Ender's Game Chapters 13-End

Overall, Ender's Game is one of the best books I have ever read! I really enjoyed reading it! It was a very unpredictable book and always kept me interested.

Ender's Game shows many characteristics of science fiction. The idea of the schools in space and being able to access other planets freely are science fiction. Also, inhabiting one of those new planets and all the technology used throughout the book seems as though one day it may be possible, but not any time soon. Along with the big science fiction characteristics, there is a lot of xenophobia. Because of the fear of aliens, the three invasions occurred. Throughout the entire book, they would refer to the "buggers" with hateful names and would always have intent to destroy them.

This book really wrapped the ideas of science fiction, xenophobia, and a great story all into one book. The writing was really fun and smooth, the ideas were interesting and engaging, and the story line was exciting and surprising. Ender's Game was a real page turner, and I loved reading it! 

Ender's Game Chapter 10-12

The book continues to keep me interested as I continue my reading. Some main events that happened in this section of reading are: Ender was assigned his own army, the Dragon Army. The Dragon Army rises out of nowhere and begins to beat all the other armies even when they are given a very heavy battle schedule and put into unfair scenarios. Ender begins to be disliked by many commanders, especially Bonzo, and ends up getting in a fight where he kills him. Ender is promoted to Command School.

During this section of reading, the theme of xenophobia is not as prominent as it has been in previous readings, but the fear of the buggers is still the most important factor of xenophobia in the text.

A few questions I have after reading this section are: Why did the teachers think it was a good idea to put the Dragon army through such a rough schedule? Why was Ender given the weakest soldiers for his army? Why did they want to bring the underdog Dragon army back to the school? What is going on behind the scenes with the teachers, what kind of plans are they coming up with?

So far, I am still enjoying the book very much and find that it is a major page-turner. I can't wait to finish it up!

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street and Muse

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street and Muse and great examples of science fiction. Both stories include aliens from different planets and technologies that are not yet discovered by humans today. In Monsters, they had a space saucer and a pad that controlled all the electricity on Maple Street. In Muse they had other technologies used to transport them around.

Both stories show a lot of Xenophobia. In The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, the people who live on the street start experiencing weird things with their electricity. Then, a small boy mentions a story about aliens manipulating people like they do in the story. Because of this and an overpowering sense of xenophobia, the entire street turns on itself. The neighbors begin interrogating the other neighbors and become so frightened by the thought that aliens are among they. In the end, they end up killing one of their own and are sent into a scrambling frenzy as the foreign aliens sit peacefully on top of a hill. In Muse, the xenophobia is shown by the people's fear of the space slugs, the Ickys. Despite the benefits of the slugs, when people are carrying them, they are just different. Because different is scary, the father of the musician relatiates and kills the slug in fear that it is taking control over his son.

Personally, I enjoyed both The Monsters are Due on Maple Street and Muse because both had pretty unpredictable endings and I really like the topic of xenophobia. However, I would have liked a little more background on the aliens presented in both stories. Despite that, both of the stories kept me interested until the end and were fun to watch and read.

Ender's Game Chaper 6-9

So the intensity of Ender's Game picks up in the last few chapters. As Ender is exposed to life as a solider in Battle School, his mindset and purpose at the school changed dramatically. He is put into armies and begins his battles, showing great skill and determination to win his games. I found it interesting being inside Ender's mind the entire time.

A few questions that I had while reading these chapters were: Why did commander Bonzo get mad at Ender when he prevented another team from winning a game? Are the buggers really a myth or a fantasy? What is the point of the game Ender plays on his desk with the giants and the playground? Why did Peter appear on Ender's screen in the game he was playing?

Through the book, the idea of xenophobia still lives on in the talk and fear of buggers and the open space around the school.

So far, I am still enjoying Ender's Game. It is becoming more fun to read with each turn of the page. I really like how as you read you are put into Ender's mind, then pulled out of it. It seems as though the book switches between 1st person and 3rd person very often. Even though it gets kind of confusing at times, it keeps me on the edge of my seat!

Puppet Show

The short story Puppet Show is a great example of science fiction because it includes aliens, robots and futuristic concepts. The talking burro is very alien, the original extraterrestrial and the human were both robots, and there was a lot of technology mentioned that is very futuristic. It follows our definition of science fiction because many  of the elements in the story are not a part of our society yet, but may be in the years to come.

Puppet Show has many examples of xenophobia. The first and most obvious example is the unknown creature that "visits" Earth to talk with the people. The citizen's reactions to this creature was a good example of showing a slight fear of unknown beings, even though they say that it was a very minor form of xenophobia. The second big example of xenophobia was that the human who seemed to be controlling the alien was also a puppet, and was being controlled by the burro, who could talk. A talking burro is very alien to humans, so it makes me wonder how the humans would have reacted if the story continued after the burro revealed himself as the puppet master.

I enjoyed Puppet Show by Fredric Brown. I thought it was a very imaginative and suprising story. Despite the title, I will admit that I never saw it coming when the alien dropped down. On top of that, I would have never predicted the human to drop down as well... And be controlled by a talking burro! I liked the story because it was unpredictable and really made me think.

Ender's Game Chapters 1-5

Ender's Game is a very interesting novel that is a great example of science fiction. A few things that show that it is science fiction is the implication that it takes place in the future, their advanced technologies and their ways of life that do not seem realistic, at least for us in the 21st century.

So far, there are only a few small examples of xenophobia. They speak of "buggers" and how their interactions with them are violent and frightening. They talk about not knowing anything about these creatures as well. Along with a few small examples of xenophobia, there are many extrapolations. First of all, the children are taken to school by rocket and are learning in space. A few other extrapolations are their monitors, the guidelines on how many children each family should have, and eating through a needle.

As of chapter 5, I am enjoying Ender's Game very much. It is not a dull story, however it is fun and very easy to understand. It was hard for me to stop at Chapter 5!