The One and Only Ivan Book Club #2

Several members in our group agree that this book is hard to put down (and some of us couldn't stop reading at the agreed-upon pages - that was me this week). But as a group, our conversation stayed within the agreed-upon pages. Tonight, we mostly centered around the topics posed by Dr. Powell:

• the political climate surrounding the setting of the text
• challenges the character(s) face
• author's purpose

We started with the first topic about the political climate. I realized that I don't think the author has really identified a setting in terms of location in the real world (beyond Exit 8) or a year. We know it's at least within the modern day because of the cars, phones, reporters, etc. With this in mind, we tried to piece together what the political climate might have been surrounding Big Top Mall. We discussed how rare circuses and off-the-highway animal stops are (at least seem) these days. Was this in a time where these types of things were more accepted? Though big circuses are largely a thing of the past now, these types of highway stops still exist - but we agreed that we wouldn't want to stop. Additionally, the politics within the characters at Big Top Mall could be identified, as Mack could possibly be considered a dictator within the small business. 

Many of the characters face challenges at this point in the story. Ivan has just lost his best friend (Stella) and has promised to care for and essentially free Ruby - a promise he doesn't think he can keep. Ruby is struggling with adjusting to her new home/job, having to fill the shoes of Stella in Mack's acts. Additionally, Ruby and Mack are both struggling with internal challenges. Ruby has described the story of humans saving her, but also humans killing her family - and now Mack is threatening her with a claw-stick. What does Ruby really think about humans? How can she adjust in this world? Meanwhile, Mack is also struggling internally. The author shows him as a harsh, maybe cruel animal / circus owner. But as the book progresses, we see a different side of Mack before the circus - a side where he showed compassion toward Ivan and had a wife. Now, Mack seems to have fallen on hard times and is acting out of desperation. He clearly doesn't want to do things like hurt Ruby, and it seems he is upset about Stella's death (the author describes him drunk the day after) - but it seems the circus is all he has and he needs to make a living. This also seems to be the situation George is in. He's working a job, doing things he doesn't always agree with, because he "needs the money" to support his sick wife and growing daughter. 

All of the above conversation led us to talk about one potential purpose of the author: to show that humans are both good and bad. She compared overall humanity through Ruby's situation: some humans saved her, others took everything away. And the author also showed good and bad within a single human: in Mack we see the bad and potential good - the struggle he faces and the possible reasons he makes bad choices. 

Because I'm ahead, I'm trying to wait to read more until next week to realign with my group. 

Book Club Reflection 1: The Only and Only Ivan

In our first conversation about The One and Only Ivan, we decided we are still learning about the characters and we have some ideas that there is a deep, potentially sad history with many of them, particularly with Ivan. We identified several hints that Ivan is not happy and that he is possibly suppressing his sad past. For example, Ivan is having a "hard time remembering" the past, yet Stella remembers everything. Ivan also commented that "you can get used to anything" if you do it long enough. Finally, he conveys that other people have drawn him with different emotions; Mack advertises him as an angry gorilla, but he said he doesn't relate to that. Julia draws him, and Ivan notes that her drawings make him look sad - an observation he doesn't dispute.

We also discussed briefly the other characters such as Bob. We wondered why he chooses to be there in the domains, while Ivan, Stella, and now Ruby have no choice. Why does Bob stay when he could be elsewhere? Some of the ideas we discussed are that he has a distrust of humans given his past; and the author has indicated this is likely the case through Bob's comments about humans. We also thought that he views this place with Ivan and Stella as home. He has lived there since he was dumped on the side of the high way.

I'm eager to keep reading! I had to stop myself at our agreed-upon page to honestly and thoroughly discuss ideas with our book club.

Differences vs Deficits

As Adger, et al. (2007) describes, there are two schools of thought about working with those whose language variety differs from the mainstream: the deficit position and the difference position. The first school of thought identifies those with different language as socially and cognitively handicapped. These students generally perform lower on standardized tests, which in the minds of those in the deficit position, confirms this idea. However, what they fail to consider is test bias - students are being tested in a vernacular with which they are unfamiliar. In this way, students are being told to conform to the mainstream English, and because of this, they are set back even though they are not "intrinsically disadvantaged." The second school of thought is the difference position. Those in this position simply view students as different, calling into question those test scores. This position believes that we need to allow language varieties in spoken word and use the student's knowledge of a different vernacular to support their learning of Standard English in reading and writing.

The difference and deficit conversation extends beyond language varieties, however, as exemplified by Souto-Manning & Martell (2016). According to this text, a student who speaks multiple languages and uses all of their resources to communicate, at the expense of correct English, might be thought of as having a deficit. However, according to Souto-Manning & Martell (2016), a deficit is determined by lacking something, being inferior, or not having appropriate development. This would be the case with students of speech and language disorders. However, a student who uses translangualism should not be considered as having a deficit, but as having different strengths. A student who calls upon various languages through their funds of knowledge are able to aptly express themselves. If we limit these students to one language, the language we see as superior, we are missing out on their ideas and insights. Worse, we could be sending them signals that they are inferior.

Both texts highlight the point that the powerful are the ones who determine what is "appropriate" or "correct." Overall, we as teachers need to see students who differ from this mainstream as having their own unique funds of knowledge, their own assets they bring to the classroom to best learn and share ideas.


References

Adger, C., Wolfram, W., Christian, D. (2007). Dialects in Schools and Communities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Souto-Manning, M., & Martell, J. (2016). Reading, Writing, and Talk: Inclusive Teaching      

            Strategies for Diverse Learners, K–2. New York: Teachers College Press. 

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