The Wave by Todd Strasser is about a classroom experiment that changes an entire school. The experiment, called “The Wave,” is started by a history teacher that wants to explain things to his students in a new way. It quickly spreads, turning the school similar to the Third Reich. After seeing what it has become, the “leader” put it to a stop. Every character was impacted. Two of these characters were Laurie Saunders and Robert Billings. I feel that these two were the most impacted by the Wave. Robert Billings was impacted mostly in a good way by the Wave. Before it began, he was the class loser, and lived in the shadow of his “perfect” older brother. He was picked on by his classmates, and slacked off in class. The Wave changed his behavior,
Horace Mann grew up in the small town of Franklin, named after Benjamin Franklin for donating a large amount of books. Mann was poor into a poor family, only allowing him to go to school for a short period of time, so he went to the library a lot. As he got older, he went to Brown University and became a lawyer. As president of the Senate in Massachusetts, he helped the mentally ill and moved on to becoming the Secretary of Education. He helped all children receive a full education, unlike himself, created normal
He felt almost as if he were coming out of a trance. What had possessed him these last few days that could cause him to do something so stupid?” This quote shows me that David is in shock. He got frightened by his own actions. He no longer had a voice to speak for himself. The Wave was pushing him to fulfill certain actions. He then realizes that The Wave has possessed him to do certain things he would never even think about. He hurt his own girlfriend, the one he loved, in the name of The Wave. At this moment, both Laurie and David agree that The Wave has to end before anyone else gets hurt. Even though this was a classroom experiment, they now both perceive that it is causing harm in many ways. People are losing their individuality and are relying on The Wave to make the choices and actions for them. David obviously did not mean to do this, which is why it is obvious that The Wave has gotten out of
Gloria Ladson-Billings is an author, teacher educator and former public school teacher. Currently, she is the Chair of the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and Faculty Affiliate of the Departments of Educational Policy Studies and Afro American Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Ladson-Billings wrote numerous journal articles and books on pedagogical practices of teachers who are successful with African American students and the Critical Race Theory in regards to education.
Eventually Laurie persuades her boyfriend (Wave member) that ‘The Wave’ is out of control and he agrees after nearly injuring her is a disagreement about the experiment. The two then take to Mr Ross to stop the social assesment, he
The narratorś backstory is tragic. To simplify it, his home town was undergoing a typhoon, he and his best friend K had decided to travel down to the beach while they had been in the eye of the storm. While they were scavenging the beach the narrator described it as “ strange “. “I do recall that my voice sounded strange to me, as though it belonged to someone else”( Murakami 137). As he had watched a wave start to form his first instinct was to run.
The narrator is hesitant in his first interactions with the wave, as humans often are in love, and may be intimidated by the idea of romantic love.
Growing up in school, when “Dewey” was mentioned, one more than likely thought of the Dewey decimal system, which was used in libraries. However, that system was created by Melvil Dewey, and while he was an important person, there was another Dewey that impacted education in extraordinary ways. That man is known as John Dewey. John Dewey shaped the education system that we have today by reconstructing the progressive education. Dewey was a philosopher, and educational theorist who used experimentalism, as well as many other theories to change the way the American Education system was done. He lived during the time period where traditional and progressive education were coming together, so he used both to create his own personal philosophies. Once of his major philosophies was relating learning to society. Additionally, he used dualism as an approach to his philosophies that changed the education system. He impacted today’s education system in many ways, with his different ideas still being seen in school’s today. Incorporating multiple subjects into school’s, as well as taking a hand’s on learning approach are two theories that while many other philosophers believed in as well, Dewey used to develop the education system. John Dewey was a model citizen, that benefited society and the American education system in a variety of ways.
An important idea in The Wave is ‘words can be used for harm or for good’. This idea means that words can be used to hurt people mentally and create bad things, but, at the same time can cheer a person up and change their life in a good way. The confusing thing is, is that good words can also be bad. For example, if someone said that they won their basketball game and you said ‘good’, then that would be a good thing to say. It’s also quite the same with harmful words. In The Wave, this conundrum is used in a smart way. For example, Ben Ross is taking his first class with The Wave as a base when he introduces the line,
First, Laurie and David’s dialogue during the first stages of The Wave helps describe their original beliefs and thoughts on the new idea. For example, during the first stages of The Wave, Laurie discusses her thoughts with her peers. “ ‘‘I don’t know,’ Laurie said, ‘ But doesn’t it feel a little weird?’... ‘Thats whats so great about The Wave.’ Amy replied. ‘You don’t have to
Laurie feels nobody recognizes her anymore during the wave movement; therefore she is brave by denying it. When Laurie goes to the football game her friends notice she refuses to give
Paz describes the wave’s insatiable appetite for attention and understanding in an almost unimaginable way. He gives the wave a personality all her own as if to point out that no emotions like hers exist in the human realm. Water is in constant motion and becomes riled when attacked by wind and lightening. It reacts and becomes tempestuous and the reader can see where the wave might resemble a human woman. But she is reactionary at best and tries their relationship.
For this past independent reading assignment I read the book The Wave by Todd Strasser. This novel details the social experiment a high school history teacher, Ben Ross, performs on his students during a unit on World War II. After Mr. Ross shows his students a video of the tragedy that took place during the Holocaust and his students are relatively unaffected by it, he attempts to make them understand how people could turn a blind eye to injustice by starting his experiment, The Wave. Mr. Ross’s students do not know they are being used in an experiment,but the movement gains popularity across the school. One of the students, Laurie Saunders, realizes that The Wave has gained too much power. When Laurie receives a letter to publish in her newspaper
“‘Robert, what are you doing?’ Mr. Ross asked. ‘Mr. Ross, I’m your bodyguard,’ Robert announced” The mood of this part of the novel is confused. I am completely baffled that students like Robert have taken the wave so far as to wanting to be a bodyguard for the teacher that started The Wave. This is very confusing to me and left me thinking about how weird The Wave has become.
Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala is a life taking memoir where Sonali watched her whole family be swept away before her eyes being the only one to tell her tale. Throughout the book Sonali deals with depression and anxiety after finding out what was the cause of her family's death, A tsunami. She later explains her feelings and difficulties without her family being by her side. Relying on friends she slowly gets better by facing the one place she wanted to forget ,Sri Lanka. This was just the beginning for Sonali.
When thinking about all of the many people who made an impact on education, it was hard to just pinpoint one. So many people throughout history have made lasting impressions on school, education and child psychology. From making schools public, to looking at different ways teachers should teach students, to looking at how children learn. All discoveries of people who came before us and made a huge impact on education, which we still see in many schools today. Education is immensely important for a working society, and we have many people to recognize and thank for seeing that importance and making education what it is today.