Sponge 1

1. Sponge 1 • In some cases, survival can be a matter of luck. How has Vladek been lucky? How has he created his own luck? • 10 points

2. The Holocaust is about one group trying to dominate another group. Can you find examples of a parallel in the Spiegelman family?

3. Art writes, “…with the stripes everyone looked the same.” How might being dressed the same effect the prisoners? How might it effect how the Germans treated the Jewish prisoners?

4. 'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the casa, Not a creature was stirring - ¡Caramba! ¿Quépasa? Los niños were tucked away in their camas, Some in long underwear, some in pijamas, While hanging the stockings with mucho cuidado, In hopes that old Santa would feel obligado, To bring all children, both buenos and malos, A nice batch of dulces and other regalos.

5. Outside in the yard there arose un grangrito, • and I jumped to my feet like a frightened cabrito. • I ran to the window and looked out afuera, • And who in the world do you think that it era? • Saint Nick in a sleigh and a big red sombrero, • Came dashing along like a loco bombero. • And pulling his sleigh instead of venados, • Were eight little burros approaching volando. • I watched as they came and this quaint little hombre, • Was shouting and whistling and calling by nombre: • "Ay Pancho, ay Pepe, ay Cuco, ay Beto, • ay Chato, ay Chopo, Maruco, y Nieto!"

6. Then standing erect with his hands on his pecho, He flew to the top of our very own techo, With his round little belly like a bowl of jalea, He struggled to squeeze down our old chiminea. Then huffing and puffing at last in our sala, With soot smeared all over his red suit de gala, He filled all the stockings with lively regalos, None for the ninos that had been very malos. Then chuckling aloud, seeming very contento, He turned like a flash and was gone como el viento, And I heard him exclaim, y ¡estoesverdad! Merry Christmas to all, ¡y FelizNavidad!

7. Sponge # 2 • While most Germans disapproved of anti-Jewish violence; dislike of Jews, extended far beyond the Nazi Party. Most Germans passively accepted discrimination against Jews. • Do you think that we accept discrimination against people today? Who are some of the groups who suffer discrimination today in Guatemala?

8. According to the Catholic Church and the United Nations:The Guatemalan Government

9. “Genocide is the deliberate extermination of a racial, religious or ethnic group” (Chambers Dictionary) • The word 'genocide' was coined in 1944 to name a particularly shocking and horrific crime of violence which it was then believed could never happen again. That it has been put into practice so many times in one century is even more shocking. • The human race is the only species that can and does think itself into anger and violence. ('The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.') We ought to be able to think our way out of it too. ('Later I realized that violence didn't achieve anything.')

10. Genocide is not a wild beast or a natural disaster. It is mass murder deliberately planned and carried out by individuals, all of whom are responsible whether they made the plan, gave the order or carried out the killings. Whatever its scale, genocide is made up of individual acts, and individual choices to perform them. So human individuals need to make the commitment, as early in life as possible, that they will have no truck with it. To do that, the way genocide becomes possible has to be understood.

11. Sponge # 3 EVERY HUMAN BEING • A German Jewish emigrant: 'It dawned on me that if I looked into my own heart I could find seeds of hatred there, too. I realized that they are there in every human being. Arrogant thoughts, feelings of irritation, coldness, anger, envy, even indifference - these are the roots of what happened in Nazi Germany.‘ • Do you agree that every human being couldbe part of a genocide? 10pts

12. One much-practiced way of thinking is to use violence to solve problems. 'Violence is the only way to get respect.' 'Violence is the only language they understand.' 'I'm good, you're evil,' 'We're peaceful, they're brutal.' 'I wasn't going to let them beat me.' 'They're ALL cheats, liars, scroungers and dirty.' 'If I took it lying down, I couldn't hold my head up again.' And so on. There may have been a time in the early history of the human race (a time when the natural world was the chief threat to survival) when this kind of primitive thinking served a purpose. But it's nothing but a handicap now.

13. Sponge # 4 • Non-example: Tommy acted mad. • Example: Tommy kicked the chair angrily and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him. • Non-example: The teacher is irritable. • Non-example: The class was in an uproar. • Non-example: King snakes suffocate their prey.

14. Sponge # 4 examples • Mr. Griffith threw his pencil down and asked, “Good heavens, why can’t you people work quietly?” • Screaming kids were chasing the fugitive gerbil, knocking papers off the desks, while the teacher yelled, “get that pest!” as she jumped on top of her desk. • King snakes coil around their prey, tightening their coils every time the victim breathes out, until it can no longer take in air.

15. Vocabulary • Tendency-noun • Extricate--verb • Persistent-adjective • Exaggerate- verb

16. Sponge #5 • Do you think it is important to study genocides? Explain • 10 points

17. Why study genocide? • An understanding of the roots and ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping in any society. • Genocides provides a context for exploring the dangers of remaining silent, apathetic, and indifferent in the face of the oppression of others. • Democratic institutions and values are not automatically sustained, but need to be appreciated, nurtured, and protected; democracy is fragile. • Silence and indifference to the suffering of others, or to the infringement of civil rights in any society can-however unintentionally- perpetuate the problems.