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Table of Contents

• Quote By Terry Pratchett ..................3• Exculisive With Ben tomlin................. 4 & 5• Another Postcard ...............................6 & 7• Who I Am ...........................................8• Why Half Brother should be included in the

grade eight curriculum ...................... 9 - 11

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The anthropologists got it wrong when they named our species Homo sapiens 'wise man'. In any case it's an arrogant and bigheaded thing to say, wisdom being one of our least evident features. In reality, we are Pannarrans, the storytelling chimpanzee.Terry Pratchett, The Science of Discworld II: The Globe

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Big Changes: How they affect us

This inter view is on how moves across the country, and chimpanzee brothers change our lives.

Ben Tomlin was an average twelve year old boy living in Toronto. Re-cently his father accepted a job at the University of Victoria Researching whether it is possible to raise a chimpanzee as a human and talk with it through ASL ( American Sign Language). Ben’s life was never the same again when he moved across the country to Victoria and was then in-troduced to his half brother Zan. But Zan is no ordaniary brother he is a six week old baby chimapanzee from New has changed Ben’s emo-tions very noticeably changed throughout the time he has spent with Zan.

1) Recently you said “ Dad didn’t even ask me how i felt about the move,” did You feel no need to speak out on this issue?

Well honestly it stung knowing that my opinion doesn’t matter but sometimes we just have to go with the flow. If I had spoken out it would have been to late because we had already been driving for a long period of time.

2) When your father accepted the job at the Uni-versity of Victoria and announced the move to Victoria from Toronto what were your emotions?

I was jumping for joy at the time for dad but I was surprised he decided everything without mom even being home. Knowing I would have to start fresh with a new school making new friends I was frightened. It was like the first day of kin-dergarten.

3) Every time Zan is referred to as a human by you and your parent’s friends what are your feel-ings?

I sort of have mixed feelings when that happens. Zan is a chimpanzee but its like people see right through that, because of this I try acknowledge him as a brother. I am still very uncomfortable with this whole idea because I’m not his brother and he isn’t a human being.

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4)When your mother Mrs. Tomlin asks you to hold Zan why do you get so uncomfortable?

Sometimes dad and mom spend so much time with Zan it’s like I’m not around. Sometimes when I see him I want to be apart of the whole proj-

ect. Then I get stuck with babysitting and changing his poopy diapers. That isn’t want I want I want to play with him and make him laugh that sort of stuff.

5) How has Zan affected your life? Zan has been a positive and negative factor in our household because he is

the one thing that is bringing our family closer. He also brings us apart when he does something wrong for instance he isn’t supposed to bite but when he does

I never do anything about it then he bites in front of dad and he raised his voice at me because I didn’t put it to a stop.

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This song has a motion picture kind of thing where we hu-mans and chimpanzees swap places. For example, the book half-brother shows a newborn baby chimpanzee playing the role of a human. Some of the stanzas force an image with chimpanzees performing human professions in our minds. Reminding us of our closest relatives. If humans and chim-panzees swapped places I don’t think there would be much change.

Humans and chimpanzees are very similar as stated by the bare-naked ladies in Another Postcard. The band decided to start the song with a metaphor, that asserts, “You can’t imagine so many monkeys in the daily mail.” Here we see that even though chimpanzees can’t speak with words they can still in some ways communicate with humans, as done in Halfbrother by Kenneth op-pel. In both the stanzas before the chorus the band states chimpanzees doing or wearing human profes-sions. Which reminds us that even though we are dif-ferent we are the same in many ways.

ANOTHER POSTCARD

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You can’t imagine so many monkeys in the daily mailAll of them coming anonymously so they leave no trail

I never thought I’d have an admirer from overseasBut someone is sending me stationary filled with chimpanzees.

Some chimps in swimsuits, some chimps are swinging from a vineSome chimps in jackboots, some

chimps that wish they could be mine.Starsky and Hutch chimps, a chimp

who’s sitting on the canA pair of Dutch chimps who send

their love from Amsterdam.

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I am from Skyscrapers that reach the Heavens,from a city that is filled with smoggy pungent odor

I am from never-ending highways,from pitifully unhygienic pit stops with greasy attendants filling gas.

I am from vending machines.(The ones that smell like cheese)

I am from long-lasting drives filled with bumps.

I am from silent half-brothers,from Teaching signs.

I am from an ambitious father,Whose silence draws him into a shadowy

inner cave of thoughts.

I am from being invisible,from the last lunch table to eat.

I am from the atrocious seatfrom the average unknown bunch.

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And Why It Should be Included In The Grade Eight Curriculum?

By: Dil Bahia

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Why are novel studies important? Well, the main purpose of a novel study itself is to help the student expand his or her vari-ety of book genres that they may not casu-ally read on a normal basis. Not just that, but the books used for the novel studies also include an extensive vocabulary. This is most definitely portrayed in Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel. I believe that every grade eight should read this book, mainly because the author uses relatable characters and the book itself is very thought provoking which causes the reader to think deeper. These things are critical in our lives as we grow up.

In conclusion, I believe that Half Brother should be included in the grade eight curric-ulum because it has an extensive vocabulary, relatable characters, and is very thought pro-voking. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “Tis the good reader that makes the good book.” This is why I believe Half Brother should be included in the grade eight curriculum.

As the years go by and we grow up, expand-ing our vocabularies is not something that we focus on. Instead, we think about what is for dinner tonight, video games, home-work, and sports. However, when students read Half Brother, the vocabulary and defi-nitions flow into our minds without us even trying. This is almost like reading a diction-ary except more interesting and enjoyable.

Not only does Half Brother have a sense of realism to it, but it also provokes read-ers into thinking even deeper. When Ben is faced with problems the solutions are never there right away. For example, “The man opened the cage and moved swiftly towards her.” It is only later in the book that he discovers the solutions and uses them to the best of his abilities. Because the solution is withheld, it causes readers to become frustrated not knowing what the outcome is. This does not only make them frustrated, but also makes readers wonder and imagine the possible solu-tions. Thus, Half Brother is thought induc-ing while also having unpredictable events.

Using relatable characters allows stu-dents to make connections from his or her book to the real world. At one point in our lives we were ripped away from our comfortable surround-ing and moved to an unfamiliar area. “I liked my friends, and I hadn’t wanted to move, and dad hadn’t even asked.”With out a doubt the main character, Ben, is faced by the same complication, and yet he handles it well. Ben continues to stay de-termined and hard working with a positive attitude. These things are key characteris-tics that readers look for in a role model.

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