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Pre-AP English 1-2
Summer Work Assignment for 2014-2015
Enochs High School
Mr. Hayden
Dear Pre-AP English 1-2 students,
I am very pleased that you have decided to join me in Pre-AP English 1-2.
In order to complete the summer assignment, you will have to do the following:
 Get a copy of Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. You can either check
copies of these books our from the Enochs book room or you can buy your own copies. We have a limited
number of books available at the school, so if that is your choice, please check them out early in the
summer.
This summer assignment is very important in a number of ways. It familiarizes you with my expectations, and it
gives you some early practice with the close reading of texts. Here is what I expect of you:
1. Read the novel completely and carefully.
2. Think about it!
3. Complete the assignments outlined in the packet.
4. Prepare typed responses to all questions and activities.
5. Have all assignments ready to be turned in on the first day of school.
Also, please be aware that:
 Timely completion of these assignments shows me that you are committed to your studies, and I
can count on you to do what you are asked.
 We cannot allow for any late assignments. It is simply unacceptable and not fair to accept late
work when other students have done their assignments on time.
 Failure to complete all assignments on time will result in your reassignment to a CP level class.
 You will be tested on these materials during the first week of school.
 Finally, if there is even the hint that your work was copied from the internet, you will receive a
zero. Plagiarism is a serious offense.
I look forward to working with you and hope that you find the summer work interesting and challenging. If you
run into problems or have questions, do not hesitate to contact me!
Mr. Hayden
[email protected]
Ender’s Game Study Guide
These questions are to help you stay focused as you read. These will not be collected as part of the
summer assignment. But we do encourage you to do reading checks on yourself by making sure that you
can answer these questions after you read each chapter.
Chapters 1 – 15
Character Identification- Write a brief description of each character
 Ender  Valentine Peter Colonel Graff Mazer Rackham Major Anderson Bean Alai Dink Meeker  Petra Arkanian Bonzo Madrid Bernard Stilson Rose the NoseChapter 1: Third
1. Each chapter begins with a brief dialogue between unseen people. In this dialogue, you can find a
purpose for reading the chapter. What questions are raised in your mind as you read the
introduction? How are your questions answered?
2. Discuss the significance of Ender’s monitor.
3. Discuss the problems Ender faces as a "third."
4. Describe the fight with Stilson.
Chapter 2: Peter
1. Describe Peter. How does he feel about Ender? Be thorough in your answer, as this will change over
the course of the chapter.
2. "Buggers" is the word used to refer to the aliens that have attacked the earth on two previous
occasions. Describe the buggers as you understand them from this chapter.
Chapter 3: Graff
1. What does it first seem Graff has arrived to do? What does he really want?
2. Graff says Ender must volunteer to go to Battle School, and he personally tells Ender many reasons
which might convince Ender not to go. What aspects of Battle School does Graff warn Ender about?
3. Describe Valentine. How does she feel about Ender? Why wasn’t she chosen for Battle School?
Chapter 4: Launch
1. How does Ender differ from the other nineteen boys in his launch group? Discuss whether Graff is
Ender’s friend or not. Be thorough, as your answer will change during the course of the chapter.
2. What effect does Graff’s assertion that Ender will be a commander while the other boys are still
learning have? How does Ender feel about this statement?
Chapter 5: Games
1. Who is Dap? Why is he important to the Launchies?
2. What advice does Mick give Ender? How does Ender feel about Mick?
3. Who becomes Ender’s first friend? Under what circumstances?
Chapter 6 The Giant’s Drink
1. Describe the battleroom. What importance do gravity, lasers, and spacesuits have there?
2. How do Ender and Alai become friends? What is surprising about Ender’s friendship with Alai?
3. Describe the computer game. Why can’t Ender beat the giant at first? How does he eventually win?
What lesson does this teach Ender?
Chapter 7: Salamander
1. How did Ender defeat the computer’s security system? What does this indicate about Ender?
2. Why is Ender promoted? What is surprising about his promotion?
3. Why is Petra Arkanian exactly the wrong kind of friend to have? What valuable skill does she
eventually teach Ender?
4. What lessons does Ender learn from Bonzo Madrid about being a commander? What instructions
does Bonzo give Ender concerning battles?
