page attachments/47/BMGEndersGame Nov09
Ender's Game By Orson Scott Card Dictation passages Week One: Opening Dialog “I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get.” “That's what you said about the brother.” “The brother tested out impossible. For other reasons. Nothing to do with his ability.” “Same with the sister. And there are doubts about him. He's too malleable. Too willing to submerge himself in someone else's will.” “Not if the other person is his enemy.” “So what do we do? Surround him with enemies all the time?” “If we have to.” “I thought you said you liked this kid.” “If the buggers get him, they'll make me look like his favorite uncle.” “All right. We're saving the world, after all. Take him.” (Chapter 1) Why I chose this passage: Opening sentences are always compelling, and I find this opening particularly intriguing as we have no idea who is speaking to whom regarding whom. It's an interesting exchange with a good deal of character development and certainly grabs our attention, doesn't it? What to note: One of the most difficult punctuation sequences to fully apply is that of dialog punctuation. Notice that periods and commas always belong inside closing quotation marks; colons and semi-colons always belong outside the closing quotation marks. Exclamation points and question marks may belong either inside or outside closing quotation marks, depending on the context of the sentence. There is a complete lack of signal phrases in this passage, so we have no idea who is speaking and who is replying. I also noticed a good number of contractions (don't = do not) in this
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 2
selection, so be sure that you alert your students to them as they practice copywork and before they do the passage as dictation. A good idea may be to use a highlighter to mark the contractions before your student uses the passage for copywork. How to teach the passage: Make sure that your students indent and start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes in a dialog. Some of the “sentences” in this passage are actually fragments; they lack one of the following: 1) a subject, 2) a verb, or 3) a complete thought. However, if we think about how we speak to family and friends, we realize that we often do not speak in complete and correct sentences, so the fragments above are quite typical of informal dialog. Help your challenged spellers with a few words: • listened • malleable • buggers • favorite
Week Two: Comma splices “I know, you've been here a yea r, you think these people are normal. Well, they're not. We're not. I look in the library, I call up books on my desk. Old ones, because they won't let us have anything new, but I've got a pretty good idea what children are, and we're not children. Children can lose sometimes, and nobody cares. Children aren't in armies, they aren't commanders, they don't rule over forty other kids, it's more than anybody can take and not get crazy. (Chapter 8) Why I chose this passage: I really liked the way that the author uses what we English teachers usually mark with our red pens – the comma splice – as a stylistic device to keep the flow of the passage moving forward smoothly. What to note: In correct English usage, we do not join two or more independent clauses with commas; instead, we 1) use semi-colons or 2) add a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, yet, so) after the comma, or 3) make two separate sentences. But in this passage, we see several sentences containing independent clauses joined by commas which grammarians refer to as a comma splice – a type of run-on sentence. We see these comma splices in the first sentence (a double comma splice with three independent clauses joined by commas), in the fourth sentence (“I look....”), and the final sentence is a triple comma splice. Why would the author write such “errors” into his story? Comma splices, with one sentence running into another with only a brief comma pause, make the sentences flow faster. It makes the speaker sound excited and shows us his underlying emotional state as the comma splices push ideas forward more quickly (even though comma splices drive English teachers out of their minds). ©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 3
Also notice the two words in italics: We're and commanders. When your students use this passage for copywork and for dictation, they should underline these words. Italics provide emphasis in these cases, and rather than trying to write the words all slanting, underlining is used for the same effect as italics in handwriting. How to teach the passage: Point out all of the contractions to your students; perhaps highlight them for your students before they start their copywork. This passage is also important in the context of the novel, in the characters' realizations of what they are being molded into. Week Three: Fragments “Two faces of the same coin. And I am the metal in between.” Even as she said it, she wondered if it was true. She had shared so much with Peter these last few years that even when she thought she despised him, she understood him. While Ender had only been a memory till now. A very small, fragile boy who needed her protection. Not this cold-eyed, dark-skinned, manling who kills wasps with his fingers. Maybe he and Peter and I are all the same, and have been all along. Maybe we only thought we were different from each other out of jealousy. (Chapter 13) Why I chose this passage: I liked the way the author used another nonstandard method of writing to reveal his character's underlying thought process and emotional state. What to note: Just as the author uses comma splices to hurry along the words of the characters in Week Two's passage, he employs fragments, or incomplete sentences, in this passage to slow the flow of the sentences and therefore show the underlying thoughtfulness of this character. Fragments are exactly what their name implies: they are incomplete or partial sentences missing 1) a subject or 2) a verb or 3) lacking a complete thought. In this passage we see fragments in the first sentence and the fifth sentence (While Ender....) as well as in the sixth (A very small....) and seventh (Not this cold....) sentences. How to teach the passage: Look at the brilliant use of action verbs in this passage: wondered, shared, thought, despised, understood, needed, kills, thought. Some really wonderful adjectives are sprinkled throughout this paragraph, especially the ones that are joined with a hyphen into one word: “cold-eyed, darkskinned.” Point these hyphenated words out to your students for a little extra practice.
