Reading 7 — Teaching Companion

What it asks It asks the student to look closely at the moment the remembering begins. Ivan has told Ruby he does not remember things, and she has said goodnight. He listens to her cry, then hears himself say the first line, as if the words came on their own. In the very next line he tries to remember “slowly and deliberately”. The student decides whether this is a choice or something that happens to him, which opens the reason Ivan remembers at all tonight: Ruby.

One reading

It happened to him. Ruby has already given up and said goodnight, and Ivan has said he does not remember. After long minutes of her crying, the first line comes out of him before he has decided anything.

• I listen to Ruby’s soft sobs for long, horrible minutes.
• Then I hear myself saying, “Once upon a time there was a gorilla named Ivan.”

Another reading

He decided. The first line may slip out, but what comes next is work he chooses, one memory at a time, because Ruby asked for a story about when he was little.

• “Tell me a story about when you were little,” Ruby pleads.
• And, slowly and deliberately, I try to remember.

Listen for

• Notices that Ruby has already let Ivan off the hook with “Oh, well. That’s okay.” before he begins.
• Weighs the two lines against each other: “I hear myself saying” and “slowly and deliberately”.
• Keeps Ruby at the center: whichever way it went, the remembering starts because she is crying.

If stuck

• What does Ruby say after Ivan tells her he doesn’t remember?
• What is Ivan doing in the minutes before he starts?
• Can a person decide to remember something?

A strong answer A strong response might say the story starts on its own. Ruby has already said goodnight, and after “long, horrible minutes” of her crying, Ivan hears the first line come out of himself. Another might say the next line matters more: he tries to remember “slowly and deliberately,” which sounds like hard work he chooses. A careful answer may say it is both, and that either way the remembering begins for Ruby.

What it asks It asks the student to set two kinds of naming side by side. Gorillas wait to see “hints of what might yet be” before they name a baby, and Ivan’s mother and father named him Mud for the pictures he made all day. Now, grown “too big for human life”, he says humans have no name for what he is. The student decides whether the name chosen for what he might become still names him. The reading leaves “Am I a human? Am I a gorilla?” open, and the card does too.

One reading

Yes. Mud was a name for a gorilla who makes pictures, and Ivan still does. In Mack’s kitchen the frosting looked like mud to him, and he painted with it because he wanted to be an artist again. Tonight he picks up a marker and makes his marks.

• It looked like mud.
• I wanted to be an artist again.
• I take one of the Magic Markers Julia gave me.

Another reading

No, not anymore. Mud was a baby in the forest. The gorilla telling this story begins it with the name Ivan, and he is something humans have no word for.

• Then I hear myself saying, “Once upon a time there was a gorilla named Ivan.”
• Still, they have no name for what I am.

Listen for

• Uses how gorillas choose a name: they wait for “hints of what might yet be.”
• Finds a moment in the human years when the old name shows, such as the frosting in Mack’s kitchen.
• Notices that Ivan begins his story with “a gorilla named Ivan”, not with Mud.
• Leaves “Am I a human? Am I a gorilla?” open, as the reading does.

If stuck

• What did Ivan do all day, every day, as a baby?
• When did Ivan make a picture in Mack and Helen’s house?
• Can a name you got as a baby still fit when you are grown?

A strong answer A strong response might say the name still fits: Mud was chosen for a gorilla who makes pictures, and years later, in Mack’s kitchen, Ivan wanted “to be an artist again.” Another might say Mud belonged to a baby in the forest, and that the gorilla who now begins his story with “a gorilla named Ivan” is one humans have no name for. A careful answer leaves open whether Ivan is a human or a gorilla, as the reading does.

What it asks It asks the student to set the forest’s lessons against the crate. Growing up, a young gorilla learns to swing on vines without letting go, and to be kind, strong and loyal. In the crate the vine comes back as a picture of home holding Tag. Ivan lets his old life die and lives; Tag holds on until “the vine had finally snapped.” The student decides which twin kept the forest’s teaching, which leads toward why Ivan stopped remembering.

One reading

Tag did. She held on to home the way a young gorilla holds a vine, and she stayed loyal to her family to the end.

• How to go vining from tree to tree (don’t let go).
• But my sister could not let go of our home.

Another reading

Ivan did. The forest also taught him to be strong, and to live through the crate he had to let the old life go. Holding on did not save Tag.

• How to be kind, be strong, be loyal.
• Somehow I knew that in order to live, I had to let my old life die.

Listen for

• Uses one of the forest’s lessons by name: “don’t let go”, or “be kind, be strong, be loyal.”
• Notices that the vine comes back in the crate, this time as home holding Tag.
• May say the forest taught both lessons, and the crate made the twins choose between them.

If stuck

• What did a young gorilla learn about swinging on vines?
• What does Ivan say he had to do to live?
• Can holding on be loyal and dangerous at the same time?

