Wonder

Intended Learning Outcomes:

- Learning to do close reading
- Analyzing fictional elements in the novel
- Exploring themes and topics
- Writing about fiction
 Before we start…
Warm-up Activity:
Defining “Ordinary”
• Take 5 minutes to write down what is
“normal” to you.
• Do you think that being normal is good or
bad?
• Have you ever tried to defy (違抗) being
normal?
• What makes you unique from your peers?
• Discuss in a group.

• Read Page 3 of the book aloud with the

teacher.
• Why does August yearn to be "ordinary"?
 Background:

The book was published in 2012. The novel was written in

English and translated into 29 other languages for worldwide
sales.
It was still a top seller when the film was released in 2017,
when it sold 5 million copies in combined book and e-book
units in the United States alone.

‘I think almost everyone will relate to this influential story.’

‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and when you turn the last page over,
you’ll want to read it again!’
– From the Guardian
 The Author:
R.J. Palacio is an American writer. She began
her career as an illustrator, designing covers
for both fiction and non-fiction books. For
the first two decades of her career, she
wrote books at night after her day job as a
designer.
Wonder was her breakthrough novel. It was
inspired by an incident where her son
started to cry after noticing a girl with a
severe facial deformity.
The book was adapted into a movie in 2017,
starring Juliet Roberts and Owen Wilson.
 The Author’s Goal

Palacio’s goal in writing the book was

to promote empathy, which she calls
“the antithesis (對立) of bullying”
(Walsh, 2013, p. 1).

Empathy: “the ability to understand and share the

feelings of another.”

Discussion:
What does she mean by saying "empathy is
the antithesis of bullying"?
Do you agree with the author's notion?
What else can be done to prevent bullying, in
your opinion?
 The Story:
• It is a story about a 10-year-old boy named August
Pullman, who has a facial ________. Despite the 27
operations done for his face, he will never look normal.
• August had been homeschooled since he was small,
and he is remarkably smart for children of his age. This
story begins with August going to a school called
Beecher Prep to begin his fifth grade.
• The story brings out all the ups and downs he faces
from his first day of school until his graduation.
 Setting:

The Pullman Family lives in Upper

Manhattan in New York City. August
Pullman’s middle school, Beecher Prep,
is within walking distance from home.

The Beecher Prep school is a private

middle school, which means August's
parents are educated, or of upper class.
Characters:
August: A 10-year-old boy who has an unusual
look and has multiple surgeries done to his face.
Via: August’s sister who is going to high school.
She is loving and caring, but she sometimes
feels neglected by her parents because of their
attention to August.
Julian: August’s classmate who bullies August
Quick Discussion:
because he is “ugly”. Any characters you find familiar in your life?
Jack Will: August’s classmate who befriends Any character that best represents you?
August despite his look, but he still tries to
please Julian sometimes.
Summer: One of the classmates who is brave
enough to accept August from the beginning.
Justin: Via’s boyfriend.
Miranda: Via’s former best friend, also a good
friend of August.
Close Reading Exercise 1
The Book Title: Wonder

• “Wonder” by Natalie Merchant

• Watch the music video. What do you find
memorable? What are your impressions of
the actresses? Why are there only
actresses?
• How are the lyrics related to the book?
 Unique Storytelling Technique: Multiple POV
• The point of view of a story is very important as is discussed in Week 1.
• The story features the voices of five characters other than Auggie, all with their
own conflicts, offering multiple opportunities for readers to empathize with
characters.
• While Auggie is the obvious, visible outsider, other characters also struggle with
wanting to fit in and be accepted.

Reading and Discussion:

Read the first page of at least 3 characters’ narration. What are they like?
What kind of effect is being created when 5 different characters use first-person
point of view to tell stories about August’s first year at school?
 A Unique Storytelling Technique:
Multiple POVs
Part I: August Part 2: Via Part 3: Summer Part 4: Jack

Part 5: Justin Part 6: August Part 7: Miranda Part 8: August

Q1. Whose POV you wish to read but is not there?

