Reading 12 · awakening to silverback · The One and Only Ivan

Copywork

I’m not ready for this. I’m not ready to be a silverback. I’m Ivan, just Ivan, only Ivan. I decide it’s not a good day to socialize.

I imagine a different Ivan, my father’s son. I grumble and swat and swagger. I beat my chest till the whole world hears.

Read the first passage aloud. At the door, Ivan calls himself “just Ivan, only Ivan.” At the very end, Bob calls him “the One and Only Ivan”. What does “only” mean each time?

For the educator Two passages, in story order. The passage from the section titled “door” is four short sentences. The first two begin the same way, “I’m not ready”, and the second carries the thought further. The third names Ivan three times, setting “just Ivan” and “only Ivan” off with two commas. Each sentence uses an apostrophe for a contraction: “I’m” in the first three and “it’s” in the fourth. The passage from the section titled “pretending” is three sentences. The first sets “my father’s son” after a comma to rename “a different Ivan”, with an apostrophe in “father’s”. The second joins three action words with “and”, and no commas. The third ends with a clause beginning “till”. The vocabulary words “socialize” and “swagger” come from these passages, one from each. The talk prompt asks about the first passage and the book’s last page: what “only” means in “only Ivan” and in “the One and Only Ivan”.

Discussion

Narration Tell this reading back in order, from the clean glass cage where Ivan wakes up to his whisper at the very end.

Ivan covers his eyes, then looks again. “They are still there.” Read that line aloud. How do you think Ivan feels? Tone
At the door, Ivan decides to wait until tomorrow. Did the extra day help him? Plot structure
Ivan beats his chest at the young male. “Kinyani watches, and so do the others.” Who is the show for? Character
When Ivan finishes his story, the troop looks away and stays silent. What might the silence mean? Inference
From the tree, Ivan whispers to Stella, “Ruby’s safe. Just like I promised.” But Stella is gone. Why tell her? Character

Make a Connection Think of a story, or a time in your own life, when someone was new to a group. What did they do to fit in, and did it work?

Vocabulary

fascinated: Are they as fascinated by me as I am by them? So interested that you can hardly look away.
socialize: I decide it’s not a good day to socialize. To spend time with others and get to know them.
juvenile: The juvenile male approaches. Young and not yet fully grown.
inferior: The leaves are inferior and the sticks are brittle. Not as good as they should be; poor in quality.
swagger: I grumble and swat and swagger. To strut about in a proud, showy way.
upstart: I move toward the young upstart, and he retreats. A young one who acts bolder than his place allows.
entwine: Their trunks entwine. To twist and wind around each other.
wistful: Julia gives a wistful smile. Gently sad while missing someone or something.
placid: They are a contented group, placid and good-natured Calm and peaceful, not easily stirred up.
cower: I cower and hide my eyes. To crouch and shrink back in fear.

Critical thinking

The first day, Kinyani throws a stick at Ivan and corners him. Another day, she taps his shoulder and runs away. What changed?
Ivan calls the zoo “still a cage.” Then he paints the wall with mud. Does that change what the wall means to him?
At the door Ivan says he is not ready to be a silverback, and later he pretends to be one. When he whispers “Mighty Silverback” at the end, has he become one, or is he still pretending?