Historical Time Period

Distant Waves

Mother is a “medium”

No, mother is not a size medium. A medium is someone who claims that they can talk to spirits. They can call them and see them also. In the book, Distant Waves, the main character’s mother is a medium. This is similar to real life in the 1910’s because mediums were very popular. Many people believed in their work and trusted them. People enjoyed the fact that with a medium, they could talk to their dead loved ones, and make sure everything was all right. This plays a major part in the setting of the book Distant Waves.

The reader finds out very quickly that mother is a medium in the book. In the beginning of the first chapter in the book, mother is giving a

reading. A reading is when she calls somebody's spirit who has past on to come and talk to her for a customer.

Chapter 1, page 5, paragraph 1

“ I edged behind a burgundy drape as my mother raised her arms wide and began to sway rhythmically, eyes shut, head thrown back. An expression of earnest supplication suffused her delicate-featured face. Her reddish brown curls swung behind her. “ “Speak to me, Mary Adelaide Tredwell,”” she intoned in her full throaty voice. “ “Cease your lonely haunting of this house and come to us!”“

A ghost or spirit must be involved. She is calling

somebody to come.

Nikola Tesla

Was he a real scientist? Yes. Nikola Tesla was real and has been said to be smarter than Albert Einstein. He just wasn’t as well known due to not being as good of a business man.

In the book Distant Waves, Jane’s family is walking through Manhattan when an earthquake strikes. Turns out it is not a naturally caused earthquake. Nikola Tesla, a man in the building near by sees he family struggling outside and brings them into safety. Jane’s family them finds out that the earthquake was really caused by Tesla’s science experiment with his new invention, an earthquake machine. In real life, Nikola Tesla actually was testing an earthquake machine which caused an earthquake in Manhattan in 1897. This is an example of a real event in the book that is from the time period.

Chapter 2, Page 20, Paragraph 4

“ Mimi rose unsteadily to her feet. With arms out-stretched to keep from falling, we followed the man over to Mother and the twins. “”Come! Come inside!”” he urged her as another slab of stone crashed in front of us. “” You must come inside.””

Mimi was trying to keep herself from falling due to the shaking of the ground.

The man who told them to come inside was Nikola Tesla.

Buildings were falling, which was the slab of stone that fell in front of mother.

Titanic Collision with the New York.

In the book, the Titanic has a collision right after setting sail with a much smaller ship called the New York. This actually did happen. Since the Titanic was so large compared to the New York, when the ship was passing by the currents and waves pulled the New York closer to Titanic and caused the New York to crack.

This is a photograph of Titanic about to collide with the New York.

Chapter 23, Page 215, Paragraph 4

“ It turned out that the Titanic was hardly out of port when it collided with a much smaller vessel called the New York. Neither was greatly damaged.”

After a shaking of the ship, Jane explains what really happened, in the book.

Party’s in Third Class?

Chapter 25, Page 227, Paragraph 2“ I hoped to high heaven that I wasn’t blushing as I nodded that it was fine for him to put his hands around my waist- much better than fine. He held me so close that we were cheek to cheek, ankle to ankle. The dance was fast, which didn’t leave time to feel too awkward, and before I knew it I was smiling so hard that my face ached a little. At one point Thad began turning us in dizzying spins without ever letting go of his hold on me. It was such breathless fun!” Jane is in third class and Thad is in

first, but when Thad comes down to third class with Jane, they have an amazing time dancing and laughing to the ragtime music of the time period.

Turns out that the third class passengers on the Titanic didn’t have it so bad. Since most of the passengers were emigrants moving to America, they had all of their belongings and having no bed sheets or pillow cases wasn’t a problem. There was still plumbing down in third class, and they were also provided with meals. During the time period, most ships required third class passengers to bring their own food, but not on the Titanic. The passengers could have parties, and dance all they wanted.

Iceberg, not earthquake machine.

In the book Distant Waves, the claimed cause of the ships sinking was a large crack in the ship, due to Nikola Tesla’s earthquake machine. This is part of the fiction in the book. The real cause of the Titanic’s sinking was a collision with a massive iceberg.

