from, and he must have come from somewhere southern and then moved North. This poem has a good sense of rhythm and flows really well with each word. The rhyme scheme to this poem is every second, fourth and sixth line, but I don't know if there is a pattern name for that. The line, "But this world is weary An' de road is hard an' long," is a metaphor. I think what he is literally saying is that sometimes things got harder for him and seemed like they would never end. One of the hard parts of life for him was a relationship with a woman who spent his money and made him feel like he was going crazy. I gathered this from the line, "She made me lose ma money An' almost lose ma mind." In the last stanza, Hughes repeats the word "weary" many times. I think he does wrote it this way because weary means tired and it shows that he is too tired too say anything more. The last line of this poem, “I wish I’d never been born,” is very strong and left me thinking about it. It summarizes the whole poem in a powerful, but sad way.

Nouns Coming to Life

Depression is a Fog Grey closet, filled with Emptiness

Disgust is the Nickel Silver hair resting on my Salad

Envy is Emerald Green dancing with my Enemy

Embarrassment is a Rhubarb Red slip on the Stage

An Idea is the kingfisher blue rushing River

Delight is the Lemon Yellow frosting on a Cupcake 

r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r

The poem, r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r, by e.e.cummings brought the image of a grasshopper to my mind once I finally figured out what the poem actually said and I decoded the words. The grasshopper I imagined looked up and leaped. In this part of the poem, the letters that spelled out "leaps" were expressed in a way to make it look like the word itself was leaping.  Other words like “become” were spelled inside of parentheses and in between words. This poem seemed more free verse than to have a specific rhythm or rhyme because I couldn't find a pattern in the words. However there was alliteration repeating the “R” sound in the words, “arriving to rearrangingly...” The assonance I found in this poem was in the words "Leaps" and "arriving." There was no onomatopoeia I could find, but the way this poem was written with random page breaks, punctuation, and misspellings made it very interesting and caused me to spend quite a bit of time breaking it down to figure out what the words meant. The word “Grasshopper” was repeated four times throughout the poem, all spelled differently. Though this poem was not told from the grasshopper's point of view, I visualized it through the eyes of a grasshopper. I think e.e. cummings wrote about this grasshopper because it taught the lesson of finding one's true self. This poem started out with a jumbled up word that I couldn't make sense of, but slowly became less confusing throughout the poem and by the end was a real word. The grasshopper kept changing and leaping to new places until finally after all of that rearranging, became who it wanted to be. The words were spelled with capitals in the middle instead of beginning and punctuation before the word such as “.gRrEaPsPhOs.” I think this was done to make it seem like the words were trying to rearrange themselves in different ways until they liked the way they turned out, even if it isn't what people would expect. The repetition of the word “grasshopper” gave the poem a good beginning, middle, and end because each time it was spelled differently until the last try turned out right.  The language used in this poem was simple and direct, but it didn't actually make sense to me until I understood the theme of the poem.  This message is very relatable because everybody goes through times when they can’t figure out who they are or who they want to be. These decisions can be easy and simple to make, but can also be very hard and life changing. Whoever it is a person (or grasshopper) decides to be, should only be based upon what makes them happy.

Opposite Musical Terms

Allegro	VS.	Andante
Fortissimo	VS.	Pianissimo
Legato	VS.	Staccato
Sharp	VS.	Flat
Treble	VS.	Bass
Crescendo	VS.	Diminuendo
Ritardando	VS.	Accelerando
Harmony	VS.	Homophony
Major	VS.	Minor
ACapella	VS.	Instrumental
Slur	VS.	Breath Mark
Arpeggio	VS.	Chord
Solo	VS.	Duet
Sixteenth Note	VS.	Whole Note
Repeat	VS.	D.S. Al Coda
Swung	VS.	Syncopated
Key Signature	VS.	Accidental
Calmly	VS.	Intense
Del Segno	VS.	Coda
Divide	VS.	Unison
Waltz Time	VS.	Common Time
Dotted Half Note	VS.	Eighth Note
Double Bar Line	VS.	Fermata

Forest At Night

The ear-piercing call of a mysterious, wise owl.
Crackling leaves under the paws of a furry family of masked bandits
and their striped, frightened friend regretting he ever went on a midnight stroll.
The ominous, ghostly, frigid wind
causing the evergreens, tall enough to touch the stars, to slowly sway
Back and Forth,
Back and Forth.
Far in the distance, is the rushing of a strong, flowing creek
filled with water in search of its true home,
And almost as lost as I am.
The moon peeks through the trees
like a child playing hide-and-seek,
Seeking the darkness
With the stars curiously interacting in the game.
Distorted Monsters jump out of my mind
into the emptiness that stood before me.
Fresh, crisp air and the scent of pine needles
fill the pitch black space surrounding me.
But do not protect me
from whatever may lie beyond my eyes.
The moon, unable to find the darkness,
says goodnight as it pulls up its blanket of fog.
And a second hoot from the owl,
sends a chill down my spine.