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 4
Week Four: Closing “Come on,” he said to Valentine one day. “Let's fly away and live forever.” “We can't,” she said. “There are miracles even relativity can't pull off, Ender.” “We have to go. I'm almost happy here.” “So stay.” “I've lived too long with pain. I won't know who I am without it.” So they boarded a starship and went from world to world. Wherever they stopped, he was always Andrew Wiggin, itinerant speaker for the dead, and she was always Valentine, historian errant, writing down the stories of the living while Ender spoke the stories of the dead. And always Ender carried with him a dry white cocoon, looking for the world where the hive-queen could awaken and thrive in peace. He looked a long time. (Chapter 15) Why I chose this passage: The final sentences in a novel are usually as memorable as the opening ones, and this passage is especially poignant and revealing. What to note: Continue to work on dialog punctuation with this passage, especially on commas and periods belonging inside the quotation marks. In this final passage are two appositives, a renaming of a person; in the phrase, “Andrew Wiggin, itinerant speaker for the dead,” the name “Andrew Wiggin” is renamed by the appositive phrase “itinerant speaker for the dead.” The second appositive phrase is seen immediately following the first: “Valentine, historian errant” in which the appositive phrase “historian errant” renames Valentine. Appositive phrases are both preceded and followed by commas. How to teach this passage: There is a wonderful assortment of vocabulary/spelling words in this closing passage. Help your students look up any words they are not familiar with and work on spelling them: • Valentine • relativity • itinerant • errant • cocoon • hive-queen Think Piece Questions The following questions are designed to offer you ways to think about Ender's Game. Each month on the Brave Writer website, Boomerang Complete students will also be able to post their answers and to discuss their interpretation of the book with other students. Whether or not you participate on the forums, use these questions as a jumping off place to help you delve more deeply into the story. Perhaps take one question per week during your Friday freewrite time to attempt to answer the questions. The finished product need not be perfectly refined. The objective of this writing is to stimulate reflection and to help you give language to
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 5
your thoughts. If you find it daunting to write about these topics at first, use them for conversation starters with your parents or a sibling who has read the books. Go out for shakes and talk about the novel in these terms. As you get comfortable talking through a book, eventually try answering one of the questions in writing. 1. At the beginning of the novel, when Ender Wiggin is getting a shot and is told it won’t hurt much, he observes that “Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth.” What does he mean? What do you think about that observation? What does that statement tell us about Ender himself? 2. Ender is a Third. What does that mean? How does it impact his life in school and with his family? What does the fact that there are Thirds tell us about the society he lives in? 3. You probably noticed that this book is printed in two different fonts. The font that opens almost every chapter is usually in the form of a dialogue between two unidentified speakers, most of whom you will be able to figure out as the book continues. Tell about a couple of the speakers. What is their role in the novel? What is the purpose of the comments in those sections? What is the point of view of the rest of the novel? 4. What is the setting of this book? What devices make it science fiction? How do you like the use of technology: the monitor inside Ender, the computer systems, the Battle School, the Giant’s Drink, the simulator, and more? Amazingly enough, Orson Scott Card wrote this book in 1977, before the internet and before the influx of computer games. What do you think was the most intriguing or innovative use of technology? 5. When we read we interact with a story. Hopefully, the story raises thoughts and questions in our minds. What is a question or insight you had as you read Ender’s Game? What conclusions did you come to? 6. What does this book have to say about leadership? Pick a few of these questions to consider and include in your answer: What kind of a leader is Ender? How does he lead? How does he deal with conflict? How does he train his Dragon Army? How does he differ from other commanders? What strategies does he adopt from his old commanders? What or who else does he learn from? What is a mistake that Ender makes? How does he respond to his error? Does Ender have friends? 7. While Ender is at Battle School, his siblings Peter and Valentine gain power on the nets. They go by the user names of Demosthenes and Locke. Who were the real historical people Demosthenes and Locke? What is the irony of the identity each child assumed? What did Valentine and Peter accomplish? What did they learn about power? Which one was right about what would happen on earth after the war? What did happen? 8. Were you surprised by something that happened in the novel? Tell about it. 9. It's not often that a writer will provide such a long epilogue with new events at the end of a novel, but we get that in Ender’s Game. What are the significant developments in the last chapter? Do you think the buggers were really the enemies of Earth or not?
