In a world where a mysterious alien race has besieged Earth- survival is the ultimate goal. 95% of the world’s population was not able to achieve this goal; Cassie Sullivan is one of the “lucky” ones. The “others,”as the humans call them, set up five waves to eradicate the human race. Surviving the first wave wasn’t too difficult, it was, after all, just an EMP strike. The second wave really shook the world, literally. The aliens set the Earth’s tectonic plates in motion, causing thousands of off-the-chart earthquakes. The tsunamis that spurred from these quakes were detrimental; killing about 50 percent of the world’s overall population. The third wave proved to be the most emotionally devastating. A gruesome plague- created by the aliens of course- afflicted roughly 97 percent of the remaining four billion people. The virus was spread by various types of the world’s bird population. Humans that did manage to live through the third wave wish they hadn’t; the fourth wave would wither away an already ravaged human population. The fourth wave would enlighten humans on something: aliens were walking among them, and the aliens were slaughtering any prevailing humans. “After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one” (Yancey). Some people may ask what the fifth wave entails, well to find out, those people have to read the book.
The 5th Wave is written in sections, differing the viewpoint at each new section. Cassie, the main protagonist, constitutes most of the sections. Cassie’s crush since grade school, Ben Parish, is the other major viewpoint in the book.
Cassiopeia Marie Sullivan, 16 years old, has ...
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...; it allowed for readers to be up-to-date on everything each character experienced. I definitely feel that people interested in sci-fi themed books should read The 5th Wave. The overall plot in very entertaining, with some unnecessary teen romance here and there. The complexity of the book structure, however, is intended for an older, more mature audience. The 5th Wave is rife with mystery from beginning to end. The perplexing ending leaves readers wanting to explore the soon to be printed sequel. Rick Yancey incorporates some childlike details, while maintaining a complicated structure- a read that a person of any age would enjoy.
Works Cited
Cronin, Justin. "When the Ship Comes In." The New York Times Book Review 12 May 2013:
17(L). Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 Dec. 2013.
Yancey, Rick. The 5th Wave. New York City: The Penguin Group, 2013. N. pag. Print.
And when it became clear to us that things were bad, the rest of the world still lacked comprehension.. We don’t see our own vulnerability until we’re standing knee-deep in mud in our basements” (Knufken 510-512). Her frustration about the desensitization of disasters and people’s reaction towards them is portrayed through statements such as this one. A different form of frustration is also noticed when she claims that she “wanted to help, but the rain wouldn’t stop. All I could do, all any of us could do was watch and wait, watch and wait"(Knufken 510-512). Her tone of frustration at this point is due to her reflection upon the inability which she had to help, her powerlessness and the lack of ability which all of the victims of this disaster had. This tone continues throughout most of the essay as she compares disasters such as this flood, to being another face in the crowd of headlines. She furthers this frustration by stating that “today alone, I read in the news that 260,000 people had to evacuate Kyoto due to a typhoon. In Washington’s Navy Yard, someone murdered 13 people with a gun. There’s the new episode of “Breaking Bad” and the threat of war in Syria. every headline screams to be first in line. Everything is a crisis” (Knufken
A.D., covering only a few days in 2005 and brief reports from Denise and others in 2008, concentrates mostly on the traumatic event, Katrina, rather than the coping or not coping with physical and psychic disorders. It lingers as an unexplained unexpected horror that left deep scars on both Denise and New Orleans. Denise, who has the fullest experience of it, comes closest to suggesting a remedy for, a happy ending, to trauma: she works, not broods, helps others and herself in practical ways like with the battered women Katrina survivors work, and she, at the very end of A.D. feels for the many people whose journey into trauma has been a one-way misery. The graphic novel may have a general message of the will to survive, of hope, but the main impact clearly is of the power and even mysterious effects of the event.
The 5th Wave follows two main characters, Cassie and Ben, and two supporting characters, Sammy and The Silencer. It starts with Cassie's point of view on the alien infringement; she calls them The Others. There were five waves of the alien attack. The first wave was an electric shock sent out at 11 a.m. that killed a half million people. The second wave was more complicated; The Others dropped a gigantic metal rod on a fault line causing anyone who lives sixty miles of any fault to explode. There goes 40 percent of the population. The third wave was a disease carried by bird to make one bleed out. Cassie's father estimated that 97 percent of the world was dead with only the immune left to survive. The fourth wave was knowing to trust no one. The fifth wave? Well, everyone might just figure that out a little too late.
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Ellis, Edward Robb., and Jeanyee Wong. The Epic of New York City. New York, NY: Carroll & Graf, 2005. Print.
The human race is obsessed with its own demise. We are mesmerized by tragic events, particularly natural disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes. There is not a country in the world that has not experienced some catastrophic natural disaster. In 2011 alone, there was Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, another earthquake in New Zealand, the twister outbreak in the US, and massive flooding in Australia, all which contributed to making 2011 “one of the costliest years for natural disasters” (Llanos, 2011). Natural disasters show no prejudice; they can affect anyone, in any country, at anytime. Therefore, it is not surprising that the end of the Winter Solstice marking the end of the 13th Maya Calendar, on December 21, 2012 has generated an international interest.
Meyer, Michael, ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. Print.
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. “The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W Norton &, 2014. Print.
The tone of The 5th Wave switches through the book, due to the different perspectives, but it is mainly suspenseful and on-edge. Cassie is on the run and putting everything she has into survival, so her tone is oven stressful and apprehensive. Where as the tones from Ben and Sammy are more serious, they are fighting and surviving Camp Haven, make their tone more anxious. This story has good imagery, but it could be better. I could clearly picture all the settings, like the camps, Evan's house, Cassie's house, etc. The characters were also described with detail and throughout the entire novel I can picture the fight for survival and everything I need to see, so I think the imagery was well done. I feel that this book had very good diction. The
Fans of the novel found that the way the novel is written, you never want to put it down and the action keeps things moving and is quite entertaining. The novel pulls you in and makes you love each of the main characters in it. This is a great series for anyone to read, and it is audience friendly for whoever reads them. There is quite a bit of suspense that will make the novel exceed readers 's expectations, and the twists and turns keeps you guessing and lets nothing be predictable. Some like the way this group of people bands together when they really need to and keep things together so they can all stop the
Wallis, David. "Coming Home From War to Hit the Books." NY Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2014. .
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Harmon, William, William Flint Thrall, Addison Hibbard, and C. Hugh Holman. A Handbook to Literature. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.
Crane, Stephen. “The Open Boat.” The Norton Anthology of American Literature, Eighth Edition, volume C. Ed. Mary Loeffelholz. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 2012. 990-1006. Print
Throughout history we have experienced disasters as individuals and groups; caused by events such as fires, natural disasters, rape, murder, school shootings, terrorist attacks and bombings where numerous first responders have lost their lives. During one of the deadliest days in history, Thomas Burnett Jr. was on United Flight 93 which was hijacked after leaving Newark International Airport. Mr. Burnett placed a call to his wife and said “I know we are all going to die. There is three of us who are goin...