at the beginnig of the story, we discover that although Ben Ross is a very popular teacher, he is not satisfied with his class's behavior. students are late, they do sloppy jobs on their papers, and they dont pay much attention: "it was the third time that semester he'd talked to them about messy homework".
this information sets the tone for the events to come. how might Ross change the behavior of his students?
In the first chapters of The Wave, Strasser introduces the theme of organization. Mr. Ross complains that his students turn in sloppy work and show up late to class. Laurie has similar feelings when she gets upset that her classmates won’t help her work on the school newspaper. We can tell that Robert is a “loser” (6) because his clothes are disheveled and his manner sloppy.
When Mr. Ross shows the movie about the Nazis, he explains that the Nazis were able to take control of the government partially because they were organized and the rest of the German population was not. Mr. Ross’s explanation foreshadows the role that organization will take in the rest of the book. The students embrace the Wave because it helps them to be disciplined and organized, and this introduces positive changes in their lives.
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-wave/study-guide/summary-chapters-1-2
