Choices

PROMPT:

A term used to refer to difficult decisions made during war time is a "choiceless choice". A modern cliche' would be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Vladek had to make "choiceless choices" during WWII. Some of the decisions he made were ones that he may not have made in peacetime.  In your opinion, what are two of those choices? Explain with textual evidence from Maus I and/or Maus II. 

Guidelines:

• Your response needs to be 75-100 words. At the end of your response please put your first name, last initial, and school initials in parenthesis.
• Your response needs to be directed to the main prompt but reflect your reading of the responses that have been made prior to your post. You cannot merely restate what those before you have stated.

A Survivor's Tale

Read the interview with Art Spiegelman from LAST MONTH...
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/09/maus-author-art-spiegelman-talks-art-and-existence-at-harvard/

In the interview he states:

“When I was growing up, it’s not such a good idea to be a Jew. They killed you,” he said.

Admitting that he still has “trouble drawing in ways that don’t make sense for someone who has been doing this their whole life,” Spiegelman also noted that “Maus” was not intended “to make the world a better place.”

“It’s a cartoonist’s job to tell stories. I wanted to find a story worth telling,” he said, adding that parent-child relations were also in play. “I wanted to be in touch with my father. I didn’t want to be in touch with my father.”

PROMPT:

After reading the interview and at least MAUS I, how do you believe the book connects with the subtitle: A Survivor's Tale? Is it the story of Vladek, Anja, and Mala the three people who survived the Holocaust? Is it also the story of Artie who survived being raised by parents who were victims of the Holocaust? Explain your response with textual evidence.

Guidelines:

• Your response needs to be 75-100 words. At the end of your response please put your first name, last initial, and school initials in parenthesis.
• Your response needs to be directed to the main prompt but reflect your reading of the responses that have been made prior to your post. You cannot merely restate what those before you have stated.

Memory

After reading part of Maus, you are aware that Vladek is sharing memories with his son Artie.

Watch this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7WLk-KVYM4

After watching the video and reading Maus, comment on Vladek's memories of life before WWII citing specific evidence from the text. Do his memories appear REALISTIC or IDEALISTIC?

 
Guidelines:

• Your response needs to be 75-100 words. At the end of your response please put your first name, last initial, and school initials in parenthesis.
• Your response needs to be directed to the main prompt but reflect your reading of the responses that have been made prior to your post. You cannot merely restate what those before you have stated.

2017-2018 Maus Collaboration

Art Spiegelman was born in Sweeden and immigrated to the USA when he was young. His parents are both Holocaust survivors and, after his mother's death, he was compelled to tell their story. Read more about the author Art Spiegelman go to http://lambiek.net/artists/s/spiegelman.htm. How is he qualified to share this difficult topic with the reader?

As you begin to read Maus, what are your first impressions? What do you think about the GRAPHIC NOVEL genre as a medium for conveying history? How does it differ from traditional print? Provide textual examples from Maus I chapters 1-4. 



Guidelines:

• Your response needs to be 75-100 words. At the end of your response please put your first name, last initial, and school initials in parenthesis.
• Your response needs to be directed to the main prompt but reflect your reading of the responses that have been made prior to your post. You cannot merely restate what those before you have stated.