A strong answer A strong response might say Tag kept the rule “don’t let go”: she held on to home and stayed loyal to the end. Another might say Ivan kept a different lesson, to be strong, because he knew “in order to live” he had to let the old life go. A careful answer may notice that the forest taught both, and that the crate made the twins choose.

What it asks It asks the student to look at how Ivan kept his old life away in the human house. He says he was “well tended”, yet at night he lay alone, hungry for a grooming friend, a play fight and his troop. Against that hunger he held up one memory, Tag in the crate, to keep out the rest. The student works out how one memory can keep out others, and whether it worked. This is the forgetting Ivan undoes tonight, for Ruby.

One reading

The two orders are one rule. Tag held on to home and the vine snapped, so the memory of her is a warning. Ivan keeps that one memory so he will not go back to the others.

• Remember what happened to Tag, I told myself. Don’t think about the jungle.
• Somehow I knew that in order to live, I had to let my old life die.

Another reading

He couldn’t, not fully. He gave himself the rule, but the jungle got in anyway: the warm nest, the arrowroot, the mango just out of reach.

• Still, sometimes I lay awake, wishing for the warmth of another just like me, asleep in a night nest of tender prayer-plant leaves.
• But every now and then, I longed to search for a tender stalk of arrowroot, to feel the tease of a mango, just out of reach.

Listen for

• Notices which memory Ivan keeps on purpose: Tag in the crate.
• Links the rule to the crate, where Ivan let his old life die “in order to live”.
• Hears the “Still,” that comes right after the rule: the jungle comes back anyway.
• May notice that tonight, for Ruby, Ivan does the opposite.

If stuck

• What was Ivan hungry for at night in Mack’s house?
• What happened to Tag in the crate?
• Can thinking about one sad thing keep you from thinking about another?

A strong answer A strong response might say the two orders are really one: Tag held on to home until “the vine had finally snapped”, so remembering her is a warning to keep the jungle out. Another might say it did not work, because the next line begins “Still,” and Ivan lay awake wishing for the warmth of another gorilla in a nest of leaves. A careful answer may notice that this is the forgetting Ivan undoes tonight for Ruby.

What it asks It asks the student to read a quiet scene from two sides. Helen has slammed the door and gone, and the young gorilla sleeps in Mack’s bed. Mack’s sleeping sound is like the rumble Ivan’s father made “when all was well”. The student decides who needed the other that night. The scene mirrors tonight, when Ivan stays awake for Ruby, and it sets up the last scene, when Mack comes to the glass.

One reading

Mack was comforting Ivan. Ivan was young and far from his troop, and Mack’s rumble gave him a sound from home.

• Still, he made a sleeping sound like the rumble my father used to make when all was well, a sound from deep inside his belly.

Another reading

Ivan was comforting Mack. Helen had just left after weeks of loud talking, and Mack did not sleep alone that night. With Ivan beside him, he fell asleep and rumbled the way Ivan’s father did when all was well.

• One day, after many weeks of loud talking, Helen packed a bag and slammed the front door and never came back.
• That night, I slept with Mack in his bed.

Listen for

• Uses the rumble, and sees it can point both ways: a sound from home for Ivan, or a sign that Mack slept well beside him.
• Notices what the bed lacks for a gorilla: “without sticks or stars.”
• Does not say why Helen left; Ivan says he never knows the why of humans.
• May link that night to tonight, when Ivan stays awake for Ruby.

If stuck

• What happened with Helen that day?
• What did Mack’s sleeping sound remind Ivan of?
• Can two people comfort each other at the same time?

A strong answer A strong response might say Mack was the comfort: his sleeping sound was like the rumble Ivan’s father made “when all was well,” a piece of home in a bed “without sticks or stars.” Another might say Ivan was comforting Mack, who had just been left after weeks of loud talking and who fell asleep rumbling with Ivan beside him. A careful answer may say each gave the other something that night, and may notice that tonight Ivan is the one awake for someone who misses her family.

What it asks It asks the student to explain an act, not a number. Ivan has just remembered his story for “perhaps the first time ever,” and his mind is still racing. He already knows the count of days, yet he spends the rest of the night marking them, one X at a time, on his painted jungle wall. The student says what the marks do for him tonight. How many years 9,876 days make is not the question.

One reading

Remembering the forest made the long middle of his story real. Knowing a number is not the same as seeing it, and the marks show him how long he has been with humans.

• My story has a strange shape: a stunted beginning, an endless middle.
• And so on, until there are nine thousand eight hundred and seventy-six X’s marching across my wall like a parade of ugly insects.

Another reading

He is an artist, and he wants a picture of what the remembering showed him. He makes it with a marker from Julia, on the only jungle he has left, so the days with humans march across it.

• I take one of the Magic Markers Julia gave me.
• I make an X, a small one, on my painted jungle wall.