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 6
Golden Lines Each month, select one favorite passage from the book to keep in a notebook of golden lines. You might want to pick two this month (one from each story). You’ll pick a passage, copy it into a notebook and then write the date you picked it and the location in the book (which chapter and page number). Then jot down a sentence or two about why the passage is meaningful to you. If you are in the Boomerang Complete, we’ll share our Golden Lines at the end of each month online.
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 2
selection, so be sure that you alert your students to them as they practice copywork and before they do the passage as dictation. A good idea may be to use a highlighter to mark the contractions before your student uses the passage for copywork. How to teach the passage: Make sure that your students indent and start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes in a dialog. Some of the “sentences” in this passage are actually fragments; they lack one of the following: 1) a subject, 2) a verb, or 3) a complete thought. However, if we think about how we speak to family and friends, we realize that we often do not speak in complete and correct sentences, so the fragments above are quite typical of informal dialog. Help your challenged spellers with a few words: • listened • malleable • buggers • favorite
Week Two: Comma splices “I know, you've been here a yea r, you think these people are normal. Well, they're not. We're not. I look in the library, I call up books on my desk. Old ones, because they won't let us have anything new, but I've got a pretty good idea what children are, and we're not children. Children can lose sometimes, and nobody cares. Children aren't in armies, they aren't commanders, they don't rule over forty other kids, it's more than anybody can take and not get crazy. (Chapter 8) Why I chose this passage: I really liked the way that the author uses what we English teachers usually mark with our red pens – the comma splice – as a stylistic device to keep the flow of the passage moving forward smoothly. What to note: In correct English usage, we do not join two or more independent clauses with commas; instead, we 1) use semi-colons or 2) add a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, or, nor, yet, so) after the comma, or 3) make two separate sentences. But in this passage, we see several sentences containing independent clauses joined by commas which grammarians refer to as a comma splice – a type of run-on sentence. We see these comma splices in the first sentence (a double comma splice with three independent clauses joined by commas), in the fourth sentence (“I look....”), and the final sentence is a triple comma splice. Why would the author write such “errors” into his story? Comma splices, with one sentence running into another with only a brief comma pause, make the sentences flow faster. It makes the speaker sound excited and shows us his underlying emotional state as the comma splices push ideas forward more quickly (even though comma splices drive English teachers out of their minds). ©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 3
Also notice the two words in italics: We're and commanders. When your students use this passage for copywork and for dictation, they should underline these words. Italics provide emphasis in these cases, and rather than trying to write the words all slanting, underlining is used for the same effect as italics in handwriting. How to teach the passage: Point out all of the contractions to your students; perhaps highlight them for your students before they start their copywork. This passage is also important in the context of the novel, in the characters' realizations of what they are being molded into. Week Three: Fragments “Two faces of the same coin. And I am the metal in between.” Even as she said it, she wondered if it was true. She had shared so much with Peter these last few years that even when she thought she despised him, she understood him. While Ender had only been a memory till now. A very small, fragile boy who needed her protection. Not this cold-eyed, dark-skinned, manling who kills wasps with his fingers. Maybe he and Peter and I are all the same, and have been all along. Maybe we only thought we were different from each other out of jealousy. (Chapter 13) Why I chose this passage: I liked the way the author used another nonstandard method of writing to reveal his character's underlying thought process and emotional state. What to note: Just as the author uses comma splices to hurry along the words of the characters in Week Two's passage, he employs fragments, or incomplete sentences, in this passage to slow the flow of the sentences and therefore show the underlying thoughtfulness of this character. Fragments are exactly what their name implies: they are incomplete or partial sentences missing 1) a subject or 2) a verb or 3) lacking a complete thought. In this passage we see fragments in the first sentence and the fifth sentence (While Ender....) as well as in the sixth (A very small....) and seventh (Not this cold....) sentences. How to teach the passage: Look at the brilliant use of action verbs in this passage: wondered, shared, thought, despised, understood, needed, kills, thought. Some really wonderful adjectives are sprinkled throughout this paragraph, especially the ones that are joined with a hyphen into one word: “cold-eyed, darkskinned.” Point these hyphenated words out to your students for a little extra practice.