Q2. Why is it that August’s parents’ POV is not included?
Close-reading:
Characters & Characterization (dialogue, action, appearance):
• August, the 10-year-old Activity 1:
protagonist, suffers from a unique “My name is August. I won’t
genetic disorder (Treacher Collins describe what I look like. Whatever
Syndrome) and has undergone over you’re thinking, it’s probably
20 surgeries. worse” (Palacio, 2012, p. 3).
• He was home schooled until her
parents decide he should go to the
middle school like other children. How do you imagine the main
• The story unfolds from this character, August, looks like?
transitional period of home schooling Can you try to draw his face?
to regular schooling.
Treacher Collins syndrome or known as
mandibulofacial dysostosis
• A rare genetic disorder
characterized by distinctive
abnormalities of the head and
face.
• cleft palate
• small jawbone
• disproportionately large mouth
• small or absent cheekbones
• large and pointed nose
• droopy misshaped eyes with
notched lower lids
• absent lower eyelashes
• absent floor of the eye sockets
• low-set, misshapen, small or
absent ears
• deformities of the ear canal
• conductive hearing loss or
conductive deafness, caused by
malformations of inner ear
structures.
Close reading:
Characterization (appearance):
August’s Appearance: Activity 2:
Appearance is an important part of Read/Listen to Via’s
characterization. There are direct description
description of August’s face
and indirect description of August’s
appearance in the book. Sometimes people’s (Palacio, 2012, p. 88).
reaction to a character’s appearance can also
be a part of great characterization. Can you try to draw his face
Read p. 88-89 with the teacher again with Via’s description?
Via: August through the Peephole
 Wonder: the 2017 movie
Meet the characters
• Movie Trailer

• Was your imagined August similar to/very different from the movie’s August?
• What does it tell you about reading a book and watching a movie?

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 TV star and disability campaigner Jono Lancaster helps
create guide for parents on facial disfigurement

Treacher Collins Syndrome TV star and disability campaigner Jono Lancaster has
helped create a new guide for families in the hope of
normalising facial difference and opening up the
conversations to have with children.
Boy living with Treacher Collins has 53 surgeries by
age 11: 20/20
Characterization (appearance):
August’s Appearance: Activity 3:
As mentioned above, sometimes reaction to a How do these characters’ description
character’s appearance can also be a part of great or reaction of August’s appearance
characterization. tell you about their own personalities?
Read p. 28-29 for the dialogue among Julian, Jack,
Charlotte and August during the school tour
Then watch the clip. Do you see any potential conflicts? Use 1-2 adjectives to describe Julian,
Jack, Summer, & Justin. Share
Read p. 119-120 (Summer), p. 127 (Summer) with the which sentence or paragraph helps
teacher you draw this conclusion about the
Summer: Weird Kids, The Plague, Warning: This Kid is Rated R character.
Read p. 139-141 (Jack Will)
Jack: Why I changed my mind
Read p. 187 with the teacher
Justin: Olivia’s Brother
Via's first chapter:
Via's first chapter:
Via's first chapter:
What does it say about Via’s character? It seems that
she is somehow forced to accept the situation… Is it
normal to feel like Via’s? Do you think she is still a good
sister if she thinks in this way?
Summer's first chapter:
Summer's first chapter:
Justin, Via's boyfriend's first chapter
Justin, Via's boyfriend's first chapter
Close reading – What is it?
• citing “specific textual evidence” to “support conclusions drawn from
the text,”
• you’re looking at both what the text says
(its content), and how the text says what it says by
Paying attention to imagery, figurative language
Etc.
 Plot Patterns:
Freytag’s Pyramid (Technique of the Drama)
 Analyzing plot development:
1. What conflicts does the story include?
- conflicts of one character against another?
- conflicts of one character against society?
- conflicts of one character against setting?
- internal conflicts?
2. Are the conflicts resolved? How are they resolved?
 Analyzing plot development:
1. What conflicts does the story include?
- conflicts of one character against another?
August and Julian, August and Jack Will (The “Bleeding Scream” Scene),
Via and August
- conflicts of one character against society?
August’s family vs. society
- conflicts of one character against setting? August vs. School
- internal conflicts? August’s need to grow out of the domain of the family
2. Are the conflicts resolved? How are they resolved?
 Analyzing plot development:
2. Are the conflicts resolved? How are they resolved?
One may argue that these conflicts are resolved in the following ways:
The conflict between Julian and August: Julian, the bully, loses and leaves school.
The conflict between Jack Will and August: August and Jack become even better friends after
the “Halloween” incident. They are more truthful to each other.
The conflict between Via and August: Via gets love and recognition from her boyfriend. Via
also gets her parents’ attention through her stage performance. Her parents also recognize her
needs as a child.
August’s inner conflict:
1) He makes friends, learns at school, and learns to adapt to the new environment. (Watch
the ending.)
2) He is shaken by the dog’s (Daisy) death, realizing that ”not everything in the world is about
himself” (220).
Looking at Wonder from Erickson’s Staging

