Literature Circle - Half Brother

EQ: How does the relationship between Ben and Zan affect Ben and Dad's Relationship?

Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel

Pages 375-375

Status: Finish

     Throughout the book, I ask myself a question all the time. I wonder if Ben and Zan's relationship in the book Half Brother  by Kenneth Oppel affects the relationship with Ben and his dad. I finished the book not to long ago and seen pretty interesting changes too. Ben's dad, Richard, thought this was going to be easy and okay to let go of. Once Ben got used to the chimpanzee, Zan, he loved him too much, Ben could not let go. Once Richard announce the project is over in the late spring, Ben was devastated. His relationship was at steak at that moment. Ben fought Dad by attempting to push him to the ground, but Dad won. Ben got so mad that he actually stomped out of the house. Ben's love with Zan could question Richard's decisions about either family or project. Thanks to Zan, his relationship is worse than before. Later in the book, it heals for a specific event that I am not going to mention. All in all, Relationship between Father and Son could be affected by another person, or in this case, a monkey.

     Perspective can change the way you look at a topic. You can read something such as a book from a perspective of a survivor of 9/11 that shows what is happening down below. If you read a book about 9/11, it  would talk about the attackers and the buildings. The survivor does not know where that airplane is from. They just ran and took cover possibly with their families. The general book would talk about the screaming and the cloud of dust roaming the streets. It all depends where you stand in the book or anything you are reading. If I take this into Half Brother, the Ranch in Ben's family is different than what the owner thinks about the place. Perspective is very important in almost anything. You never know if it might change the meaning or not. 

     Books, magazines, articles, and the news can interpret the same topic differently. Just like I said before, it is based on Perspective. I found an article talking about Chimps in labs, which connect to our story. In the book, it says, "'But even if they were,' he said, 'should we be torturing animals so we can heal humans? Is that fair?'" This quote from page 165 talks about labs they might possibly send Zan to. Ben does not like the idea of torture, just for selfish needs. Ben thinks about the labs as a slaughterhouse. Ben has some pretty negative look at these labs. Let's see what the article says. In the article, "Chimpanzees in Laboratories" from Peta.org, it says, "Those who made it to U.S. laboratories suffered terribly and died young." As you can see, when chimps go to these labs, they decrease their life spam. They basically die in the next year! This is much similar to the book. One thing that is different, the article gives the history and other information on these labs, while the book does not. That is how different sources with the same topic can have a different meaning.

Poetry Reflection

     Before we started to do the poetry unit in class, everyone had a negative mood to it. They say it is confusing and boring. Now that we put our toes in the water, people just jumped in and enjoyed swimming. They love to write deep poem or even a hysterical poem! We have written tons of different types of poems, which brought out different emotions they normally do not present. We could even learn a thing or two by these poems and another side of someone's personality. To be honest, a poetry unit can really have an affect on you.

     Poetry is one of the things you can not forget as a child. It would bring back memories on how school went, or even how your childhood was spent. Poetry is different for other people. Their past memories can change the poem overall! If you have good memories and a great childhood, most likely your poems would have a positive attitude on. For me, I have great memories with friends and families. For that, I create an up-beat tone in my poems. Right now, I can not forget the poems I created in the 6th Grade, 5th Grade, and more. Once I get older, I will remember the poems I created in Middle and Elementary School and what is in them. Reflecting on the poems, you can tell if your childhood was perfect, okay, or even horrible. For that reason, Poetry does play an important role in my life, and even to everyone!

     As I said before, Poetry is affected by life experiences. If you just went to a Water-park and came home, you poem would most likely be happy. As you can see, poems are affected, but not always the good kind. If someone broke up with you or a different tragedy that occurred could cause the poem to be a gloomy, dark, and a deep tone to it. So, life experiences have a huge impact on poetry.

     Structure could be one of the most important part in a poem. Maybe you want to make a poem about a bear in a shape if a bear, or pretty much anything! I chose a poem called, "Gingerbread Man" by an anonymous poet. If you read it, it is about a gingerbread man. If you step back and look at it for the second time, you see a gingerbread man shape full of words. This type of poetry is called Shape Poetry. The shape the poem takes should have a connection with the meaning. Also, the use of personification in this poem makes the poem more humorous and enjoyable to read.

An alternative to the Shape poem is a Letter Poem, which is what I created. I made a poem about French Toast shaped like an F. This shows clear respect and love to French Toast, which is the meaning to the poem. Also, just like the Gingerbread poem, giving it rhyme and personification adds more character and humor into the poem.

