Orson Scott Card - a Literary Genius

          Although Enders Game is a staple of late elementary school reading, I respect the book now more than ever. With a few more years of experience under my belt, Card's craft is easier to find and analyze. Enders Game is, in fact, the masterpiece it has been labeled so frequently mostly because of Card's ability to respect writing as the art-form it is, and to master such technique.
         Enders Game is a sci-fi novel about Ender Wiggin, an extremely gifted boy who gets recruited by the military to save the world from the alien-invasion. He goes to battle school and works his way up from a useless young-un to commander of one of the war-game armies. Author Orson Scott Card uses writing technique to enrich the story.
     
         Card uses metaphors to describe specific setting and emotion. Metaphors can take description where literal meanings simply can't go. Enders Game is a perfect example of this. At one point, Card says "He imagined the ship dangling upside down on the undersurface of the Earth, the giant fingers of gravity holding them firmly in place.". This example is one of many metaphors strategically placed through the book.          To conclude, Orson Scott Card is a writer who's works should be included in all ELA curriculum. Ender's Game's success is a testament to Card's craft. 

             Never Fall Down Response
Lars Asmundsson 803

           Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick is a true story about about one boy's life during the Cambodian genocide. The protagonist, a boy named Arn Chorn-Pond, lives with his aunt and his three siblings in a small town in Cambodia when one day soldiers "dressed in pajama" overtake his town and evict everyone, marching them to rice fields miles away. Throughout the time Arn spends in the fields, he witnesses one of the most gruesome genocides in history. Through courage and cowardice, generosity and greed, Arn is able to survive against all odds.

           The Khmer Rouge or 'Red Cambodia' were, as it sounds, a communist guerrilla group. They were lead by Pol Pot and were able to overthrow the monarchy in Cambodia and set up an semi-communist government. They murdered anyone previously high in social class. Arn witnesses many people with lighter skin or larger cheeks get "taken to the mango grove" and never seen again. Arn uses his cleverness to stay on the good side of his captors and becomes "little bit famous" by singing, dancing, and playing and instrument at concerts with many high-ranking Cambodian officials in attendance. As Vietnam invades Cambodia, Arn is given a weapon and used as bait to locate where the vietnamese are, and eventually finds himself in a refugee camp where he meets an American man who brings him to the U.S along with a few other boys. Arn becomes 'the face' of the Cambodian genocide and, with help from his newfound american friend, brings attention to the travesty. Arn does not always make morally-correct choices, but he does show compassion at times and, although he puts his survival first in terms of priorities, he does look out for those close to him. Arn, in no little way, is a hero.

          To conclude, Arn shows bravery in the face of danger. It is amazing how a gruesome conflict can form unlikely-friendships, and this book highlighted that.