5. Why are adults the real enemies?
6. Why does Ender become suddenly homesick?
Chapter 8: Rat
1. How is Rat Army different from Salamander?
2. What surprising information does Dink Meeker relay to Ender?
3. Why is Ender’s feet-first attack position so effective in battle?
4. Describe where Ender is in the computer game. What does he see in the mirror after he defeats the
snake? How does he react?
Chapter 9: Locke and Demosthenes
1. Explain how the following people perceive Peter: his parents? his teachers? Valentine?
2. What is Peter’s plan to change the world? How does he manipulate Valentine into helping him? What
is her role in his scheme?
3. What is Peter’s "greatest gift"?
4. What names do Peter and Valentine establish for themselves on the net? Why do they need false
identities?
5. How has Ender gained the respect of everyone at Battle School? What has he lost?
6. Describe THE END OF THE WORLD on Ender’s computer game. What part of the game can he not
defeat?
7. Why, according to Valentine, does Ender see Peter in the mirror?
Chapter 10: Dragon
1. What army is Ender given command of? Why was this name retired in the past?
2. Why did Graff give Ender all new soldiers he had not worked with before?
3. In what ways does Ender treat Bean exactly the way Graff treated Ender when he came to battle
School? How does Ender’s discussion with Bean show what he has learned from Graff?
Chapter 11: Veni Vidi Vici
1. What lessons does Ender learn from his battle with Rabbit Army?
2. How does Ender inspire confidence and loyalty in the soldiers in his army?
3. Why does Ender begin to watch the propaganda videos from the First and Second Invasions?
4. Describe Dragon’s battle with Salamander. How does Ender insult Bonzo Madrid’s Spanish honor?
5. What does Ender ask Bean to do? Why does he choose Bean for this task?
6. What rules are changed, and why do you think the teachers change them?
Chapter 12: Bonzo
1. Why won’t the adults save Ender from Bonzo? Does Ender think the teachers will save him from real
danger?
2. How many boys come to beat Ender up in the shower? How does Ender control the situation so he
only has to fight one?
3. Who comes to save Ender? How does his intervention ensure Ender’s death?
4. How is the fight with Bonzo similar to the earlier fight with Stilson?
5. What happens to all of the soldiers in Dragon Army? What happens to Ender?
Chapter 13: Valentine
1. Why has Ender been on earth for two months instead of the originally planned three days?
2. Why does Ender hate himself? After you have this answer, think about it for a few moments and tell
how you feel about what has been done to Ender.
3. Summarize the information Graff shares with Ender about the Buggers.
4. What is the Third Invasion? What does everyone else think it is?
5. What does an ansible do?
Chapter 14: Ender’s Teacher
1. What is the simulator? Track your answer; it will develop as you read on in this chapter.
2. Who is Ender’s teacher? Why was he chosen? How does he explain the fact that he is still alive?
3. Why does Mazer Rackham say that "there is no teacher but the enemy"?
4. Why does Mazer Rackham beat Ender physically? What lesson is he trying to teach?
5. How did Mazer Rackham defeat the buggers in the Second Invasion?
6. What, according to Mazer, are Ender’s advantages and disadvantages when he faces the bugger fleet?
But as their trust in Ender as a commander grew their friendship...gradually disappeared....Ender was
their teacher and commander, as distant from them as Mazer was from him."
7. Why must Ender be isolated from friends? What dangers could arise from having "friendship" with
those you must lead?
8. Describe Ender’s "final examination." How does Ender win? How is this victory like every other
victory he has ever had? What does Ender discover after it is done? Were you surprised?
Chapter 15: Speaker for the Dead
1. Why can’t Ender come back to earth?
2. What happens to Locke and Demosthenes?
3. Why does Ender want to go to the buggers’ home world?
4. How did the buggers control Ender’s computer game? What does he find when he looks behind the
mirror?
5. Why does Ender refer to himself as Speaker for the Dead? Whose deaths does he speak?
6. What mission does Ender go on at the end of the book?
Ender’s Game Critical Analysis Questions
Write a brief but well thought out response to each of the following questions.
This portion will be collected.
Chapter One: Ender’s classmates think he is a failure. Describe how Ender classmates treat him and how Ender
reacts. What does this tell you about Ender’s personality?