Poems I Created 

Nonfiction Poem
Bio-Poem of a Literary Character
Where I'm From Poem
Spine Poem
Found Poem
Nonsense Poem

"Another World"

(Click on it!)

"Apple vs. FBI"

As we sit
and the fight goes on
the battle between Apple
and the FBI.

The news reports
about hacking the iPhones
so that the FBI
could track the bones.

Terror strikes in cities
calling out helpers
to shoot one another
including his member.

They call on cell phones.
So happens it's Apple's
To track down ISIS
so they can tackle.

In shock and horror
the battle continues
in popular cities
to fix this issue.

Phones are less safe
but easy for them
to hack the iPhone's
and kill their precious gems.

We made a dent in the Universe
like Steve Jobs said
ISIS is a bit threat
since they spread.

There is a crack in the Earth
where privacy is less
and phones scream out
Apple said yes.

You can hear Terror
talking and hacking phones
but the two sides
are in the Zone

The FBI wants unlimited guesses
to guess the code
but Apple is afraid
that everyone knows.

Apple may be teamed
with a big market
but now that they are
they are a big target.

This poem is brought to you by, "U.s. wants to peek inside iPhone but Apple holding up the shield of privacy."

Bio Poem

"The Cat that was in a Hat" By Anthony B.


The Cat in the Hat,

Clumsy, Troubled, Fun, Fast

A character in a Dr. Seuss story.

Lover of Thing one, Thing Two, and a Unicycle

Who noticed big messes, unhappy children, and an angry goldfish

Who feels left out, worthless, depressed

Who learns to keep clean and solve problems

Who's fish said, "No! No! Make that cat go away! Tell that Cat in the Hat you do NOT to play."

Who used to think he leaves no trace, but now knows he can really leave a mark.

A major character in The Cat in the Hat

A book that can be hilarious.

Bronx - Character Development

     In the book, "Bronx Masquerade," character changes throughout the story. For an example, Tyrone does not want to go to school. He thinks it is a joke. Along the courses of Open Mike Fridays, he learns to love school and poetry that really made a big impact on the rest of the school. Tyrone wanted to be a rapper. His poems are long and rhyme because of that. Yet again, things change. Tyrone thinks that almost everything is a joke, like school. As the book went on and students presented poems, he realized something. That something is the fact that everyone has some sort of story that is different from others and they DO matter. He started to have feelings for others and appreciated life. He was worried about his future in the beginning. Now, he "ain't" afraid of the outcome. He knows he has a bright future head of him.

     Lets take Janelle for another example. She was worried about her weight and how people think of her. She knows she is fat and worries about it. One day, she just put it behind her. She is not worried anymore. Her eight year-old student she tutors told her she was beautiful. That moment, she didn't worry about her weight! Standing in front of the class reading a poem makes her forget about it. This was later on in the book. She hated the fact that she if fat in the beginning, but she changed overtime. She was also scared to go up since people know about her. They might judge her about the poem before reading it, which is tough to go through. She overcame it one she started to read. As you can see, it is possible for characters to change overtime in the book.

     Its not just the characters that change themselves, they can be influenced by the setting! In the classroom, almost everyone feels safe to speak their minds and share their thoughts. Plus, where they came from, such as home, may impact their writing style in poems. They are in Bronx, mostly made up of African Americans. Characters judge each other by skin based on the town they live in. So, they might be enemies, or friends. When Open Mike Friday comes along, they put it behind them and act like it never happened. Setting is a big part of character that can really change their personality, so characters ARE influenced by the setting.

Found Poem

"Slave be Gone" By Anthony B

"Home? Yes, you can live again! So long, Mr. Engel. Someone else likes to have  a friend. You? Not much. I'd be home a few hours, B-Y-E."

     As I read through my page, it sounded like a person wanting to go home. When it repeated the word home, I thought this person was kidnapped or something. So, when I brainstormed, I was going to make it about a slave finally going home with his family, which is why the picture shows two people nearly hugging. This poem has a message that there is always hope. You can be free, but maybe not today. Always have hope. That is what I am trying to get across.

     The theme for this poem is Freedom. This slave that is running to home is finally free from the owner! I mean, this slave was captured for all these years and the slave is free to go and wander the world. So, this slave is happy to go and live with his family free from work. He doesn't have to be beaten up or abused in any way. For that reason, the theme of this poem is Freedom.