Describe at least one important character in the written text(s)
Explain how the character changes throughout the text(s)
‘The Wave’ by Morton Rhue (or Todd Strasser) is a novel based on real events that transpired in a Californian High School during 1967. It follows Ben Ross (based on Ron Jones) and the students of his history class as he performs an experiment upon his students to give them a greater understanding of the true nature of fascism than they would have received through orthodox teaching. In doing so, Ben creates a school sweeping movement (referred to as The Wave) of which he is the leader. This not only makes Ben Ross one of the most important characters in the text but also results in events that will change him throughout the …show more content…
This makes him very well regarded and popular with both his students and fellow teachers alike (though some teachers view him as naïve and yet “…start conducting classes the right way…”). However, Ben Ross does have a tendency to become completely absorbed in his topics and projects. This is demonstrated well later in the text, as he creates the experiment of The Wave; a movement he starts in his senior history class set to mimic that of the Nazi movement for the purpose of teaching the students the true nature of fascism (of which he could not teach by orthodox methods nor understand himself). As The Wave spirals further and further out of hand, Ben gets carried away as the leader of the movement and his personality is drastically affected. Ben becomes more like his teaching peers; he begins to wear a suit to his classes (unlike before) and he becomes much more focused on discipline over enjoyment and accessibility in his classes. Most importantly, Ben becomes considerably more self-centred and egotistical; seeing only the glory he will receive from improving his students’ academic performance through his ‘startling discovery’ as their leader and …show more content…
A key section that shows this would be during Chapter 15 in which both Christy (Ben’s Wife who also teaches at Gordon High like Ben) and Laurie Saunders with David Collins (Ross’ history class students) confront Ben over The Wave. First, Christy comes home from work and confronts Ben on the effect The Wave has had on him and how he has gone overboard with the experiment. She states: “‘I’ve seen you go overboard like this before, Ben. Now you’ve got to turn it off, Honey.’” However, Ben refuses stating: “’If I stop now they’ll all be… confused, and they wouldn’t have learned anything.’” When Christy returns with: “’Well, let them be confused,’” Ben explodes with anger and shouts: “’No… I can’t do that!... I’m their teacher. I was responsible for… this. I admit that maybe I did let this go too long. But they’ve come too far….’” Later in the chapter (after a section around Laurie and David), Christy returns to Ben later in the night. Here, Christy restates that Ben needs to end The Wave, telling him how dangerous it has become for everyone. This time Ben agrees, but states he does not know how to end it so soon. Eventually, Ben thinks of an idea to end The Wave and soon after Laurie and David arrive to confirm what Christy had said. This whole section shows how Ben being put in his place caused him to be humbled and
Explain how the character changes throughout the text(s)
‘The Wave’ by Morton Rhue (or Todd Strasser) is a novel based on real events that transpired in a Californian High School during 1967. It follows Ben Ross (based on Ron Jones) and the students of his history class as he performs an experiment upon his students to give them a greater understanding of the true nature of fascism than they would have received through orthodox teaching. In doing so, Ben creates a school sweeping movement (referred to as The Wave) of which he is the leader. This not only makes Ben Ross one of the most important characters in the text but also results in events that will change him throughout the …show more content…
This makes him very well regarded and popular with both his students and fellow teachers alike (though some teachers view him as naïve and yet “…start conducting classes the right way…”). However, Ben Ross does have a tendency to become completely absorbed in his topics and projects. This is demonstrated well later in the text, as he creates the experiment of The Wave; a movement he starts in his senior history class set to mimic that of the Nazi movement for the purpose of teaching the students the true nature of fascism (of which he could not teach by orthodox methods nor understand himself). As The Wave spirals further and further out of hand, Ben gets carried away as the leader of the movement and his personality is drastically affected. Ben becomes more like his teaching peers; he begins to wear a suit to his classes (unlike before) and he becomes much more focused on discipline over enjoyment and accessibility in his classes. Most importantly, Ben becomes considerably more self-centred and egotistical; seeing only the glory he will receive from improving his students’ academic performance through his ‘startling discovery’ as their leader and …show more content…
A key section that shows this would be during Chapter 15 in which both Christy (Ben’s Wife who also teaches at Gordon High like Ben) and Laurie Saunders with David Collins (Ross’ history class students) confront Ben over The Wave. First, Christy comes home from work and confronts Ben on the effect The Wave has had on him and how he has gone overboard with the experiment. She states: “‘I’ve seen you go overboard like this before, Ben. Now you’ve got to turn it off, Honey.’” However, Ben refuses stating: “’If I stop now they’ll all be… confused, and they wouldn’t have learned anything.’” When Christy returns with: “’Well, let them be confused,’” Ben explodes with anger and shouts: “’No… I can’t do that!... I’m their teacher. I was responsible for… this. I admit that maybe I did let this go too long. But they’ve come too far….’” Later in the chapter (after a section around Laurie and David), Christy returns to Ben later in the night. Here, Christy restates that Ben needs to end The Wave, telling him how dangerous it has become for everyone. This time Ben agrees, but states he does not know how to end it so soon. Eventually, Ben thinks of an idea to end The Wave and soon after Laurie and David arrive to confirm what Christy had said. This whole section shows how Ben being put in his place caused him to be humbled and