Genre
Children's Short Story Cycle
Setting and Context
At the Wayside School
Narrator and Point of View
Wayside School is Falling Down is told from a third-person point of view; the narrator is unnamed.
Tone and Mood
Whimsical, Silly, Energetic, Bizarre, and Zany.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The kids (protagonists)/the teachers (antagonist)
Major Conflict
The major conflict involves the kids' struggles against the teachers.
Climax
There is no discernible climax in the novel.
Foreshadowing
The mushroom surprise being offered as the special meal is foreshadowed early on in the book.
Understatement
The foolishness of some of the teachers (particularly Mrs. Jewls) is understated throughout the novel.
Allusions
Popular culture (including things like science fiction, popular films and books, and music), other children's books (specifically other books in the Wayside School series), history, mythology, and religion
Imagery
Sachar uses intensely disgusting imagery to underscore how awful the mushroom surprise meal is.
Paradox
Mrs. Jewls says that pencils fall faster than computers, despite the fact that the two fall at the same rate.
Parallelism
The story of many of the children's behavior described in the book are paralleled with each other. Specifically, many of the kids' zany and off-the-wall behavior is paralleled with each other.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Not applicable.
Personification
The Wayside school itself is personified throughout the novel.