Revisiting the Anticipation Guide

Lying is justifiable if it's for the greater good.

This was the first statement in the anticipation guide that I took before reading the book, “Ender's Game.” I had to choose a bubble out of five, one being strongly disagree and five being strongly agree. For this statement, I chose a four when I still hadn’t read the book because though I know that lying is never good and doesn't often lead to a good thing, I have been in situations where lying is the best option.

Now, after I have read the book, I think of Colonel Graff and Mazer Rackham. Colonel Graff lied to Ender throughout the book about the consistency of his battles and what he was training him for. A specific time this was demonstrated was when Graff and Anderson made Ender the leader of the unused Dragon Army because, according to Graff, “We had a lot of extra uniforms to use up,” (156). This shows that Graff was only trying to push Ender his hardest and would do whatever he could do make him as worn out as possible. Mazer Rackham lied to Ender about the final test in his studies and how it was actually the final invasion (296, 297). Mazer lied to Ender because he probably weighed the options and knew that losing his trust from Ender wasn’t as important as saving the entire world. In that case, for Rackham, lying was justifiable because it was for the greater good. Also, at the beginning of the book, Ender was lied to about his monitor. By having it be taken off, Ender thought he didn’t pass the test to go to battle school, but it was actually the final test to see how he would react to having the monitor taken off. Graff told Ender, “The final step in your testing was to see what would happen when the monitor came off. We don’t always do it this way, but in your case-” (19) Graff probably thought that this test was more important than Ender having a fair, honest test.  I still believe that lying is never good no matter what the reason, and though I have been in situations where lying is the best option, I think that honesty counts more than anything. I now give this statement a two after reading the book.

Sometimes violence is the only way to solve a problem.

For this statement, I chose the second bubble before reading "Ender’s Game" because I disagreed. I reasoned, communication is the most important thing when there is a problem and violence just leads to something worse. I don't like it when violence is involved in fights and though I don't strongly feel that violence is the most horrible thing in the world, I avoid it when I can.

Now, after reading the book, I relate this theme to Ender accidentally killing Bonzo in the bathroom (210, 211).. When Ender was in there all alone, ganged up on by boys who were all stronger than him, he really had no other choice but try to get out alive. This was demonstrated when Ender thought, “If I’m to walk away from here, I have to win quickly, and permanently,” (209). I can also relate it to the situation in which Ender had beaten up Stilson. Ender did it because he had to show Stilson and his gang that they needed to stop picking on him. It wouldn’t have worked if Ender just asked them to stop, he needed to show them somehow. This was demonstrated when Ender told the gang, “You might be having some idea of ganging up on me. You could probably beat me up pretty bad. But just remember what I do to people who try to hurt me. From then on, you'd be wondering when I'd get you, and how bad it would be,” (7). These relate to the theme because in the situations, his only options were to beat up or be beaten up and possibly killed. I can also relate it to the main storyline: fighting with the buggers. The humans and the buggers had no means of communicating and that led to the two species fighting in a war. After reading this book, I realized that sometimes, there really is no way out of violence, even though I hate the thought of it. For some situations, it’s the only way to get the message across. After reading the book and thinking about the examples, I will give this statement a three.

It is okay to kill someone in self-defense.

Before reading the book, I stated: This was hard to choose, because I would hate to even be in a situation where I might need to kill someone in self defense. I chose the third bubble because if that is the only option, it's what needs to be done. Killing someone would be a horrible thing though, and it would be hard to live with myself if I ever did. I hope I never need to make the choice.

