-
Period: to
Half Brother
-
Background-Exposition 1
At the zoo, a mother chimpanzee holding her baby is tranquilized and the baby is given to Ben's mother to take home so her husband could perform an experiment seeing how well the chimp could learn sign language. Ben's family has just moved to Victoria, Canada so his father could do the experiment. -
Setting-Exposition 2
The story takes place in Victoria, Canada in early summer. Ben's family just moved there from Toronto, so the area is completely new to Ben. -
Characters-Exposition 3
The characters involved in the exposition of Half Brother are Ben, Mom, Dad, and Zan. The story is told from Ben's perspective and he is clever, persistent, and sensitive. Zan is the baby chimpanzee. He has a close bond with Ben and is also very clever. Ben's dad is a strict scientist who cares about his son but sometimes gets too caught up in his work to pay attention to him. Ben's mom is also a scientist, is somewhat sympathetic, and sides with Ben when it comes to many matters regarding Zan. -
Conflict- Rising Action 1
Ben develops a very close relationship with Zan over the next couple of months. Instead of thinking of him as his pet, he learns to treat him like a little brother. They have lots of fun, and Zan always seems to understand how Ben is feeling. However, Ben doesn't understand that Ben's family won't be able to keep him forever. -
Rising Action 2
Ben and his family go to a picnic with one of Dad's new colleagues. Ben meets Dr. Godwin's (Dad's colleague's) son David and they become friends. He also seees Jennifer (David's younger sister) and he thinks she's really cute. -
Rising Action 3
Ben gets very fond/protective of Zan, expecially when Zan bites Dad because it seemed like he was attacking Mom. Ben's defense was that he was just a baby, but Dad thinks that Zan needs to know who is in charge. So, to show Zan that biting will not be tolerated, Dad bit Zan back. -
Rising Action 4
Ben starts school at Windermere University School (which is private). He has a bit of a hard time academically, but he manages and he makes some new friends, including Jennifer. -
Rising Action 5
Zan learns his first American Sign Language sign on the same day that Ben starts school. This is a good indicator that Dad's project is making progress. -
Rising Action 6
Ben becomes kind of obsessed with Jennifer, to the point where he fills a logbook about things she likes and what he can stay to start a converstaion with her. Even though she can't officially date until she's 16, Jennifer is Ben's boyfriend. -
Rising Action 7
Ben and Jennifer "break up" because Jennifer actually likes Hugh (one of David Godwin's friends) and was only going out with Ben to make him jealous. Suddenly Ben doesn't care about school or a social life anymore, and is only focused on Zan. -
Rising Action 8
Greg, who is an expert linguist, tells Dad that Zan isn't actually learning language. Instead he is just signing words with no sense of grammar or anything, and he is simply imitating words that others have shown him, based on what he knows they want to see. Ben becomes really upset with Dad and tries to convince him that Zan is making progress, but the project is called off. -
Climax
Dad/the university where he works sell Zan to a different university where they do experiments,but not bio-medical ones, on chimpanzees and other animals. It is all the way down in Nevada, and the chimps are under the care of Dr. Helson. -
Falling Action 1
Peter is staying in Nevada to study/keep an eye on Zan. Mom, Dad, and Ben take a trip to personally bring Zan to his new home. Dr. Helson isn't the nicest and seems to believe in "tough love". Mom and Ben are skeptical that it's safe for Zan, but there isn't much they can do about it. -
Falling Action 2
After they leave Zan in Nevada, Ben is depressed. When he doesn't seem to care about anything except Zan's welfare, his parents start sending him to therapy. -
Falling Action 3
When school's out, Ben and his mom drive to Nevada to visit Zan. It turns out Helson has been sending him to other families temporarily to provide therapy. He also put Zan in a cage with the dangerous "dominant male" who knocked Zan's tooth out. -
Falling Action 4
Peter sees a letter to Helson and shows it to Mom. She secretly opens it, and finds that Helson had been discussing the possibility of selling Zan to a bio-medical lab where they test antibiotics on the chimps. This is a serious deal, especially because it was part of the contract Dad signed with Helson that Zan would not be sold to a bio-medical lab. -
Falling Action 5
With the help of Peter, Ben and Mom steal Zan and bring him back to Canada. They then try to buy him back from Dr. Helson, but he won't let them. -
Resolution 1
The media (local news station and newspapers) release the story of Zan, including how Helson was planning to sell him, and Helson's reputation is ruined. If he still tries to demand Zan back, there will be many complaints from others, and he will probably end up going to jail. He sells Zan back to Ben's family for $1. -
Resolution 2
Ben and his family bring Zan to a sanctuary in Florida where Dad signs a contract that will keep him there forever. It seems like it would be a good habitat for chimps to live, and the workers leave them alone unless they're sick. Ben hopes Zan will be happy, but is still sad to leave him there. -
Resolution 3
Ben has a dream that he is talking to Zan, who is really happy in his new home, and tells Ben that he loves him, which is something Zan has never signed before. Then Ben knows everything will be alright.