Chapter 32, Page 285, Paragraph 1 “ Should we reveal what the earthquake machine had done and risk putting Tesla in peril of arrest? It seemed to me that we had to. We felt a bump and all of us at once tottered back a few steps. Thad caught hold of my elbow to keep me steady.”

Jane is explaining that Tesla’s device had crack the ship and he could be put in jail for this.

Sherlock Holmes

In the book, Jane is very into the Sherlock Holmes books. She reads through them in the beginning and then starts acting like a detective in order to find Nikola Tesla again. This would be a very big clue about the time period. The Sherlock Holmes books ranged from 1880 to 1914. The book Distant Waves takes place in this time period.

Chapter 9, Page 79, Paragraph 2

“ A moment of silence passed between us during which I felt consumed with panic and had not a clue as to what to do next. Do what Holmes would do; observe something, I thought. “ “ That looks heavy. What’d in your package?”” I asked, noticing that he clutched to his chest a parcel wrapped in brown paper.”

This is when Jane first meets Thad and is wondering why he is seeing Mr. Tesla and she isn’t.

Tesla on the TitanicNikola Tesla was not a passenger on the Titanic, although he was searching for a way for ships to have a better communication system.

Chapter 32, Page 283, Paragraph 2-3

“ Tesla held his earthquake machine toward the ever-larger iceberg and turned a dial. Instantly I clutched my head with both hands. That high whine that had made my brain fell like it might melt, the sensation that had occurred during the quake so many years ago, had returned full force.”

Futility

In the book Mother reads a novel called Futility. Futility is a book about the largest ship on the water called Titan, that sets sail in April and hits a iceberg which causes it’s sinking. This was real book that was published in 1898, which was 14 years before Titanic sank.

Chapter 4, Page 31, Paragraph 5

“ Mother put down her book. “ “ It’s an adventure tale titled Futility, by a man named Morgan Robertson,”” she said. “ “ It’s about a very large ship called the Titan that hits an iceberg and sinks on it’s very first voyage. It seems that most of its passengers are about to drown.””

Spiritualism

During the 1910’s many people believed in talking to spirits. They would have mediums call their loved ones for them. In the book, spiritualism is a huge part. Many people didn’t want to get on the Titanic because they believed that it would sink because of the people who had been talking to spirits.

Author’s Notes, Page 321, Paragraph 3

“ The sisters were celebrities in their day. By 1850 they were giving public séances in New York City and are credited with starting the movement known as spiritualism. They were later discredited when it was discovered that some of the strange thumps and bumps the public heard were created by the sisters cracking their finger and toe joints.”

The Sinking of the Titanic

One of the biggest giveaways on the time period in the book Distant Waves is the sinking of the Titanic. The sinking of the Titanic took place on April 15, 1912. Since the book takes place on the Titanic, we know that the book must be set in the 1910’s.

Chapter 33, Page 289, Paragraph 1

“Back inside the ship, stewards were already getting passengers out of their rooms and instructing them to put on heavy coats and gather on the necessities they would need on the lifeboats. People compiled grudgingly, many complaining that the ship was putting them through a safety drill in the middle of the night. No one seemed too worried, Their confidence in the ship’s safety was that great.”

The ship has begun to sink and not too many people believe that it is actually happening.

The time period in the book Distant Waves is clearly the

1910’s.

Works Cited"Entertainment." Sirs Dacades. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. <http://decades.sirs.com/decadesweb/decades/do/topic?urn=urn%3Asirs%3AUS%3BTOPIC%3B0000017871&decadeurn=urn:sirs:US;TOPIC;0000017811>."Near Collision with New York." National Meauseums Northern Ireland. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nmni.com/titanic/Home/Stories/Near-Collision-with-New-York.aspx>."Sherlock Holmes." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes>."TITANIC'S MAIDEN VOYAGE." RMS TITANIC | SHIP OF DREAMS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://www.titanicandco.com/maiden.html>.