Now that I have read the book, I can relate this to Ender killing Bonzo and Stilson, just as I did for the last theme. Ender was cornered in the bathroom, and knew he was weaker than his opponent (208). Ender was also cornered by Stilson and his gang at school when he came to the conclusion of fighting back (7). I can relate the statement to the humans killing the buggers too. Ender and his friends killed the buggers because if they didn’t, the buggers would have killed them (295). These examples illustrate the fact that if what Ender did wasn’t done, he would have died or killed many others. It is a trade off, because killing someone ruined Ender’s life and changed him permanently, but if he didn’t, he would have died. One must ask themselves, “would I be better off living or dying in the end?” I think that it would be such a hard thing to do to kill someone, but sometimes it must be done and with that said, I will stay with the third bubble.

Words are stronger than fists.

I answered this statement before reading Ender’s Game with a four. I chose a four because there are certain words that can sting more than a punch. Some things that people say hurt very bad, and though it's in a different type of pain than physical, words can be just as bad if not worse. I didn't choose a five for this one because it isn't always true. Sometimes, being beaten up hurts more than a rude remark.

From the book, an example of words being stronger than fists is when Locke and Demosthenes wrote their columns. A specific time is when Valentine told Ender that Peter prevented a big war through Locke (311).  Without doing any physical harm, Peter’s disguise Locke spoke out and made quite a difference. Another time when words were used instead of violence is when Ender spoke for the buggers and made more of a difference with the interaction of the two species than when the war went on (322-324). This was illustrates how violence doesn’t do any good, but communicating actually solves problems. I think that words are extremely powerful and can do even more than fights. Before I read the book, I didn’t think about words being stronger in a good way, only bad, but now that I have read the book, I realize that words can not only do damage, but can also repair relationships and problems like the queen bugger’s words did. I’ll give this statement a four again, because sometimes words just can’t beat the physical power a person may have, but usually words are more significant.

Bullies hurt others because they have low self esteem.

Before I read the book, I said, This statement I agree with for most cases and chose a four again. Bullies that I can think of usually have issues and need to take it out on others. It is something that I would want to feel bad about, but may not because of how they deal with their problems. Of course, there are people who simply feel the need to be mean and that is why I don't strongly agree.

In “Ender’s Game”, the bullies I think of are Peter, Stilson, and Bonzo. Peter bullied Ender before Ender went to battle school by teasing, threatening and hurting him. A specific example is when Ender wanted to stop playing a game with Peter, but Peter didn’t want him to stop. “Peter pressed with his foot. Pain shot through Ender; he doubled up,” (12). I think Peter bullied Ender because he was jealous. Ender, a very intelligent boy, got to keep his monitor on for a longer time than Peter and it made Peter feel like he wasn’t good enough. His brother was always better than him and that gave Peter low self esteem. Stilson was a bully at Ender’s school with a gang that made him feel more powerful. He taunted Ender about being a third and made fun of him because he was bigger than Ender. When Stilson noticed that Ender had his monitor taken off, he said, “...Thought you were better than us, but you lost your little birdie, Thirdie, got a bandaid on your neck,” (6). When Stilson said this, it showed how he, along with Peter, was jealous of Ender being smarter than him. Stilson also had low self esteem and needed to make himself feel better by trying to put Ender down. Bonzo Madrid was the commander of Salamander Army. He was mean to Ender the minute they met and at first, it was because Bonzo was upset about having an untrained member of his army. After he realized that Ender was a good soldier though, Bonzo gained even more resentment towards him. An example of a time Bonzo bullied Ender is when Bonzo refused to let Ender play in the battle room with his friends until Ender finally threatened to get Bonzo iced (87). Bonzo was a mean boy, but didn’t have much of a reason to be mean besides the fact that Ender was a fast-learning soldier making Bonzo feel intimidated. Not all bullies have low self esteem I’m sure, but a lot do. The bullies from “Ender’s Game” mostly do have low self esteem and the bullies I can think of do too, so I will stay with a four.  

 
Only the best and brightest students should receive the best education to become a nation's leaders.

For this statement, I answered with a two before I read the book because if someone tries very hard, their level of intelligence doesn't matter. To be a leader, one needs to be at least a little smart, but they may have better leader skills than math or science. Also, they could have changed since they were a kid and became much more knowledgeable.

