IRJ #11

IRJ #11

Finn Clark

3/12/13

The Wednesday Wars

Dear Abby,

My name is Holling Hoodhood and my problem is that my teacher and I have to be together every wednesday because on wednesdays my class breaks up because we go to different churches and since I am the only presbyterian I am left in the classroom with my teacher while everybody else heads off to their places. Last year there was 2 other presbyterian kids in my class so I wasn’t alone and now they both moved. I seriously think my teacher hates my guts though, she made me do extra work when I stay so I did it and the reason I have to behave is because my teacher’s family own Baker’s State Emporium and Hoodhood and Associates, my fathers company, wants to help them remodel the emporium while Kowalski and Associates are his rival company and also want to remodel the emporium and my friend Meryl Lee, her dad is the owner of Kowalski and Associates so it’s hard for us to be friends. My teacher is making me read Shakespeare in class now and her idea of boring me to death isn’t working. I like taking Shakespeare and forming to make curses of my own. Anyways is there anything you could help me with handling my teacher like any advice? If so that would be great.

Dear Holling Hoodhood,

You said something about you liking Shakespeare and I do have to say I enjoy his arts myself. My thoughts on what you should do is that maybe find something that you and your teacher have in common. Maybe that would be better and make it so that you two could become closer. To what you said about her hating your guts, she probably doesn’t, she just sees potential in you and wants to bring it out so she is making you do more work so just keep it up. The way you dad is making it so that you have to behave because he wants the emporium is in my opinion abuse of power. He should let you be yourself and I think that if Mrs. Baker wants to choose what company to remodel the emporium that whoevers child acts the best she will choose that person’s father’s company. I hope that I have been able to help you with your problems and feel free to write more letters if you need help with anything else. Thank you and write again.

Revisiting the Anticipation Guide

Revisiting Ender's Game Anticipation Guide

Finn

3/12/13

Lying is justifiable for the greater good

1.This is kind of true and kind of untrue because  if they hadn't lied to Ender he wouldn't have done what he did. I'm not saying that lying is good but sometimes it can be for the greater good. So I rated it a 3 and before I had rated it a 2.

2. Sometimes violence is the only way to solve a problem

I'm going to stay with what I said before which was a 3 because when Bonzo wanted to kill Ender with his group but ended up just fighting Bonzo, it's not like he could have talked that one out and if he did he would've been killed.

3. It's okay to kill someone in self-defense 

Still a 2 because even though Ender didn't mean to kill Bonzo and Stilson, they both were attacking him and he was not the instigator. That's what they were saying in the jury case about the murders of Bonzo and Stilson. It was self-defense but Ender didn't mean to kill them.

4. Words are stronger than fists

Depends on the situation, if you are a bully and shouting at someone then it's going to hurt them, not physically but emotionally. If you are in a fist fight and someone punches you and then you start shouting at them it really isn't going to help at all. So I rated it a 2 rather than a 3. An example for this is Locke and Demosthenes, they used the net to instigate a war between them and Russia. Now if they had gone in their with guns it would not have helped at all.

5. Bullies hurt others because they have low self esteem

Maybe they just want to be a jerk. Not because they have low self esteem. Maybe they have other issues, like problems they can't deal with. With Bonzo I am not sure if he had low self esteem but maybe he wanted to hurt Ender because he was much better than Bonzo. I rated this a 2 now and not a 4 for that reason.

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

Ender in my opinion wasn't the best and brightest student. Even though he was definitely going to become a nation leader. He can lead a small army, but what if you put him in front of a very large army? The best and brightest students may want to do something different than become a nations leader. So I rated it a 1 rather than a 3.

7. Revenge is never justified.

 I see what they mean by this and the buggers. The buggers and them had 2 wars and now it was time for Earth to have revenge even though they showed no sign of attacking them again, they felt that revenge was never justified so they attacked them. I rated this a 2 because they didn't out of spite that they could do it, not that they didn't want it to happen again.

8. Crying is evidence of weakness.

Same response as I had last time, it does not show you are weak it shows you have a personality and are human. So and am going to rate it a 1 just like last time.\

9. Any action is acceptable in war.

This is not true all the time. The way they tricked Ender into fighting the buggers without telling him was really messed up but it was an acceptable action in war because if they would've told him he would really be stressed out. So I rated it a 2 because not all actions are acceptable in war, only some. So it is the same rating as last time.

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

I am not too sure what an example of this would be besides the fact that Bonzo wasn't disciplined when he was obviously trying to hurt Ender in a very bad way. So maybe but not all the time, if we were disciplined and made to follow rules all the time we would go insane and try to break the system. It's freedom that keeps us alive. I rated this a 3 because I'm on the fence of no and yes. I rated this a 2 before.

11. Only through personal sacrifice can someone create positive change.

Ender's personal sacrifice was his family and when he went to command school, when he slept. He would dream of all the bad things he has done before and then wake up to do more battles. Not all sacrifice can create peace though so I'm rating it a 2 rather than a 1 like last time. 

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

I think that many people on Earth created compassion for the buggers and thought they could have peace, but when Ender finally generated compassion for the buggers, they were all dead except for the egg. So maybe generating compassion for your enemies could be the only way to create peace. Or maybe it isn't the only way to create peace but any way I rated this a 4 rather than a 2.