Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Art Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1948. He immigrated to the United States with his family at a young age. Although his parents wanted him to be a dentist, Spiegelman went to 
college for art and philosophy. Spiegelman has created many cartoons but Maus is what launched his successful career. Maus is based on his parents' experiences surviving the concentration camps under Hitler's Nazi Party. Originally, the project started as a small comic strip but Spiegelman eventually turned it into a full graphic novel. The first book, Maus: A Survivor's Tale (1986) earned great respect and was followed in 1991 by the second installment, Maus II: From Mauschwitz to the Catskills. Art Spiegelman won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for his work.

• Interview with Art Spiegelman
• The Man Behind Maus
• In the video below, Art Spiegelman talks about how he creates cartoons, the meaning of cartooning to him, and his views on artwork in society. Portions of the interview may not be suitable for younger audiences. 

CLASSROOM APPLICATION

• Maus: A Survivor's Tale is very suitable for a variety of learners and classrooms at different levels. I think the best place to introduce the book would be in a secondary level classroom. Although high school students may have a better grasp on the content of the book and thereby a more mature analysis, the basic story and format is suitable for middle school students.
• Art Spiegelman's graphic novels could be used in English, social studies, psychology, sociology, and art classes. Likewise, the book could be used to address a variety of different topics that pertain to specific elements of different content areas. (Including, but not limited to: analyzing social justice issues, analyzing and determining literature elements, practicing art techniques, and sequencing/comprehending historical facts.)

USING MAUS: A SURVIVOR'S TALE IN THE CLASSROOM

• Despite the class content area, I think it is important that the teacher introduces the Holocaust and gives some historical background about the events surrounding the Holocaust. It may be valuable to discuss the term genocide with students and compare the Holocaust to the modern day crisis in Darfur using the common term. This is a way of incorporating current events and making the events of the Holocaust more relevant and meaningful for students today.
• If you are unsure how to introduce the Holocaust or want additional ideas for how to address this complex topic in a classroom setting, use the link below.
• Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust
• When teaching Maus: A Survivor's Tale, especially in an English classroom, it is important to discuss that it is an allegory. 
• To introduce what an allegory is, a teacher could use the short children's book, Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust.
• If an educator is constructing a unit on allegories within historical contexts, Animal Farm would be another novel to consider for incorporation.

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES FOR THE CLASSROOM

• After reading the graphic novel, have students create their own cartoons using one of the online resources below. Of course, if the Internet is not available, students could create their own cartoons by hand.
• Make Beliefs Comix
• Comics Lab
• Students can be broken up to discuss the various elements, themes, and logistics of the text. The link below provides sample questions for different stations. These questions are generic and could be used with any text.
• Story Elements Questioning Cards
• Students can participate in literature circles and an online WebQuest after reading the text. The link below contains a teacher created lesson for each activity. It could modified easily to fit various educators' needs.
• Literature Circle and WebQuest Application
• Have students read the graphic novel in class and complete various synthesis and analysis activities. Students could even research the author and his genre further. As a final step, allow the students to edit the Wikipedia page about Maus by filling in missing information, providing reflections, or giving citations for information that has not be verified.
• Have students complete the graphic novel and then read reviews of the text. Once the students have looked at various reviews, have them write their own review about the graphic novel supporting their answer with specific details.
• Before, during, or after reading parts of the graphic novel, have students fill in what they think the text should be on any given section or page. It is useful for students to predict what the dialogue should be using the story line and pictures. I have made an example below of a section I would pass out to students. I have blocked out the author's text so that students can create their own. Some websites have sections of the book scanned so it is easy to cover the author's text using a text box or white square in Word or PowerPoint.

TEACHER RESOURCES FOR MAUS

• Major Literary Elements/Themes 
• Random House Teacher's Guide (a possible reference for ideas, getting started...)
• College Lecture Text (good for teacher reference)
• Maus Resources (list of sites, documents, questions)

RELEVANT LINKS

• National Museum of American Jewish History
• Holocaust Museum Houston
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

USING GRAPHIC NOVELS

Below are articles about using graphic novels in the classroom.

• Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom
• Using Graphic Novels, Anime, and the Internet in an Urban High School

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Maus: A Suvivor's Tale deals with a very difficult topic and an extremely emotional situation. Do you think making it into a graphic novel was an effective way to portray the story? Do you think that making a story of the Holocaust into a graphic novel kept it respectable?
2. How does the relationship between Vladek and Artie change or develop during the story? How does the author represent Vladek?
3. Multiple conflicts emerge throughout the graphic novel and almost all of them come back to have some effect on Artie. What is one of these conflicts? Why is it pertinent to the story? Who does it effect? Why does it effect those people? How does it come back or directly effect Artie?
4. Spiegelman transports the reader into a land of mice, cats, and other animals in conflict. How does he make sure the reader doesn't get lost in a world of fantasy? What elements in the book connect the reader to the real events of the Holocaust?
5. In a sense, a graphic novel is an extended comic strip and could be viewed as unworthy of being in classroom. Do you agree that Maus: A Survivor's Tale should be used in a classroom setting? Why? Why not? What makes it different from a typical comic? Are there elements that make it the same as a typical comic?