Locke and Demosthenes

John Locke is widely known as the father of Liberalism for he was one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers of his period. Locke was well known for his theory of the mind being that the mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa and that knowledge is determined through experience and perception. John Locke's political theory was founded upon the social contract and he believed that human nature was characterised through reason and tolerance and in the natural state all people are equal in life, liberty, health and possessions.

In the book

John Locke in the novel is characterised as being more reserved and less radical compared to Demosthenes  being "moderate, empathic strategies" Locke argues for open nets to allow International free flow of information and to unify the world under one government.

Demosthenes was an ancient Greek philosopher he spent most the prime of his life opposing the Macedon's views expansion. Demosthenes sought the to restore Athens' supremacy and motivate allies angainst Philip II of Macedon. He sought to preserve the city's freedom and to establish an alliance against the Macedon. Demosthenes played a leading part in the uprising against the King of Macedon and establishing the new King Alexander the Great

In the novel the fictional character Demosthenes was characterised as being anti-russian through fearing the Russians invading and worked through fear. This compares to the real life examples of Demosthenes as in fearing Russians and the encouragement of removing the Warsaw pact. Demosthenes calls for war against the warsaw pact to remove the countries involved. 

Monday 30/5: Technological Advance

Do you think that the story presents technological advance as being positive or negative?

Ender's game presents the technological advancements as being negative because with the advancement of technology so does the responsibility and the possibility increases. Advanced technology is introduced in Ender's game as being the monitor this device is described is representative of the power the government has over the people. Ender had a monitor device on his skull which was able to document and record his actions, emotions and all external stimulus. This shows the role of technology being abused to the point where the government is able to judge a person through their thoughts and emotions and the increase of power caused through technology which enabled the government to control the lives of the people. The motif of abused technology for weaponry and the advancement of the human race through war and destruction this is shown in the use of the Ansible a device that enables faster than light communication that was used to give orders to star ships to ultimately lead to the destruction of the bugger race. This device which had no was alluded to have no device to attack or destroy the buggers which was juxtaposed to the rest of the technology that Ender learnt to use but was ultimately used to for military uses. This is due to the alluded human nature of violence and death this is shown with the constant fights involving Ender who is the protagonist and the reader sees Ender as the model character throughout the book.

What part do humans play in this advancement?


Humans are the bystanders looking on as the advancements of technology take place, humans create the technology and reap the rewards from technology but what the technology is used for may be drastic to other humans. The Ansible was created to be a form of faster than light communication which did not have a direct military uses but it is used to cause a desired effect of killing all the buggers. Humans use and create technology to further their own means. Humans do not control technology but create the start of technology. Humans command the start and reap the rewards of the technology they control the beginning but the people who create the technology control the outcome.

What person is the narrative told in?
omnipotent 3rd person
What is a 'Third'?
The Third child in a family this is regarded as unwanted due to alluded population issues
What game does Peter want to play with Ender?
Buggers and Astronauts
What are two reasons why Ender doesn't want to go to battle school?
Ender loves Valentine and is afraid what Peter might do without Ender to protect Valentine
Ender does not want to leave his family and parents
What type of irony is used when the audience knows more than the characters?
Dramatic irony
How does Graff treat Ender when he first gets to battle school?
Graff treats Ender harshly to train him to his full potential
Who is Ender's room leader at battle school?

BernardWhat happens when Ender goes to the games room for the first time?
He beats an older boy at one of the games
Who is Bernard and what is Ender's relationship to him?
Bernard is one of Ender's first friends but Ender uses him to make himself more liked in his room
What role is Alai voted in to? What role does he now play for the group?
Alai is voted to be a leader in the group and now leads the LaunchiesWhat mistake does Ender make immediately upon joining Salamander Army?
Ender makes the mistake of drawing attention to himselfWhat happens to Ender in the battle against Condor that gets him recognition?

He disobeys orders and is able to make a loss into a draw

Ender's Charactisation chapter 1+2

"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" this quote alludes to the importance of Ender and in "or at least as close as we're going to get" states the disparity and increases the importance of Ender.