Now that I have read “Ender’s Game”, I relate this theme to Ender and Peter mainly. Ender chose to be one of his nation’s leaders and he did have the best education possible for what he was training for. The battle school was a hard place to be, but it was made to train kids to fight. This was specifically illustrated when Colonel Graff told Ender, “Maybe you'll break down under the pressure, maybe it’ll ruin your life...”(25). Since Ender was a very smart child, the battle school did help him, but other kids there may have not learned as well, and didn’t get to be leaders. This shows how some children who weren't the best and brightest students still got the best education. Peter, who didn’t have any training or help besides his sister, became very successful though, and he was definitely one of the nation’s leaders by the end of the book. From his own clever plan, Peter made a peace treaty to prevent a big war and made the Hegemon’s Council do whatever he wanted (311). Both of the boys were very smart and both became leaders of the world, but only one had the training. Because of this, it seems appropriate to choose the third bubble because half of the examples from the book had the best education.  

Revenge is never justified.

I answered this with the third bubble at first because I know that forgiveness is a great personality trait, but I have definitely felt the need to give back what I've taken. It is bad to feel this way, but I can't help that I do and that's who I am! Since I understand both sides of the statement, I decided to be in the middle.

In the book, this theme relates to the time when Ender got revenge on Bernard by sending embarrassing messages out to the rest of the “launchy” group. The trick worked for Ender when “Bernard went red with anger,” (50, 51). Another example of revenge in “Ender’s Game” is when Bonzo tried to get revenge on Ender for beating his army in a battle (210, 211). When Bonzo came with a gang to beat up Ender, it wasn’t justified because it was much worse than what Ender did to him. When Ender got revenge on Bernard, it wasn’t justified either because, though Bernard was rude to him, Ender didn’t receive enough of a threat to humiliate Bernard. Revenge is a sign of immaturity most of the time and is unnecessary. However, sometimes people need to realize how it feels to be hurt or embarrassed. I will give this theme a two because revenge is just another reason for the person to want to be mean.

Crying is evidence of weakness.

Before I read the book, I said: I strongly disagree with this statement and decided to give it a one. Crying can be really helpful when stress builds up inside and shows strength in my opinion that one isn't too afraid to let out the bad feelings inside. Sometimes, after a good cry, one will be ready to take on more because of letting go of their past problems.

In the book, Ender cried on his first few days of battle school because he was homesick (43, 44). “He felt a sob rise in his throat and swallowed it down; he could not see his plate,” (43). Throughout his stay at battle school, Ender also cried during moments where he was simply frustrated. Ender cried on Eros, after he had killed the buggers (298). Crying can be a hard thing to do at times when it will make a person vulnerable, but it doesn’t show weakness, it shows that the person has dealt with too much and needs to let out their feelings. Ender didn’t like to cry because he felt that it showed weakness, but Ender was obviously a very strong person. The strongest people in the world have all cried at least once in their lives, and it takes strength to admit it. Those who cry more than others just can’t handle as much as others. I still think that it doesn’t show weakness and give it a one again.

Any action is acceptable in war.

When I took the anticipation guide before reading the book I said, For this statement, I wasn't really sure what to put, so I went with the third bubble. I think that when something drastic needs to be done, it just needs to be done and there is nothing that can be done about it. I don't have any experience in war, so I wouldn't know when something is acceptable and when something isn't.

After reading the book, I can relate this to Ender beating up Stilson. Ender was trying to figure out how to keep the gang from giving him revenge the next day. “Ender knew the unspoken rules of manly warfare, even though he was only six. It was forbidden to strike the opponent who lay helpless on the ground; only an animal would do that,” (7) From this, I can see that to Ender, there are certain rules in war. The rule mentioned about not striking the opponent who lay on the ground seems reasonable and I can understand why that would be a good thing to go by. An action that Ender made for his battles in battle school that was drastic was making five toons instead of four (175). I didn’t know about unspoken rules in war before reading the book, but know that I know, I will give this theme a two.

Teenagers need discipline and rules because they can't control themselves.

Before reading the book, I said: I agree that teenagers need discipline and rules, but I don't agree that all teenagers can't control themselves and that is why. Rules are there for organization and so that things stay in order, but without rules, there are many teenagers who would do just fine without strict discipline. Because of my agreeing to the first part of the statement, but not the second, I chose the second bubble.

