Interpret the following quote: "Isolate him enough that he remains creative - otherwise he'll adopt the system here and we'll lose him." Use text evidence to support your answer.
The author is trying to say that if Ender is surrounded with the common boys of non-equal intelligence, then he will act like them. They want Ender to be different and creative, so that he can make up his own plans and not follow orders of others in the midst of others. Ender will only become a good leader if he doesn’t follow others. “He has to work smoothly with his subordinates” (Card 27). The leaders want him to be creative, and a leader.
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Troop 6
10/31/2014 12:25:00 am
This quote means that the teachers need to keep Ender isolated so that in battle, he will be able to think of new tactical maneuvers and abilities. He will also be able to try new things. If they don’t do this, Ender will become like every other boy in Battle School. They want to keep him unique and not ruin his way of thinking. The text states, “I will have him completely separated from the rest of the boys by the time we get to the school,” (Card 27). This proves that they don’t want Ender to learn from the other boys at Battle School, so he doesn’t adapt their ways of thinking.
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Troop 7
10/31/2014 12:26:05 am
We think that this quote means that he will become more like the other boys in his group, and he won’t be his own person. He will see things like how the other kids see things, and he won’t want to be a leader. He will want to fit in with everyone else. Graff wanted him to be a leader, so he wants to isolate him. In the text it states, “ ‘Oh. Good. He has to be a genius and nice, too.’ ‘Not nice. Nice will let the buggers have us all.’ ‘So you’re going to isolate him?’ ” (Card 27). If they ‘lose’ him, they mean that they won’t have the genius, nice Ender. They will have the Ender who blends in with the crowd.
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Troop 3
10/31/2014 12:28:00 am
We think the author meant that the I.F. should keep Ender a bit separated from the rest of the group of kids so he develops his own way of thinking and doesn’t adopt the tactics and ways of thinking that the other boys in Battle School. have. They are doing this so he can become a better tactician than the rest and become a strong leader that thinks differently than all the others, and become the leader the I.F. thinks they truly need. “At the same time we need to make sure he keeps a strong ability to lead” (Card 27). This shows that the I.F. believes that Ender needs to be both isolated and surrounded by his peers.
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MP
11/2/2014 07:30:24 am
When these anonymous people are talking about isolating Ender, they want to keep his mind active. Too many of the boys at the school “adapt the system”; they’ll get used to being pushed around. The Battle School is only creating soldiers to follow orders. But that won’t win the war they’re facing at hand. They need a commander; Ender. Ender has proven to have all the character traits of someone who takes the lead, someone who stands up for himself. Ender is also creative, a problem solver. In the test it’s stated “At the same time we need to make sure he keeps a strong ability to lead” (Card 27). This means that if Ender fits in at the school, he’ll just become another standard soldier. If he’s isolated, he’ll practice his problem solving abilities and stubborn traits enough to become the leader necessary to win the war between “the astronauts and the buggers”.
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MU
11/2/2014 10:48:37 pm
The author is meaning that the system does not want Ender to turn out like the other boys in the battle school. The majority of the other boys in the school are far less creative and intelligent as Ender is. The teachers do not want to lose Enders most valuable talent. In the book it says, “I will have him completely separated from the rest of the boys by the time we get to the school,” (Card 27). This means the teachers want Ender to be different than the other boys.
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Troop 1
11/2/2014 10:50:51 pm
We think that the quote means that they want to separate Ender from everybody else to a degree. This degree is to not isolate him too much where he doesn’t want to talk to anybody anytime, but not to let him have so many friends that he starts to blend in and start acting like the rest of the Launchies. The system at Battle School is that kids form in gangs and pick on other kids. Graff doesn’t want this to happen.
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Troop 9
11/2/2014 10:52:33 pm
We believe that this quote, “Isolate him enough that he remains creative- otherwise he’ll adopt the system here and we’ll lose him” means that if Ender is surrounded by his peers, he will start using their tactics and he will adopt to the system and lose all of his creativity. Ender will not be as creative or the unique boy who is has so many tactical skills. “He toyed with the idea of trying to be like the other boys” (Card 28). This shows that Ender did not want to join the other boys, because he wanted to remain himself and be creative. This is very important in Battle School creativity and his knowledge is superior to all the other boys training in the school. Graff also wants him to become a leader and if he keeps as his good qualities then he will be able to lead the boys to fight the buggers.
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TM
11/2/2014 10:54:56 pm
This quote is saying that the people are trying to not give away too much about the system. They know that he is too smart so he will soon figure out what the people are trying to do to everyone. The people want to only leave little clues and not be too obvious about it. They want to make it hard for Ender because they know that he is too smart and will figure it out soon enough. When it says “... otherwise he’ll adopt the system” it means that Ender will take over and rule the system because he will figure out how it works because he is very smart.
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Troop 2
11/2/2014 10:58:36 pm
This quote means that the teachers need to keep Ender from relying on others for help. Ender is a very creative and intelligent person; that is the reason they chose him for battle school. At home, Ender did not have many friends because he was a third, which taught him to do things for himself. However, at Battle School, it is likely that he will make friends. The teachers want to prevent Ender from depending on those friends so much that he stops being independent. In a real battle, his friends won’t always be there to support him. In the story Graff says, “‘My job isn’t to be friends. My job is to produce the best soldiers in the world. In the whole history of the world… Nowhere in that does it say I have to make friends with children’” (Card 34). This shows that the teachers do not want Ender to make close friends at Battle School.
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Troop 4
11/2/2014 11:04:41 pm
They meant that in order for Ender to succeed he needs to be alone, so he will not be dependant on any one and able to do things himself. “Isolate him enough that he remains creative-otherwise he’ll adopt the system here and we’ll lose him.” (Card 27). This shows that the people monitoring him want him to be alone so he will not care for others making them expendable in his eyes, this is to keep him from growing attached and to keep him strong, and independant.
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N.K.
11/12/2014 11:11:32 pm
The author is trying to get the idea across to the readers that Ender has to be alone and not following others in order to be creative and let his leadership skills flourish. He must not have many friends or get too close to anyone because he will end up being a mere follower of the crowd. The author is emphasizing how important Ender is to Battle School and how he is a valuable “experiment” and that no mistakes are allowed to be made because he is the supposed to be a prodigious leader. “‘We’re going to make him [Ender] into the best military commander in history.’” (Card 36) This shows how significant Ender’s growth and development in Battle School are and why they are shaping him to be an effective leader.