"Ender nodded. It was a lie, of course, that it wouldn't hurt a bit. But since adults always said it when it was going to hurt ... Some times lies were more dependable than the truth." this shows that Ender has a higher understanding of other characters and that he can understand them. This shows a higher intelligence through the way he interacts with other characters in the plot.

"Peter won't hate me any more. I'll come home and show him that the monitor's gone, and he'll see that I didn't make it either" this quote shows Ender's compassion towards Peter even though he still according to Ender hates him because he is jealous of the monitor

"The sister is our weak link. He really loves her" this quote emphasises Ender's compassion and personality towards certain characters (in this quote Valentine).

"'Tell me why you kept on kicking him. You had already won'
'Knocking him down won the first fight. I wanted to win the next ones, too.So thy'd leave me alone.'" this quote emphasises Ender's calculating qualities through the reasoning of his actions.

Wed 25/5: Characterisation

What are the important elements of characterisation?
The important elements of characterisation consist of  description of the character's personality and also a description of the characters appearance which may give an allusion to a characters role in the plot and whether or not they may be an antagonist or protagonist or a background character. Often characters that are described as being rough, dirty and conniving are often portrayed as the antagonist as they exhibit unwanted features. Dialogue defines a character by the way the character is presented and how these different characters react to each other. Thoughts of the characters give an inside and in-depth understanding of the character's personality and their thoughts. The names of characters can often allude to their behaviour and what role that they play in the plot and novel.
Why is characterisation important?
Characterisation is one of the main cornerstones of the novel characters participate in the plot and give the plot more reality. Characterisation keeps the readers interest as characters are often described to be as realistic as possible to and to give an emotional reaction to the character.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4  Launch

1. (27) How do the updates from the soldiers at the start of the chapter represent dramatic irony?

The updates from the soldiers at the start of the chapter represents dramatic irony as these are soldiers who a instructing civilian children.

1. (28) How do we know that this society is capitalistic?

There are large companies that run the world and there there are still very strong class divisions. The fact that Graff asks for raise and the ideology of capitalism is to work hard and to earn more money and thus by Graff working hard he has a justified mean to gain a raise for his hard work.

1. (29) Is there censorship? If so, how do you know?

Ender ponders whether or not to run up to the camera and say "I love you Valentine" but discards the idea due to the fact that it most likely will be censored out. This gives a sense of the power of the government and the control that it has

1. (31) What does Ender do while Graff is speaking to the boys? How does he react to Ender? Why does he react this way?

Ender laughs at the idea of viewing gravity differently and Graff does not discourage Ender but applaud his lateral thinking. Graff acts this way towards Enders actions to outcast him by saying that he and he alone has an advantage over the other boys and that he will most likely be the only one to be succeed.

1. (35) How does Graff view humans?

Graff has a unique point of view on humans by seeing them as tools for the greater good of humanity and all the things that it represents.

1. (36) What does Graff say about ‘doing bad things’ as soldiers?

Graff says that "doing bad things" as soldiers that it is their job as long as they can justify the means and it has the positive outcome in this case it would be the saving the world from the buggers

1. What role has Ender been given for the survival of the human species?

Ender has been given the role of ultimate saviour in protecting the human race by being the last and only option to save humanity by controlling a fleet of space craft.

Monday 23/5: Effective Technique in Ender's Game

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.
2. Find at least two examples of this technique in different chapters.
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'.)

1. The author has used dialogue to create action, sense of movement and the personality of the characters, dialogue is used to give a greater insight in the characters thoughts and personality.

 

2. Page 7 "Oh, gonna fight me, huh? Gonna fight me, Thirdie?" Page 15 "Ender, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know how it feels, I'm sorry, I'm your brother, I love you."

