The document provides an overview of the novel The Wave by Todd Strasser. It summarizes that the novel was inspired by a real-life classroom experiment conducted in 1969 by history teacher Ron Jones to teach his students about the rise of Nazi Germany. Strasser's novel tells the story of a similar experiment gone too far at a California high school, showing how students become swept up in an authoritarian youth movement known as "The Wave."

1. The Wave
by Todd Strasser

2. The Wave
 NOVEL: First Published 1981
 Inspired by real-life events written about by Ron Jones
 RON JONES – 1969 history teacher at Cubberley High School
Paolo Alto, California conducted an experiment to teach
students about the Holocaust
 1972 Ron Jones published article ‘The Third Wave’ about this
experiment
 1981 ABC TV made a tele-movie: The Wave
 The Wave by Todd Strasser published the same year

3. The Wave
by Todd Strasser
http://www.toddstrasser.com/html/thewave.htm
‘THE WAVE is loosely based on an essay by Ron Jones that
appeared in a WHOLE EARTH CATALOGUE some time in the
early 1970s. I have never met Mr. Jones. I've been told that
he is the teacher who did the experiment upon which the
book and TV movie are based.
To be honest, I have always wondered if the 'real life'
experiment conducted by Mr. Jones actually went as far
as his essay alleges.
At the same time I firmly believe that whether it did or not is
entirely besides the point.
The point is the message of the story, which serves both as
a reminder of what has passed and a warning regarding
the future.’ -Strasser

4. The Wave
by Todd Strasser
http://www.toddstrasser.com/html/thewave.htm
‘The murder of 6 million Jews (plus
thousands of other "undesirables") may
seem like a distant event from your life.
But it isn't.
Are you aware that similar massacres of
innocent people continue to this day? In
your lifetime it has happened in Eastern
Europe and Africa.
To me, one of the most rewarding
aspects of THE WAVE is knowing that it is
required reading not only in your class,
but in most of Germany as well.’ - Strasser

5. The Wave
film adaptations:
http://www.lessonplanmovie.com/
(Preview of 2010 film 2.58min)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVRXXbU-z7U PART 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXi71XBdh1o PART 2
(ABC version of The Wave from 1981)

6. NOVEL: The Wave
Sits within a significant body of Holocaust literature:
 The Diary of Anne Frank,
 ElieWeisel'sNight,
 Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz
 Art Speigelman'sMaus
 Don DeLillo'sRunning Dog

7. Key literary elements
SETTING
Fictional Gordon High School:
A small suburban community Some
scenes also take place in the
Homes of Ben Ross and Laurie Sanders
Real life event took place in a high school
in Palo Alto, California.

8. Key literary elements
MAIN CHARACTERS
Laurie Saunders
Ben Ross
David Collins
Robert Billings

9. Key literary elements
MINOR CHARACTERS
Mr. GabondiMidge SaundersEricBrad
Amy SmithBrian AmmonDeutsch
Norm SchillerPrincipal OwensBetty Lewis
Carl BlockAlex Cooper Mr. Saunders
Christy RossGeorge SnyderElaine Billings
Unnamed Jewish BoyUnnamed Rabbi
Angry parentsAdolf HitlerJeff Billings

10. Key literary elements
CONFLICT
Protagonist - Laurie Saunders - voice of reason
/protest
Antagonist - The Wave“acting” on its own as its
power grows – Robert Billings best represents the
group mentality of The Wave.
Climax - After a Jewish boy is harassed for refusing
to join The Wave, Laurie as editor-in-chief of The
Grapevine publishes an issue exposing the
troubles caused by the organization. In

11. Key literary elements
CONFLICT cont…
Climax – A Jewish boy is harassed for refusing to
join The Wave, Laurie publishes an exposé in The
Grapevine, in defending The Wave, David
attacks Laurie and sees the error in his ways
Outcome - Ben Ross gathers a rally to introduce
their “real” leader, Adolf Hitler. At the very end,
he tries to salvage Robert Billings' new-found
self-respect.

