MAUS 1:
Chapters 1-3
7/8TH Grade
October 12, 2011
Ms. Luna-Mroz
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
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About Maus
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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.”
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Building Background About WWII
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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.
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.
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.
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Point of view
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.”
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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.”
Don’t Forget
rd
3
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.
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.
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.