In “Ender’s Game,” some of the teenagers I think of are Valentine, Peter, and Bonzo in their later years. Valentine was an organized character who would do just fine without rules because she made the right decisions. This was demonstrated when Valentine said, “Ender, you wouldn’t be happy spending the rest of your life as Peter’s pawn,” (312). She was being responsible and trying to help her brother without needing to be guided to do so. Peter turned out to be a very smart, clever boy and practically ruled the world by fourteen. He had no boundaries while doing that and started his plan before he even was a teenager. This demonstrates that when teenagers don’t have discipline, they can do crazy things like be the leader of the world. Peter was not only in control over himself, but many other people. Bonzo, who was a strong boy, made bad choices like trying to beat up a younger child (211, 212). Without rules, he could very easily do damage and make bad decisions. Even with rules, he didn’t listen to what his conscience may have been telling him. These three examples are all different and shows that some teenagers do need discipline because they can’t control themselves, but it always depends on the person. I will give this statement a three because it can go both ways and I can’t decide whether I agree or not.

Only through personal sacrifice can someone create positive change.

When I answered this statement before reading “Ender’s Game,” I answered the statement with the third bubble. I reasoned: Though there can be sacrifices made, there doesn't have to be. Positive change can be as big as starting an organization which will often take some sacrifice, but can also be as little as sitting with someone new for lunch which wouldn't usually take sacrifice. Since it may or may not take sacrifice, I chose the middle one meaning I agree and disagree.

A positive change made in the book could be the time when Peter made a treaty preventing the war. Valentine told Ender, “That was his breakthrough. He proposed it through his friends from the public policy nets, and then Demosthenes got behind it, too. It was the moment he had been waiting for, to use Demosthenes’ influence with the mob and Locke’s influence with the intelligentsia to accomplish something noteworthy. It forestalled a really vicious war that could have lasted for decades,” (311). This plan accomplished by Peter demonstrated hard work and he sacrificed Locke and Demosthenes’ characters he made. Fortunately for Peter, he knew this would happen and that is why he made the disguises for him and his sister. Another time sacrifice was made was when Mazer Rackham lied to Ender about his final test to get out of his training and fight actually being the bugger’s invasion (296, 297). Mazar sacrificed the trust Ender had for him, but did it for what he thought was a positive change. Now that I think about it, almost all changes involve a little sacrifice. Even when the change is little, some sacrifice is usually made. I will give the theme a four.

Generating compassion for your enemies is the only way to create peace.

For this statement, I chose the fourth bubble when I still hadn’t read the book because I mostly agree with this statement. When someone wants to fix a problem or fight, they must communicate with the enemy in a calm way and sometimes, the only way to do that is to surrender to the enemy and be mature about forgiving them. In certain cases, the problem can be fixed in other ways that aren't as nice like finding a way to get rid of them. I think that creating peace would be the best way, or at least pretending to create peace.

After reading “Ender’s Game,” an example of a time when someone had to generate compassion for their enemy was when the queen bugger communicated with Ender and let him know that she forgave him (321). This created peace between the two species. Another time someone had to generate compassion for their enemy was when Ender played a game with Bernard (61). This wasn’t necessarily compassion, but he took a step in the direction of friendship and was civil to Bernard. With enough time, it can turn into compassion. I think that it is very hard to be nice to someone that I don’t like, but it is definitely the better thing to do. When Ender played with Bernard, he didn’t automatically become best friends with him, but they didn’t fight and that’s a start. I think the bugger queen was very forgiving which special people can be too, but I know I could improve on my tolerance skills. I will give this statement a four again, because I agree that being kind or at least patient and not rude will guide any relationship in the right direction.

Answer to Ender's Game Questions Chapters 12-15

Chapter 12-Bonzo:
1) When Bonzo and the other boys first came into the bathroom, Ender provoked Bonzo by talking about how his father would be proud of him. Ender said things such as, "Your father would be proud of you," and "...he would say, oh, what honor."  After that, Dink came in and talked about how if he touched Ender he was a "buggerlover." Bonzo reacted to Ender talking about his father by making himself "even" with Ender and taking his clothes off. After Dink talked about Ender being what the world needed, Bonzo smiled and built up even more hatred towards Ender. 

2) Stilson was a boy in Ender's class before he went to battle school and when he still had his monitor as a six year-old. Stilson was a bully to Ender and teased him for being a third child. When Bonzo attacked Ender in the shower, he thought of Stilson because if Ender was going to beat Bonzo, he had to be quick about it. That made him think of the time when he had to be quick about beating Stilson and fighting back when he was ganged up on.

