The Wave by Todd Strasser (Book Analysis) E-Book

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• Herausgeber: BrightSummaries.com
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Serie: BrightSummaries.com
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 29

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Wave with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!

This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Wave by Todd Strasser, a novel based on real events in an American high school in the 1960s. When Ben Ross, an ambitious young history teacher, is teaching his class about life in Nazi Germany, he is at a loss to explain how so many ordinary Germans stood by while their government committed atrocities. He devises a social experiment to demonstrate the power of authority figures and peer pressure, but before long the movement he has created spirals out of control and becomes more influential then he ever could have imagined. Todd Strasser is an award-winning young adult author, and is known in particular for his thought-provoking treatment of themes including violence, nuclear war and school shootings.

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This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection

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Leseprobe

TODD STRASSER

AMERICAN NOVELIST AND SHORT STORY WRITER

Born in New York in 1950.Notable works:The Wave (1981), novelGive a Boy a Gun (2000), novelCan’t Get There from Here (2004),novel

Todd Strasser was born in New York and travelled around Europe as a young man, before returning to the USA to study literature. He began his writing career with articles and short stories for The New Yorker and The New York Times, and his first novel, Angel Dust Blues, was published in 1978. His books are aimed at young adult readers and address themes such as violence, the problems teenagers face, and social issues. He has also worked on the novelisations of several films, including Home Alone, Jumanji and Free Willy. He shot to global fame with The Wave, and has also enjoyed great success with his Help! I’m Trapped… series (1993-2001).

THE WAVE

A STORY INSPIRED BY REAL LIFE

Genre: novelReference edition: Strasser, T. (2013) The Wave. New York: Ember.1st edition: 1981Themes: experiments, Second World War, Nazism, power, fear, dictatorship, ideology, extremism

The Wave was published in 1981 and is based on real events that took place at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California in 1967. A history teacher, Ron Jones, began an experiment to illustrate how fascist regimes work and demonstrate the attitudes of the German people during the Second World War (1939-1945), but before long his experiment turned into a dangerous game about a leader’s power over their followers. These events remained unknown to the general public until a television movie was made about them, which inspired Strasser’s novel. The Wave has sold over a million copies in Europe and has been studied in German schools for the past 20 years.

SUMMARY

AN UNUSUAL HISTORY CLASS

At Gordon High School, the history teacher Ben Ross waits for his senior pupils to arrive, but feels frustrated by their apparent disregard for punctuality and their homework. He is teaching them about the Second World War, and has decided to show them a documentary about the concentration camps. Afterwards, the pupils all wonder why ordinary Germans did not do more to stop the atrocities. Ben explains to them that “The Nazis might have been a minority, but they were a highly organized, armed, and dangerous minority” (p. 12), but the students seem unconvinced. He wishes he could have explained things better and looks for a clear explanation, but he cannot “find the answer written anywhere” (p. 28). He then devises an experiment that will help them to understand what happened.

Some students, like Laurie, are still shocked by the film. Her boyfriend David reassures her: “It happened once and the world learned its lesson. It’ll never happen again” (p. 21).

When the students come to class the next day, they find a slogan written on the blackboard: “Strength through discipline” (p. 29). Ben explains that the lesson will be about success and power, which catches everyone’s attention. He gives them examples such as sports, dance and art, where results can only be achieved through long years of discipline, hard work and training.