MAUS 1: Chapters 1-3

1. MAUS 1:Chapters 1-3 7/8TH Grade October 12, 2011 Ms. Luna-Mroz

2. About the Author- Art Spiegelman • Born in Stockholm in 1948 • Spiegelman rejected his parents’ aspirations for him to become a dentist, and began to study cartooning in high school and drawing professionally at age 16. • He went on to study art and philosophy at Harpur College before joining the underground comics movement. • Spiegelman designed Wacky Packages, Garbage Pail Kids and other novelty items, and taught history and aesthetics of comics at the School for Visual Arts in New York

3. About Maus • In 1992, he won the Pulitzer Prize for his masterful Holocaust narrative Maus— which portrayed Jews as mice and Nazis as cats. Maus II continued the remarkable story of his parents’ survival of the Nazi regime and their lives later in America. • His comics are best known for their shifting graphic styles, their formal complexity, and controversial content.  • n his lecture, “What Happened to Comics?” Spiegelman takes his audience on a chronological tour of the evolution of comics, all the while explaining the value of this medium and why it should not be ignored. • He believes that in our post-literate culture the importance of the comic is on the rise, for "comics echo the way the brain works. People think in iconographic images, not in holograms, and people think in bursts of language, not in paragraphs.”

4. Building Background About WWII • After WWI in 1920 Germany was left in a great depression over their loss and involvement in the war. • Because they felt that democracy had failed, the people of Germany looked with increasing favor on antidemocratic elements that glorified war as the means of national salvation. • In Germany, Hitler's National Socialists gained power in 1933. • The war began on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland. The Germans marched on, carving a path of death and destruction through Europe. Italy joined the war on Germany's side, and the fighting soon spread to Greece and North Africa. • By 1942, tens of millions of soldiers were engaged in the most destructive conflict the world had ever seen. • The total loss of human life is estimated to be 40 to 60 million people around the world. More than six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust alone.

5. Let’s Review… • Character traits are permanent aspects of a character. They might be things like shyness, courage, or a good memory, and they usually do not change throughout the story. • EX: Kind, bitter, selfish, brave, generous. • Physical Traits: This means anything that describes HOW a character LOOKS. These are things that can change and are things that you can SEE. • Ex: tall, short, sun glasses, blue jeans, jewelry, etc. • Remember: Character Traits are not feelings. They are how a character is. A person can be happy one day and sad the next. But if a person is greedy, then that is usually something they always are.

6. In our story… • Characterization: the way an author presents characters. In direct presentation, a character is described by the author, the narrator or the other characters. In indirect presentation, a character's traits are revealed by action and speech. • Focus on what are the traits of Vladek, Art, and Anja. Look for characterization or evidence in the text that shows who a character is. • The story is told from two different perspectives: Art and his father, Vladek. • It is important to try to keep objective during Art’s narration as he is working through internal conflicts. Look for evidence in the story to make your evaluations.

7. The novel is told by Art Spieglman, but told in the voice of his father. Thus, this is told in First person for both parts. Point of view is how we know who is telling the story. Narrator: the person telling the story. The narrator is a narrator no matter what point of view he/she takes. There are 3 types: 1st person: uses the words me, I, we. The story is based on how the narrator sees things. The narrator is telling it as it happens to him/her. Ex:“I walked home in the bitter cold and could feel the snow hitting my face. I tried to ignore the cold to get home faster.” 2nd Person: uses YOU. Directs the writing to a specific audience. Think of this as you might write a letter to some one. Ex: “You hurt your mother’s feelings when you did not eat her dinner. You should be ashamed of yourself.” Point of view

8. Don’t Forget 3rd Person 3rd person: the narrator is not in the story and uses the words he, she, they. The narrator describes what is happening without being involved in it. EX: A fairy tale: “Once upon a time there were 3 little pigs and they were going to build their homes.” You will never put yourself in a fairy tale. Omniscient: the narrator knows what everyone thinks or feels. Sees and hears everything that takes place. Limited: the narrator only knows what one character thinks or feels. Able to understand the thoughts of only one of the characters. Objective: the narrator presents the action/dialogue in a story without any emotion or comment. The narrator is removed from the story and tells only what he sees.

9. Cause and Effect: • Cause: What makes something happen. Cause is the event that happens first in time. • Effect: The event that comes afterwards. Sometimes the effect may be stated before the cause. • EX: Albert’s science experiment exploded when he added a magical chemical to the beaker. • Cause: Albert poured a chemical • Effect: The experiment exploded.

10. Keeping Plot In Mind • Plot development is how the story builds around the events that take place. Keep in mind all parts: • Exposition • Rising Action • Climax • Falling Action • Resolution • This story has many plot events that are important for inferences and for future understanding of events.