Chapter Three& Four: The course to train as a starship commander will last ten years without vacations or
visitors. Ender agrees to the training. Aboard the shuttle launch with 19 other boys, Graff makes an object lesson
of him and intentionally made the others hate him. Graff pretends to dislike Ender, who feels friendless. Why
does Graff make Ender isolated from his family and the other boys? What lessons is Graff trying to teach Ender?
Chapter 8 & 9: On Ender’s free time, he plays the mind game and kills the giant. Later, Ender begins to avoid the
game, which reveals Peter on the screen. We learn that the program self-generates ideas from Ender’s life. Why
do you think Ender keeps seeing Peter on the screen? What does this reveal about Ender’s fears?
Chapter Twelve: General Graff knows there is a conspiracy that could kill Ender. Graff takes no action for eight
days to convey to Ender that no adult will come to his aid. Why do you think Graff does nothing to intervene in
Ender’s behalf?
Chapter Twelve: Seven of Bonzo’s men corner Ender in the shower. Bonzo insist on a fair game—naked, wet,
and alone. Dink tries to stop the duel, but Ender winds, gaining the knowledge that power and pain were
inseparable. Ender weeps. What do Ender’s tears tell you about his emotions? Why does Graff lie to Ender about
Bonzo’s death?
Chapter Fourteen & Fifteen: Ender learns that his final exam was really the third invasion. Why did Graff and
the others deceive Ender? (Look Closely…they is an answer to this one!)
Chapter Fifteen: Eight years after the invasion, Ender explores new territory, which resembles the giant of the
mind game. He concludes that the buggers built it for him. He enters the game and confronts the queen. How
does Ender feel about the war victims? How does Ender plan to gain atonement?
Chapter One—Fifteen:
1. Throughout the novel, there are many people who either love or hate Ender. What qualities does Ender
have that makes enemies? What qualities does Ender have that make him a great leader? Give specific
examples of Ender’s actions that make people love or hate him.
2. Explain how Ender redeems himself. What is your opinion on Ender’s capability to redeem the buggers?
Support your answer with Ender’s past capabilities and character.
3. How is Peter similar to Adolph Hitler? Describe Peter’s mission in life. How is Peter’s mission similar to
Hitler’s? Support your answer with examples of Peter’s actions and comments.
4. Discuss the role of dreams and reality in relation to Ender’s internal conflict.
5. How are Ender’s behaviors and attitudes like Peter’s? How are Ender’s behaviors and attitudes like
Valentine’s?
6. How does Valentine treat Ender, and how does Ender respond to the treatment? How does Peter treat
Ender, and how this affect Ender?
7. Explain the irony of the two personas: Demosthenes and Locke.
8. Discuss the feeling Ender has toward all of his enemies before and after he defeats them. How does Ender
overcome this internal conflict?
9. Describe the physical qualities and the lifestyle of buggers. Explain the threat, if any, they pose to humans.
10. Explain the symbolism of the End of the World as it relates to Ender.
11. Why does Ender call himself “Speaker for the Dead”?
12. Why do you think Orson Scott Card ended the novel with Ender caring for the bugger cocoon and looking
for a place of peace for the bugger to awaken?
The Alchemist
Critical Analysis
Write a brief but well thought out response to each of the following questions.
This portion will be collected.
Key Motifs: significant issues, points, symbols that recur throughout the book.
As you read The Alchemist, consider the following points:
 Man’s place in the world
 The protagonist’s/ reader’s journey through the novel
 The Author’s point of view on life
1. Refer to the list of quotes below and for each quote answer the following questions:
 State the importance of each quote and discuss its relationship to the book as a whole.
 What do you think is the author’s point? Explain.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
“Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victors being severely tested.”
“The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other.”
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
“When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the Soul of the
World. It’s always a positive force.”
“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
“To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.”
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”
“There is only one way to learn… It’s through action. Everything you need to know you have
learned through your journey. You need to learn only one thing more.”
2. Select 3 quotes that apply to your life. You may choose any or all 3 of the quotes from the list above,
or you may choose other key quotes that you discover in your reading. Describe what they mean to
you and how they apply to your life and/or the world in which you live.
3. Choose 3 quotes that you disagree with. You may select from the list above, or you may cite other
quotes from the reading. Take a clear position. What is it about the quote that you disagree with
and/or why do you disagree with it? Then give a real life example to support your response.
Source: www.prospect.cuhsd.org
Alchemist Study Guide
The following study questions WILL NOT be collected. You are not required to complete them.