3. The author uses dialogue to create a sense of action and description of the character's personality. In "Oh, gonna fight me, huh? Gonna fight me, Thirdie?" this section of dialogue describes the connotations of being a "third" and the fact that Ender is a third. The short dialogue and free flowing natural conversations to create realistic characters to reveal the character's personality, this is used in the section of text where after a fight with Peter, Peter walks up to Ender when he thinks he is asleep and says "Ender, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know how it feels, I'm sorry, I'm your brother, I love you." this gives a more compassionate and different side to the previously described character of Peter. Dialogue is used to create tension and action through short sentences and little to no description of the scene to add pace and keep the attention of the reader.

Chapter 2 and 3

Chapter 2  Peter

1. (9) Who are speaking at the beginning of the chapter again?
2. Colonel Graff 
3. From what these voices say what can we speculate the ‘monitor’ allowed these people to do with Ender?
4. The monitor allows these people to understand his feelings and his inner mind.
5. How do the soldiers react to Ender attacking the bully?
6. Their a juxtaposed views on Ender attacking the bully saying that "he was thorough. He didn't just beat him, he beat him deep." The other reacts with distaste and hatred saying that he could go insane.
7. What effect do the soldiers admit that they had on Ender’s brother Peter?
8. That they were the cause that began Peter's violent stage and that he believed that he had failed.
9. What voice do we switch into when the soldiers section of the text is through?
10. (10) What is Ender’s sister’s name and what is implied by her name?
11. Valentine this suggests a peaceful nature with after the Saint Valentine or Valentines day
12. What are the two sides of Peter?
13. The two sides described by Ender is the nice side of Peter who is shown to their parents and the dangerous that he only shows Peter and Valentine
14. (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?
15. That there was a great war against aliens called Buggers and that it has been propaganda placed on the humans winning
16. (13) What informatioin does Valentine have that she uses to keep Peter under control?
17. (15) Who tells the Enders to have 3 children? What does this tell us about the power of the government?
18. The government told his parents to have 3 children this describes the government power in able to control the lives of all the citizens that they control with absolute power
19. What does Ender do at the end of the chapter? What emotional state is he in? Why?
20. Ender is confused about the events of his brother and what did he actually mean because he has conflicted ideas on emotionally stable he is.

Chapter 3  Graff

1. (19) What does Ender get chosen for in the end? Why does he get picked?
2. Ender gets chosen for battle school because of the reason why he attacked the bully the way he did because he wanted to win all the fights after that.
3. What reservations does Ender have?
4. He was worried about Valentine and what would happen to his family but more about what will Peter do.
5. (22) What does the soldier say about religion and large families? So is this a religious or secular society? Why?
6. Religion is frowned upon and large families because of population issues
7. What does ‘Third’ mean? Why is this such a big deal?
8. Third is a derogatory term as large families are seen upon as wasteful and are hated upon.
9. (22) What do we learn about the ‘society’ what countries on earth make it up?
10. 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?

Ender's Game Settings

Earth: New and different government and in the constant fear of attack from the buggers new and futuristic technology in computers, AI and schools. Children have to have monitors implanted in their heads.
Lake (North Carolina):

Battle school: Orbits Earth with artificial gravity that can be switched on and off. It is located in space.

School: Different in the ways schools treat students more technology more involved in teaching the students with their computer 'desks'

Colonised Planet: On a different planet with different galaxy, gravity and past life forms (buggers and other animals)

Eros (command school): Located still in the Sol galaxy but was previously occupied by another race contains different technology with artificial gravity.

Sci fi

The low thrum of hundreds of engines overhead covering the smog filled sky with cars darting through penetrating the smog. Our car was like all the others sleek for aerodynamics with one large engine in the back all the cars now are exactly the same, same design, same layout everything was the same ever since the government started standardising everything. With a push of a button the car started with a low but unmistakable thrum the computer navigation immediately started and took control of the car. Nobody knows how to drive these scientific innovations people were considered too slow to react and not efficient enough but the truth was human beings are slowly getting phased out. Our car joined hundreds of other darting between buildings avoiding each other. Nowadays the skies were no longer a haven of solitude but a hive of activity with the cars flying around each other narrowly avoiding each other. I looked beside me school bag and MTSC (micro touch screen computer) all I would need for a day at school. The school was a large building with large openings to allow cars to dock and leave the students for the day or longer depending on what the parents had chosen. The building was sleek with a modern design with glass on every surface small gardens inside giving a sense of nature which all of us knew didn't exist anywhere because every where has buildings nowhere was natural. The navigation decided the best place to dock and slowly glided down towards the opening it stopped and I left the car towards my first class.

