Speaker for the Dead--Chapters 13-15

1. How does Card develop his theme of people being responsible for all their actions?

2. What is truth? Use examples from the text to develop a working definition.

Speaker for the Dead--Chapter 13

Card says that when a person tells the truth, s/he becomes a different person because making a mistake and admitting it has changed him/her. Is telling the truth a healing experience? When we know the truth, do we always believe it's less painful than the secrets were?

Speaker for the Dead--Chapter 11-12

Quim says, "This is a serious confrontation between good and evil."

"Everything is," said Novinha. "It's figuring out which is which that takes so much work" (194).

Is Ender's presence on Lusitania good or evil? (Consider his effects on Novinha and each of her children. Can Jane's actions concerning Lusitania be connected to Ender's "good" or "evil"?)

Speaker for the Dead--7-9

Ender: "No human being, when you understand his desires, is worthless. No one's life is nothing. Even the most evil of men and women, if you understand their hearts, had some generous act that redeems them, at least a little, from their sins." Do you think this is true?

Speaker for the Dead--Chapter 5-6

Ender contemplates the destruction of the universe by considering the relationship between human actions, such as starflight, and the "price" to be paid for this action. Compare this to human actions here on Earth today.

Speaker for the Dead--Chapter 2-4

1. Consider the restrictions placed on the xenologers. What can you learn about a culture/race with such restrictions in place?

2. Explain Card's four orders of foreignness.

Speaker for the Dead--Chapter 1

What does the excerpt from Demosthenes' letter say about how we look at other cultures?