• August’s story is situated in a transitional period

• Transitioning from Stage 4 to Stage 5 (identity v role
confusion)
• Important events: School & Social Relationship

Indeed,
• August is constructing his identity beyond his family relations now.
• At school, his feeling of ________________ could be potentially harmful.
• Hence, establishing friendship with Summer and Jack Will is beneficial.
• Fortunately, August enjoys a very good relationship with his parents and sister,
giving him sufficient self-esteem to face challenges at school.
 Erickson's Human Development: Childhood

• Erickson's landmark work (1950) on the

social significance of childhood.
• The book deals with the relationships
between childhood training and cultural
accomplishment, analyzing the infantile
and the mature, the modern and the
archaic elements in human motivation.
 Erickson’s key arguments:
The important role of parents/caregivers
• In his study, Erikson describes how the events
experienced during childhood affect the healthy
development of the individual's personality.
• “Every adult, whether he is a follower or leader, a member
of a mass or of an elite, was once a child. He was once
small. A sense of smallness forms a substratum in his
mind, ineradicably. His triumphs will be measured against
this smallness, his defeats will substantiate it” (1963, p.
404).
• “The child, because of his immature equipment, has no
way of differentiating between inner and outer, real and
imagined, dangers: he has yet to learn this, and while he
learns, he needs the adult’s instruction” (p.
408).
 Erickson’s key arguments:
The important role of parents/caregivers
• The individual develops a trusting personality on the
basis of the care given by the caregiver. Inefficient
caregivers result in a personality that is less trusting
of others, and hostile.

• Compare: August’s parents & Julian’s parents

• August’s parents are caring, attentive, democratic:
For example, they discuss about their children’s
education a lot. [textual evidence: p. 8-9, 10-14, 31, 82-
83, 206-207]
Video: August’s conversation with mom
Video: Julian’s parents reacting to his bullying behaviour
 Erickson’s key arguments:
The role of childhood experiences
• As the child grows, gains autonomy, takes initiative, the child spins
a concept of his/her personality.
• If the child experiences positive moments, receives proper
guidance and support, then the child develops a healthy personality
which continues into adulthood. If the child encounters a number of
negative experiences such as abuse, then the child's personality
will be adversely affected with negative characteristics.
• In Wonder, August is very fortunate to have a supportive and loving
family (parents, Via, and the dog). This gives him confidence and
wisdom to face negative experiences at school. You may even
argue that August is able to __________________ into positive
ones because of the inner strength built in the first ten years of his
existence. (He has a great sense of humour, for example, to win
him supporters and friends.)
 Erickson’s key arguments:
The role of society and culture
• In his study, Erikson describes the development of personality
and the effect of society and culture. The manner in which a
child is brought up affects his personality, and the way the child
is brought up depends, to a great extent, upon the culture and
social context.
• When analysing Wonder, you should also pay attention to
August’s family background (upper middle class), the social
context (urban America), the school (private school), and
history (contemporary, first world context).
Erickson’s theory application
• August’s inner world & social world
• We can view this book as an ____________ story of a child’s
_____________________________________________________.
However, the process that everyone goes through is complicated by
August’s condition: having an “abnormal face”. This determines that
his initiation is not going to be smooth.
 Responses (Book Reviews on Wonder):
“Face up to it” (An excerpt) – The New York Times
Stories about unusual children who long to fit in can be particularly wrenching. At their core
lurks a kind of loneliness that stirs primal fears of abandonment and isolation. But Palacio gives
Auggie a counterweight to his problems: He has the kind of warm and loving family many “normal”
children lack. Among their — and the book’s — many strengths, the Pullmans share the, um,
earthy sense of humor that all kids love. Over the years his parents, Nate and Isabel, have turned
the disturbing story of Auggie’s birth into high comedy involving a flatulent nurse who fainted at the
sight of him, and they persuade him to go to Beecher by riffing hilariously on the name of the
school’s director, Mr. Tushman. It also helps that the Pullmans’ world — they live in a town house
in “the hippie-stroller capital of upper Upper Manhattan” — is the privileged, educated upper-
middle class, that hotbed of parents who hover and micromanage the lives of their perfectly fine
children. It’s somehow weirdly satisfying to see what happens when something actually alarming
enters this zone of needless anxiety. Palacio carves a wise and refreshing path, suggesting that
while even a kid like August has to be set free to experience the struggles of life, the right type of
closeness between parents and children is a transformative force for good (Russo, 2012).
A tip for writing: you can use parts of this secondary reading to support your
argument if you are to write about the importance of parental influence on a child’s
development.
 Responses (Book Reviews on Wonder):
“A light touch with weight” (An excerpt) – The Guardian
There are enough novels describing the experiences of the severely disadvantaged to
make the inevitable storyline immediately apparent. After encountering ignorance,
discrimination and hostility, the sweet-natured Auggie will gradually win sympathy and
acceptance, and ultimately triumph over circumstances. Wonder does not depart from
this basic model. All the more impressive, then, that it finds ways to make the story
hugely compelling as well as moving. It makes ordinary things extraordinary. Simple
events of the school year – Halloween, science projects, an outward bound trip, an end-
of-term show – become unpredictable dramas, some desperately upsetting, some
triumphantly joyful. But more striking still, it makes the extraordinary ordinary again,
allowing the "Freak" to become Auggie Pullman, a kid at a school (Mason, 2012).