12. “the banality of evil”
Underlying theme in The Wave: ‘the banality of evil’
 Literary idea that enriches an understanding of The Wave
 Accredited to Hannah Arendt, Jewish writer and philosopher
 Author: Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963) where quote originates from
 Observation: that evil is allowed to occur by everyday people who accept
what they are told by those leaders and believe that what the state does is
justifiable.
 The masses have a responsibility to speak up against power when it
encourages immoral behaviour
 failure to do so is what allows the great atrocities of history, such as the
Holocaust, to occur http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Wave_Strasser/The_Wave_Study_Guide04.html

13. THEMES - Major
 The Appeal of fascism: what makes individuals
want to become a part of a community that
places an authoritarian state above all other
concerns? In what ways are compromises and
excuses made, what advantages are gained
and what freedoms are lost?
 Individualism and the role of the minority (Laurie)
 Equality and egalitarianism
 The desire for power and success
 The proper role of education – fascism and
educational
authorityhttp://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Wave_Strasser/The_Wave_Study_Guide04.html

14. THEMES - Minor
 Mass media and its ability to mould opinions is an
important minor theme of the story, providing
many of the contemporary nuances in the novel
 The nature of social hierarchies in high school: how
some students form an elite while others are
outcasts
nu·ance(näns , ny -, n -äns , ny -). n. 1. A subtle or slight degree
of difference, as in meaning, feeling, or tone; a gradation.
Nuance is a small or subtle distinction.
http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Wave_Strasser/The_Wave_Study_Guide04.html

15. MOOD, TONE, ATMOSPHERE
Mood = feeling / emotion conveyed
Tone = imagine the words spoken; describe the tone of voice
 The novel is serious in tone
 Carries a sense of journalistic reportage - like a
docudrama; somber, journalistic
 This „docudrama‟ mood/atmosphere is achieved
by the sparse, straightforward style of writing and
the novel's basis in real life events.
http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Wave_Strasser/The_Wave_Study_Guide04.html

16. SYMBOLISM & METAPHOR
Motif & Imagery
THE WAVE IMAGERY
 Building momentum, enveloping, drowning
 Unstoppable force of nature that sweeps up and
over everything in its path
 Strength and inevitability, yet lack of thoughtful
discrimination and futility of resistance
MOTIF: a recurring subject, theme, idea, especially in a literary,
artistic, or musical work.
http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Wave_Strasser/The_Wave_Study_Guide04.html

17. SYMBOLISM & METAPHOR
Motif & Imagery
 A key motif tied to this image of The Wave are its
three slogans, all emphasizing strength but
rhetorically empty in meaning
 Hence: water is fluid and can slip through one's
fingers, impossible to grasp. Similarly, the
empowering slogans and rhetoric of The Wave is
as elusive as water, impossible to contain and
clearly define.
RHETORIC: (in writing or speech) is the undue use of
exaggeration or display; bombast. The study of effective
speaking and writing: the art of persuasion.The ancient art
of argumentation and discourse
http://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Wave_Strasser/The_Wave_Study_Guide04.html

18. SYMBOLISM & METAPHOR
Key Motifs
 Mass Media – national publications
(Spiderman/Time; voice of dissidence from
Gordon Grapevine)
 The Gordon Grapevine Staff – anarchic, fun-
loving, challenging
 The football team – dysfunctional & disparate
 The Rallys– mirroring history
 The dinner table – community discussion of pros
and cons
 The role of film – creator and destroyerhttp://thebestnotes.com/booknotes/Wave_Strasser/The_Wave_Study_Guide04.html

19. IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS
SUMMARY
Title: The Wave
Author: Todd Strasser
Published: 1981
Title Meaning : The group created by
Ben Ross as an experiment in fascism.
Setting: Gordon High School.
Genre: Drama.
Protagonist: Laurie Sanders.
Antagonist: The Wave.

20. IMPORTANT / KEY FACTS
SUMMARY
•Mood: Somber, journalistic.
•Point of View: Third person omniscient.
•Tense: Simple past tense.
•Major Themes: The appeal of fascism,
the individual versus the community, the
desire for power and success, the role of
education and its authority.
•Minor Themes: Mass media and its
ability to mold opinions, social
hierarchies in school.

21. The Wave PLOT & CONFLICT
 Exposition: The Waveis created by Ben Ross in an
attempt to show his history class how Nazism took
root among the German people.
 Rising Action: The Wavegrows in popularity, as
members seek out to recruit others to their
organization.
 Climax: The harassment of non-Wave members is
exposed by the school newspaper, as a Jewish boy
is bullied in the name of The Wave.
 Outcome: Ben Ross shows The Wavemembers
footage of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi youth
movement, shocking them out of The Wave's hold
and apologizing for his own role in creating this
experiment.

22. Intertextual Links - Film
 Starship Troopers – satiric film that borrows from
WWII history
 The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
 Shindler’s List
 Inglorious Basterds – Controversial satiric film
that twists history into a preferred version of
events
 Valkyrie