3) Ender still expects help from the teachers because he knew that they valued him and if something actually were to happen to him, the whole world would be in trouble. He knew that they would always wait to see if anything bad would happen, but if it got out of hand, he would be okay. 

4) Yes I did know that Stilson and Bonzo died. I know because when Major Imbu and a Colonel were talking at the end of the chapter, Major Imbu said, "It wasn't murder, Colonel. We have it on video from two angles. No one can blame Ender," in response to the Colonel saying, "How is murder better, Major Imbu?" Later in their conversation, Major Imbu said, "They didn't tell him about Stilson, either."

5) I believe that it was justified of Ender to defend himself when someone bigger and stronger could hurt him very badly and not hold back, but I don't think that Ender had to go so far as killing Stilson and Bonzo. They didn't tell him about the deaths because they knew he would be completely broken by it and knew that he wouldn't want to kill the buggers after already killing people. He would have given up and maybe even killed himself because of how much he hates the thought of hurting people. 

Chapter 13-Valentine:
1) The quote, "Perhaps it is impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be," means that when someone disguises them self and pretends to be someone who they are not, even be around people they aren't like, they begin to act like the person they were with so often or were pretending to be. An example of this is how Valentine pretended to be Demosthenes so much, that she began to think like him after writing her columns. 

2) To me, it isn't a natural "good" instinct for humans to be killers. I think that it's a horrible thing to kill someone or something. Even if it is in self-defense, I think that life would just be better if nobody killed anything like cows for meat, plants for fun and especially people. Though it sometimes needs to be done, I think killing is horrible no matter what the reason.

3) On the raft, Valentine did what Graff had asked her to do and convince Ender that he was the only one in the world that could defeat the buggers, whether he wanted to or not. They talked about how Peter was the one who actually want to rule the world and have his name known, but Ender was the one who had to win the next invasion because all of the world depended on it. Valentine loves both Peter and Ender, with Peter wanting to be famous, and Ender who has to become famous and defeat the buggers. This topic was discussed when valentine said, "Two faces of the same coin. And I am the metal in between." Then Ender replied, "The trouble with coins is, when one face is up, the other is down." Beside that, the two talked about the nets, being Wiggen children, and Demosthenes. 

4) Since Valentine hadn't seen Ender in such a long time, she only remembered him as a small little boy. Because of Ender being gone, Valentine turned to Peter to be with who, though she hated him, understood him. Now, Valentine was realizing that her and Peter may be more similar than she thought, and that maybe her thoughts were coming from jealousy. A memory was mentioned in the book about Valentine, Peter, and Ender playing with blocks, and Peter always taking a block out to make it fragile enough for the next person who took a block out to knock the tower down. This shows how Peter was annoying to her, but brought focus to their childhoods.Peter always understood Valentine and knew so much about her, but she never got embarrassed when he guessed her worst thoughts. Valentine felt the opposite about Ender though, and didn't want him to know what she was thinking because she would get embarrassed. 

5) Ender asked why the humans were fighting the buggers, and Graff said there are many possible answers such as the buggers colonizing, because they don't like having other intelligent life in the universe, because they don't think humans are intelligent life, because they thought humans were violent, and because of their religions. Graff thinks it is because there is no way for the humans and the buggers to communicate with each other so there isn't any way to know for sure if the other species wants to kill them or whatever they might have to say. He said that no one knows the real reason why the humans are fighting the buggers, but there is one sure thing: there will be a war and either the buggers or the humans have to and will die. 

Chapter 14-Ender's Teacher:
1) Ender hated Eros because the floors noticeably sloped downward and Ender was used to the floors curling up at battle school. He had gotten used to flat ground on Earth, but Eros was the opposite of what he was used to. Also, the gravity was only half of Earth's and the proportion of the rooms were uncomfortable to him. What bothered Ender most was that he was constantly surrounded by strangers. Ender figured out that Colonel Graff and the others were trying to isolate him by not letting him make any friends or even have the chance to.

2) Mazer Rackham was in Ender's room one morning and told him that Ender hasn't had any teachers before because, as he stated, "There is no teacher but the enemy." Mazar told Ender that he will be Ender's enemy from now on and will be his teacher.