A tip for writing: you can quote parts of this secondary reading to support your
argument if you are to write about the wonderful storytelling of the book. You can
elaborate how the book “makes ordinary things extraordinary” and link it to August’s
notion of “ordinary”.
 A tip for writing:
can quote some of this book review to start a discussion on point of view.
Responses (Book Reviews on Wonder):
“A light touch with weight” (An excerpt) – The Guardian
There are technical reasons for this success. The radically short chapters – many shorter
than paragraphs in other books – inject speed into the narrative and keep the focus on
telling incidentals. The decision to tell the story from the perspectives of several
characters opens up startling new views on Auggie and shifts him from centre stage to
where he much more interestingly belongs – among his peers. It's a pity, perhaps, that
Palacio didn't give voice to Auggie's worst tormenter, the stuck-up bully Julian Albans, but
there are terrific contributions from Jack, who has problems becoming Auggie's best
friend; Via, Auggie's older sister, struggling with her first year of high school; and Miranda,
Via's ex-best friend, who has powerful but barely understood feelings for Auggie. Each
account is different but all are vivid. Palacio has a great ear for dialogue, a sharp eye for
detail and an instinctive sense of comedy. All this makes her an expert chronicler of
ordinariness – and this, paradoxically, is what makes her story of an extraordinary boy so
wonderful. (Mason, 2012).
Discussion:
• Some scholars criticize Wonder for having treated the issue of
disability in a simplistic way.

• Some critics also argue that the solutions of the deep-rooted

problems of school bullying come too easily in the book.

• Do you agree with them?