However, these questions will help you to prepare for the exam.
1. What does Santiago notice in the sacristy of the abandoned church that he takes shelter in on the way to
the merchant?
2. What did Santiago’s parents originally hope he would be when he grew up?
3. In the recurring dream Santiago has at the abandoned Church, who encourages him to seek treasure at
the pyramids?
4. What comforts Santiago when he is visiting the gypsy dream interpreter?
5. What does Melchizedek ask Santiago for in return for directing him toward his personal legend?
6. Who does Melchizedek point out to Santiago as someone who did not follow their Personal Legend?
7. What does the book that Santiago buys in Tarifa describe in its opening pages?
8. As Santiago sets off to Africa, Melchizedek recalls guiding who else to his personal legend?
9. What distracts Santiago and allows the young man in Tarifa to steal his money?
10. What kind of vendor does Santiago admire the morning after he is robbed by the young man in Tarifa?
11. What does Santiago suggest to the crystal merchant as a strategy to make more money?
12. According to the Englishmen, what is the name of the discovery that is the result of refining metal until
all that is left is the Soul of the World?
13. What is the product of alchemy that can turn lead into gold?
14. What is the product of alchemy that can cure all illnesses?
15. Upon what item is the core secret of alchemy written?
16. What surprises Santiago about the Al-Fayoum oasis?
17. Where does Santiago meet Fatima?
18. What is the portentous omen that Santiago sees in the Al-Fayoum oasis?
19. How does the tribal chieftain punish the chief of the invading army?
20. What job does the Al-Fayoum tribal chieftain offer Santiago to reward him for warning of invading
armies?
21. What danger do Santiago and the alchemist come across in their first foray into the desert?
22. Which part of nature didn’t Santiago speak to when he was trying to turn himself into the wind?
23. What do the alchemist and the monk talk about while the alchemist is transforming the lead?
24. Why does Santiago choose to dig in the dune by the pyramids?
25. What is the treasure that Santiago finds under the sycamore tree?
26. Santiago’s first dream is to travel, which he accomplishes by
27. It is a recurring dream that leads Santiago to pursue his destiny, but whose dream is it that sends him
back home again?
28. Why does Melchizedek appear at this particular time in the novel?
29. Why do both the Gypsy and Melchizedek urge Santiago to follow his dream?
30. Why is Fatima a better “match” for Santiago than the merchant’s daughter?
31. Santiago claims that he can learn everything he needs to know about alchemy from what thing?
32. People, plants, rocks, and elements are all united by what?
33. What is the message conveyed by the fact that, although Urim and Thumimm are available to help
Santiago make decisions, he only uses them once?
34. “You don’t have to understand the desert; all you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand,
and you will see all the marvels of creation.” What point is the alchemist making with this statement?
35. ”Life attracts life.” How does Santiago apply this advice from the Alchemist?
36. How does the alchemist explain why other alchemists are not successful, but he is?
37. “Every search begins with beginner’s luck and every search ends with . . . .“ Finish the
alchemist’s explanation.
38. “Listen to your heart. It knows all things . . .” is the alchemist’s advice. But what does he say can get
in the way of doing that?
39. At one point the alchemist tells Santiago, “When you possess great treasures within you, and try to tell
others of them, seldom are you believed.” How does this simple lesson save Santiago’s life?
40. Although the alchemist leaves Santiago to finish his journey alone, he does one more thing to help him
live out his Personal Legend. What is it?
Be able to match the following characters with the appropriate description.
Is always with Santiago, as evidenced in the hair
of the old merchant and in the smile of the candy seller.
Fatima
Thief in Tangiers
Has a dream that says his treasure is by
a church in Spain
Crystal shopkeeper
Teaches Santiago to concentrate on the present
Melchizedek
Teaches Santiago that everyone has his or her
own way of learning
The Alchemist
Merchant’s daughter
Insists that Santiago seek out his Personal Legend
Gypsy woman
Teaches Santiago that every blessing ignored
becomes a curse
Robber at the Pyramids
Tests Santiago’s courage
The Englishman
Teaches Santiago that everything in life
has its price
Santiago
Camel driver
Is the source of the obstacle that Santiago
encounters when he first arrives in Africa
Presents Santiago with fifty gold coins.
Tribal chieftain at the oasis