How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Even now some of the students were starting to fool around. The misery and horror depicted in the film must have seemed like just another television program. (2.8)
Ben is challenged to look for a more effective way to communicate information on the Holocaust to his students. Their who-cares attitude suggests that the film just isn't cutting it in the communication department.
Quote #2
Was this something historians knew that words could not explain? Was it something one could only understand by being there? Or, if possible, by re-creating a similar situation? (4.2)
People who write and talk about the Holocaust sometimes get the feeling that no words or pictures can ever adequately describe it. In fact, theorist Theodor Adorno claims that "to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric" – not even the most expressive form of communication can cut it.
Quote #3
"Maybe you're becoming a guinea pig in your own experiment," she said. Although she made it sound like a joke, she hoped he'd take it as a warning. (7.40)
The Wave spends a lot of time looking at how people who care about each other communicate. Ben's wife Christy is worried about what her husband is doing, but she doesn't want to offend him. She makes what sounds like a joke, hoping he will read between the lines and understand what she is really trying to tell him. Of course, as the situation gets direr, she gets blunter. Whatever works, Christy!