 Wonder
On Childhood:
Possible topics:
Discrimination, Social Identity, Norm and Disabilities, Living in Diversity
Themes and Topics:
• Discrimination & School Bullying
• Social Identity
• Norm and Disabilities
• Living in Diversity
• Friends and family
• The need to fit in when you are
at school
School Bullying: a persistent, controversial issue
Key issues: Bullying
• Do you think August
• What kind of bullying have handled these incidents well? Do
August faced throughout his you think August has developed
fifth grade? amid these episodes? Think about
Physical bullying ("Alien")
how he handled these incidents.
•
• Verbal bullying ("Alien")
• Social bullying
• Cyber bullying
Disabilities in Film and Fiction:
Notre-Dame de Paris Me before You
Disfigured Faces in Film and Fiction:
The Joker The Phantom of the Opera
Disfigured Faces in Film and Fiction:
The Elephant Man (1980) Edward Scissorhands (1990)
 Key issues: facial disfigurement discrimination
• Disfigurement holds a variety of _______________ meanings, almost all
of which are negative.
• In __________________, a person with a disfigurement is seen as
responsible for seeking such treatment to remove the disfigurement.
• In cultures dominated by the _____________ of disability,
____________________ is viewed as a punishment or mark as a result of
evil, sin, or ______. A disfigured child may be viewed as a sign of a curse
on the family, and is hidden away to avoid shame or shunning of the
entire family.
How to overcome this kind of discrimination?
• Palacio seems to suggest
that ______________________________________ help
overcome/resolve this kind of discrimination
Facial Disfigurement in R. J. Palacio's
Wonder
Klecker and Grabher (2022, p12)
Facial disfigurement in R. J. Palacio's Wonder
By Sandra Tausel
Wonder significantly contributes to the diversification of the discourse on facial
disfigurement by detaching it from the popular literary trope of depicting evil
through disfigured faces. The children's novel offers readers of all ages
neglected and humanizing perspectives on TCS (Treacher Collins syndrome),
while also negotiating Otherness, stigma, socialization, and themes such as
bullying, prejudice, self-acceptance, and friendship. By portraying the hero –
and not the villain – of a work of literature as facially disfigured, Wonder
attempts to reconceptualize disfigured faces while also critically engaging with
the assumed norms of ableism, adulthood, and a young disfigured child's
obligation to be a wonder in order to claim his place in society.
Other Young Adult Novels Written from
Multiple Perspectives: (Guarisco & Freeman, 2015, p. 65)
 Homework:
food for thought
1. Do you like August’s story? How is
the story told? How is it told
differently from the other stories
you have read so far?
2. Choose your favorite chapter in the
book. And be prepared to read it
aloud and share with us why you
like it so much.
3. Think about your precept.

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 Writing about fiction: Exercise
(structuring your body paragraphs)
A body paragraph of your critical analysis/book review should be organized
with the following structure in mind:

P-E-E: Make a Point (aka topic sentence);

Provide Evidence (in a book review, it is usually textual evidence);
Explain why the evidence proves your point legitimate
 Writing about fiction: Exercise
(structuring your body paragraphs)
• Point (in red)
• Evidence (in blue)
• Explanation (in purple)
Wonder does attempt to go beyond the stereotype of writing disability in several
ways. First, by creating an idealistic and inclusive school environment in which Auggie
is able to thrive, Palacio demonstrates how societal attitudes are more disabling than
the disfgurement itself. Second, Palacio utilizes multiple narrators quite innovatively,
dedicating most of the chapters to Auggie’s voice and some chapters to the other
young people in Auggie’s life. These include the chapters of his sister, Via, and his
best friend, Jack. Thus, readers are called to understand not only how Auggie is
impacted by the attitudes and behaviors of others but also why these other
characters react the way they do. Readers are given a richly layered understanding of
Auggie and his disfgurement and are ultimately called to love and accept him
(Casalme, 2016).
In-class writing
• Select one or several quotes from Wonder. Explain why they impress
you, how they are related to your life and the lives of people in
society/the world at large.

• To what extent do you agree with the following statement?

“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”

• Go to Classkick and type your answer.

Revisit what you have written last week
• To what extent you agree with the following
statement? Do you think being correct is more
important than being kind or vice versa? Rewrite your
answer using the “P-E-E” structure.

• When given the choice between being right or

being kind, choose kind.”
References:
Casalme, A.G. (2016). Engaging children in discussion of disfigurement and disability: The Wonder of Palacio’s Wonder.

Erikson, E. H. (1993). Childhood and society. W. W. Norton & Company.

Facing up to it (Published 2012). (2012, April 5). The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos.
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/books/review/wonder-by-r-j-palacio.html

Guarisco, M., & Freeman, L. (2015). The wonder of empathy: Using Palacio’s novel to teach perspective taking. The ALAN
Review, 43(1), 56-68. https://doi.org/10.21061/alan.v43i1.a.6

Klecker, C., & Grabher, G. M. (2021). The disfigured face in American literature, film, and television. Routledge.

Palacio, R. J. (2017). Wonder. Movie tie-in. Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers.

Walsh, C. (2013). Schoolyard scourge: Talk on bullying covers impact of technology, prevention efforts.

Widuri, D., Valiantien, N., & Ariani, S. (2022). The moral development stages represented by the characters in Wonder, Novel
by R.J. Palacio. Ilmu Budaya: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni dan Budaya, 6(3), 1218-1231. http://dx.doi.org/10.30872
/jbssb.v6i3.6130
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