Science Fiction Conventions

            Conventions (200 words)

Explain in detail the conventions of the science fiction genre. The conventions should also include those frequently borrowed from other genres ie the heroic journey, horror, etc.

Science fiction conventions include the constant use of creating a world that is more futuristic or different from our current world. Science fiction like fantasy fiction creates a new world out of imagination but in science fiction this new world often has futuristic technology. The setting for the novels that are under the genre of science fiction often have common characteristics of having a setting in the future or in alternate timeline with aliens on other worlds or in space. Stories often involve technology of new and existing scientific principles e.g. time travel, nanotechnology, F-T-L travel etc. Common science fiction conventions are the use of using theorised technology in the plot, the discovery of aliens or new planets or Earth being in a change of political or social systems e.g. a disaster on a global scale. Science fiction has been divided into a number of sub-genres but most of the novels written in any of these sub-genres contains at least one of these common science fiction conventions.

Origins and Categories of Science Fiction

      Origins

Trace the development of the sci-fi genre. Explain where the genre came from. What did it grow from? Consider the role of other genres which had a direct or indirect influence on the development of sci-fi? Examples to consider include: westerns, horror, the heroes’ journey, other? (100words)

It is hard to pinpoint the exact origin of science fiction as the idea of science has changed though the ages. Science fiction began to emerge from fantasy fiction the first book to first emerge as a science fiction book by contemporary standards would be Frankenstein by Mary Shelley in 1818. Genres such as fantasy fiction and current scientific developments helped change and refine the science fiction genre that creates different settings and principles than other genres did. Scientific innovation and theories created new principles in science fiction e.g. time travel, space, aliens. Other ideas have been included in science fiction due the large imagination of individuals who constantly want to discover the allure of space and aliens.

      Categories (500 words)

Science fiction can be broken up into a number of sub-categories. Identify and explain the various sub-categories and the features which make each distinguishable. Give examples of texts you are familiar with which may represent these sub-categories.

Science fiction has been broken up into a number of sub-categories and many books often include a number of these characteristics in them. Time travel is a common science fiction theme in many science fiction novels, the plot in these novels can be complicated and difficult to understand due the erratic change of setting and mechanics the plot uses. Life, the Universe and Everything uses time travel to change the setting of the book and the plot to make the audience think differently about the first book in the series (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams) complicating the book as for the audience to question the previous events. Alternate history changes previous famous events of the world's history e.g. Germany won world war 2. books that include alternate history often choose pivoting moments in history. The alternate history sub-genre is often included with  time travel for more subtle changes in e.g. killing a small bug or moving an object. and for the rest of the novel the protagonist discovers the drastic changes this has inflicted upon the world. Sidewise in time by Harry Turtledove was one of the most famous books to include this sub-genre in the novel time is warping and manifesting itself in 1935 people from previous time periods are appearing at random intervals in 1935. The apocalyptic sub-genre focuses on the end of civilization and technology and the consequent anarchy after through a ecological disaster or by the hand of man itself. The novels including this sub-genre focus on the direct disaster, direct aftermath while post apocalyptic can deal with anything near the aftermath to hundreds to thousands of years in the future. Many famous movies and novels have been written about the destruction and aftermath of civilization such as 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy. In 'The Road' it is focused upon the post apocalyptic civilization 375 years from the direct disaster. Military Science fiction involves wars that often space over different planets where the primary view is through the soldier fighting or commanding troops often wars are between a large alien force with superior numbers and/or technology or against other humans in a civil war.