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 4
Week Four: Closing “Come on,” he said to Valentine one day. “Let's fly away and live forever.” “We can't,” she said. “There are miracles even relativity can't pull off, Ender.” “We have to go. I'm almost happy here.” “So stay.” “I've lived too long with pain. I won't know who I am without it.” So they boarded a starship and went from world to world. Wherever they stopped, he was always Andrew Wiggin, itinerant speaker for the dead, and she was always Valentine, historian errant, writing down the stories of the living while Ender spoke the stories of the dead. And always Ender carried with him a dry white cocoon, looking for the world where the hive-queen could awaken and thrive in peace. He looked a long time. (Chapter 15) Why I chose this passage: The final sentences in a novel are usually as memorable as the opening ones, and this passage is especially poignant and revealing. What to note: Continue to work on dialog punctuation with this passage, especially on commas and periods belonging inside the quotation marks. In this final passage are two appositives, a renaming of a person; in the phrase, “Andrew Wiggin, itinerant speaker for the dead,” the name “Andrew Wiggin” is renamed by the appositive phrase “itinerant speaker for the dead.” The second appositive phrase is seen immediately following the first: “Valentine, historian errant” in which the appositive phrase “historian errant” renames Valentine. Appositive phrases are both preceded and followed by commas. How to teach this passage: There is a wonderful assortment of vocabulary/spelling words in this closing passage. Help your students look up any words they are not familiar with and work on spelling them: • Valentine • relativity • itinerant • errant • cocoon • hive-queen Think Piece Questions The following questions are designed to offer you ways to think about Ender's Game. Each month on the Brave Writer website, Boomerang Complete students will also be able to post their answers and to discuss their interpretation of the book with other students. Whether or not you participate on the forums, use these questions as a jumping off place to help you delve more deeply into the story. Perhaps take one question per week during your Friday freewrite time to attempt to answer the questions. The finished product need not be perfectly refined. The objective of this writing is to stimulate reflection and to help you give language to
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 5
your thoughts. If you find it daunting to write about these topics at first, use them for conversation starters with your parents or a sibling who has read the books. Go out for shakes and talk about the novel in these terms. As you get comfortable talking through a book, eventually try answering one of the questions in writing. 1. At the beginning of the novel, when Ender Wiggin is getting a shot and is told it won’t hurt much, he observes that “Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth.” What does he mean? What do you think about that observation? What does that statement tell us about Ender himself? 2. Ender is a Third. What does that mean? How does it impact his life in school and with his family? What does the fact that there are Thirds tell us about the society he lives in? 3. You probably noticed that this book is printed in two different fonts. The font that opens almost every chapter is usually in the form of a dialogue between two unidentified speakers, most of whom you will be able to figure out as the book continues. Tell about a couple of the speakers. What is their role in the novel? What is the purpose of the comments in those sections? What is the point of view of the rest of the novel? 4. What is the setting of this book? What devices make it science fiction? How do you like the use of technology: the monitor inside Ender, the computer systems, the Battle School, the Giant’s Drink, the simulator, and more? Amazingly enough, Orson Scott Card wrote this book in 1977, before the internet and before the influx of computer games. What do you think was the most intriguing or innovative use of technology? 5. When we read we interact with a story. Hopefully, the story raises thoughts and questions in our minds. What is a question or insight you had as you read Ender’s Game? What conclusions did you come to? 6. What does this book have to say about leadership? Pick a few of these questions to consider and include in your answer: What kind of a leader is Ender? How does he lead? How does he deal with conflict? How does he train his Dragon Army? How does he differ from other commanders? What strategies does he adopt from his old commanders? What or who else does he learn from? What is a mistake that Ender makes? How does he respond to his error? Does Ender have friends? 7. While Ender is at Battle School, his siblings Peter and Valentine gain power on the nets. They go by the user names of Demosthenes and Locke. Who were the real historical people Demosthenes and Locke? What is the irony of the identity each child assumed? What did Valentine and Peter accomplish? What did they learn about power? Which one was right about what would happen on earth after the war? What did happen? 8. Were you surprised by something that happened in the novel? Tell about it. 9. It's not often that a writer will provide such a long epilogue with new events at the end of a novel, but we get that in Ender’s Game. What are the significant developments in the last chapter? Do you think the buggers were really the enemies of Earth or not?
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
Ender’s Game - 6
Golden Lines Each month, select one favorite passage from the book to keep in a notebook of golden lines. You might want to pick two this month (one from each story). You’ll pick a passage, copy it into a notebook and then write the date you picked it and the location in the book (which chapter and page number). Then jot down a sentence or two about why the passage is meaningful to you. If you are in the Boomerang Complete, we’ll share our Golden Lines at the end of each month online.
©
Julie Bogart • 7723 Tylers Place Blvd., Suite 165 • West Cheste r, OH 45069 • (513) 307-1405