Listen for

• Connects the marks to the remembering that came before them, not only to the count.
• Notices where the X’s go: on his “painted jungle wall.”
• Hears Ivan’s own picture of them, “like a parade of ugly insects”, and says what it shows about how he feels.
• Writes in complete sentences, with a reason and a line from the reading.

If stuck

• What has Ivan been doing for most of the night, before he picks up the marker?
• What is on the wall where he makes his marks?
• Is knowing a number the same as seeing it?

A strong answer A strong response gives a reason tied to tonight. A student might argue that remembering the forest made the “endless middle” of his story real, and that seeing the days “like a parade of ugly insects” tells him something the number alone did not. Another might point to where he puts them: an artist marking the days with humans across his “painted jungle wall.” A careful answer may notice that Ivan has forgotten so much yet counts these days “precisely”, and say what that shows about which memories he kept.

What it asks It asks the student to test Mack’s one sentence against the story Ivan has just remembered. Mack pried open the crate, bought Ivan, raised him like a human baby and shared his bed the night Helen left. Then Ivan grew too big for human life and came to the domain. The student decides whether “you and me” is fair: whether those years were shared, or whether Mack made choices that Ivan lived through alone. The reading gives only a sharp smell, a weaving walk, red eyes and the sentence, so the student should not be told what Mack feels.

One reading

Yes. Mack has been in every part of Ivan’s life with humans. He opened the crate, raised Ivan, slept beside him the night Helen left, and tonight he comes to the glass.

• It was Mack who pried open that crate, Mack who bought me, and Mack who raised me like a human baby.
• “Ivan, my man,” he mumbles.

Another reading

No. The hardest parts were Ivan’s alone: the crate where Tag died, the nights hungry for his troop, and the long years in the domain. Mack made the choices, and Ivan lived with them.

• We were still in our crate when she looked at me without seeing, and I knew that the vine had finally snapped.
• Somehow, I didn’t realize I’d be here quite so long.

Listen for

• Tests “you and me” against particular moments: the crate, the bed, the domain.
• Keeps to what the page shows of Mack tonight: the smell, the walk, the red eyes, the words. The reading does not say why.
• Notices where Mack looks: out the window at the empty parking lot.
• Writes in complete sentences, with a reason and a line from the reading.

If stuck

• Name two things Mack did in Ivan’s story.
• Where did Ivan sleep the night Helen left?
• Can two people live through the same years and not go through the same things?

A strong answer A strong response takes a side and answers the other. A student who says yes might point out that Mack has been in every part of Ivan’s story with humans, from the crate he “pried open” to the bed the night Helen left, and that tonight he comes to the glass. A student who says no might argue that the hardest parts, the crate, the nights alone and the long years in the domain, were Ivan’s, and that Ivan lived with choices Mack made. A careful answer stays with what the page gives tonight, a few words and red eyes, and does not decide what Mack feels.

What it asks It asks the whole question of the reading. In the crate Ivan lived by letting his old life die, and in Mack’s house he kept it away on purpose. Tonight, for Ruby, he lets it back in. The memories return a name that was everything to him, a troop and a perfect life. They also show him what forgetting cost and how long the middle of his story has been. The student judges whether remembering is good for Ivan now. The fourth discussion question asked how he kept the jungle out; this one asks whether letting it back in is good for him.

One reading

Yes. Remembering gives Ivan back his name, his troop and the gorilla he was, and it gives Ruby a story so she can sleep. Forgetting kept him alive, but it also left him unsure what he is.

• To a human, Mud might not sound like much. But to me, it was everything.
• Ruby is finally asleep.
• But many days I forget what I am supposed to be.

Another reading

No, or not yet. He stopped remembering for a reason, and tonight leaves his mind racing and nine thousand days marked across his painted jungle. Remembering gives him nothing back, only a clearer view of what he lost.

• Remember what happened to Tag, I told myself. Don’t think about the jungle.
• But my mind is still racing.

Listen for

• Says what forgetting did for Ivan, in the crate and in Mack’s house, before judging what remembering does now.
• Uses one thing remembering gives back (the name Mud, the troop, the nests) and one thing it costs (Tag, a racing mind, the X’s).
• Keeps Ruby in the answer: the remembering started for her, and she falls asleep.
• Writes in complete sentences, with a reason and a line from the reading, and answers the other side.

If stuck

• What did Ivan tell himself at night in Mack’s house?
• What did Ivan’s story do for Ruby?
• Can something be good for you and hurt at the same time?

A strong answer A strong response takes a side, gives a reason and answers the other side. A student who says yes might argue that remembering gives back what forgetting took, a name that was “everything” and a family that taught him “to be kind, be strong, be loyal”, and that Ruby fell asleep to it. A student who says no might point to why Ivan stopped: “Remember what happened to Tag,” he told himself, and tonight leaves his mind “still racing” and a wall of X’s. A careful answer may notice that the reading stops before saying what remembering will do for Ivan, and judges it from what it has done tonight.