3) Mazer had been dishonest with Ender because he knew that Ender couldn't do it if he knew what he was doing. Graff explained, "...but someone with that much compassion could never be the killer we needed..."It had to be Ender to defeat the Buggers because he understood them so well, and Mazer couldn't have done it because he was too old. I don't think Ender could have done it because he didn't want to kill the buggers and has too much of a heart to do such a thing like killing off an entire species.

4) I think that they did push the children too far. They were too young and didn't even get to be treated like children for more than four or five years of their life. It is a huge responsibility to fight in a war and the commanders should have waited until they were older. I do think it was worth pushing them though, because they beat the buggers and saved life on earth. The down side is that the kids who fought in the war will have to live with it the rest of their lives.

5) I think in the case that if the humans didn't destroy the buggers then the buggers would have killed them, it is justified to fight back, but if the humans were fighting the buggers just to be the only intelligent life in the universe, it wouldn't be justified. Yes, it was inevitable for the buggers to fight the humans because the ships were already going for either thirty, twenty, or seventy years and there had to be a third invasion to finish the war.

Chapter 15-Speaker for the Dead:
1) When Valentine said, "Nobody controls his own life, Ender. The best you can do is choose to fill the roles given to you by good people, by people who love you," I agreed with her statement, but I think that since Ender had been through so much and done so much of what people asked of him, he should get a break and be able to do what he wanted. 

2) Ender knew that he had killed many living beings including the buggers, Stilson, and Bonzo. He felt that he had done many crimes, and killing Bonzo and Stilson wasn't any worse or less of a crime than the others. 

3) Valentine didn't want Ender to go back to Earth because Peter wanted him there under the protection of the Hegemon's Council. I understood when Valentine said, "The way things are right now, Ender, that would put you effectively under Peter's control, since half the council now does just as Peter wants. The ones that aren't Locke's lapdogs are under his thumb in other ways." After discussing that Peter wanted to publicly reveal videos and look mature compared to Ender, he asked why Valentine stopped him and she replied, "Ender, you wouldn't be happy spending the rest of your life as Peter's Pawn.

4) Valentine's statement about Peter saving millions of lives was ironic because while Peter saved millions of lives, Ender was forced to kill millions during the Bugger war. 

5) When Ender was in the end of the world section in his game on the bugger planet, he found the queen's egg and whenever he closed his eyes he could see what she was telling him. From her he found out that she forgave him for destroying the buggers and she was where he got his information from. In the book, Ender thought to himself, "...How can I see these things, like memories in my own mind."

6) He signed his book "Speaker for the Dead" instead of Ender Wiggen because he was already so famous and would be known even more from his book. He didn't want to be known for killing the buggers and then becoming close to one.

Orson Scott Card's Anti-Gay Views Response

In the book, Ender's Game, the actions made by some boys honestly seemed romantic, like the time when Alai kissed Ender on the cheek. I was completely shocked when I found out that Orson Scott Card is against gay marriage because his book made me assume the opposite. It was said that Orson Scott Card stated, “Marriage has only one definition, and any government that attempts to change it is my mortal enemy. I will act to destroy that government and bring it down." Before I knew this fact about Card, I really enjoyed the book and knew that it was quality work. Just because it changes the type of person I thought Card was, it doesn't change the art he has created or the fact that I like the book. I can help but feel a little bad about being a fan of Ender's Game and not the author behind the work, but I don't agree with Orson Scott Card and feel like he used his fame and publicity in the wrong way. His book will always be good to me, and I think it would be best if he did not go to the comic-con to answer questions in case the topic of gay marriage was brought up. Though I don't think Orson Scott Card deserves more money and fame, the book he wrote was a good book and shouldn't be influenced by the author in a bad way during the making of the movie. I don't think the movie should be boycotted because it is the art that the director and cast are trying to base the movie off of, not Orson Scott Card. I also don't think Mr.Vack should remove the book from his reading curriculum for the same reason that we only want to read a good book, not the author and his opinions.  Since art is the way people express themselves, I don't think Card could have written this book without believing at least some of what he wrote. It was said that Card is Mormon and is just trying to cover up his true feelings by making it seem like he is very anti-gay. I think this could very well be true because of how much he is making people believe that he is anti-gay. I hope the movie can be a success because the story is interesting and should be shared, but I hope that Orson Scott Card doesn't get in the way of things. I disagree with Card's opinion about gay marriage and believe that anyone should be able to love who they love and not be discriminated because of it. I do, however, like the book Card wrote and I think that true art should be judged by the work, not the person behind it.