Post on 05-Aug-2018
transcript
The Complete MausART SPIEGELMAN
David Moore, 2015
Outline
• Context
• Style
• Characters
• Themes
• Different interpretations of the text
• Essay questions
• Final tips
David Moore, 2015
Context
• Centuries of anti-Jewish sentiment in Europe
• Nazi party came to power in 1933 in Germany
• Germany invaded Poland in 1939, WWII began
• Jews isolated in ghettoes, and later in concentration camps
• WWII ends in 1945, Jews disperse around the world
• Many survivors of concentration camps never overcome the mental trauma
David Moore, 2015
Style• Graphic novel
• Biography and Autobiography
• Anthropomorphised characters
• Animal motif
• Written language• Dialogue• Narration
• Visual language• Drawings• Symbols
David Moore, 2015
Style
• Three layers of narrative• Europe• USA (pre publication of part 1)• USA (between part 1 and part 2)
David Moore, 2015
Written language
David Moore, 2015
• Dialogue
• Narration
Visual language
• Drawings
David Moore, 2015
Visual language
• Symbolism
David Moore, 2015
Character – Vladek (The survivor?)
• Hard-worker• Tinsmith• English tutor• Shoemaker• General “labour” assignments
• Determined
David Moore, 2015
Character – Vladek (The survivor?)
• Neurotic
David Moore, 2015
Character – Vladek (The survivor?)
• Resourceful
David Moore, 2015
Character – Vladek (The survivor?)
• Miserly
David Moore, 2015
Character – Art (Like father, like son?)
• Neurotic, but self-aware
David Moore, 2015
Character – Art (Like father, like son?)
• Patient, up to a point
David Moore, 2015
Character – Anja (The missing piece…)
• Vulnerable
David Moore, 2015
Character – Anja (The missing piece…)
• Beloved, but resented
David Moore, 2015
Other family members
• Mala
• Francoise
• Richieu
What role do these people play in shaping Art and Vladek?
David Moore, 2015
Themes
• Loyalty and Betrayal
• Guilt
• Love
David Moore, 2015
Themes – Loyalty and Betrayal• Betrayal
• Germans betrayed the Jews who put their trust in them.• Poles betrayed Jews• Jews betrayed other Jews.
• Loyalty• Anja and Vladek survive because their friends refuse to betray them.• Vladek helps out a fellow Jew who is starving.
David Moore, 2015
Themes - Guilt
• Survivor’s guilt• Vladek feels guilty about surviving• Art feels guilty about not being at Auschwitz
• Art’s guilt about the way he depicted his father
• Art’s guilt about the way he treated his mother
David Moore, 2015
Themes - Love
• Love for family• Maus is a tribute from Art to his father• Vladek truly loves his sons, even if he shows it in odd ways
• Romantic love
David Moore, 2015
Differing interpretations of the text
Maus shows humanity at its worst
VS
Maus shows that people can overcome tragedy
Maus is a poignant tribute from a son to his father
VS
Art Spiegelman exploits his father’s suffering in Maus
David Moore, 2015
Differing interpretations of the text
Maus shows humanity at its worst• evil• indifference
David Moore, 2015
Differing interpretations of the text
Maus shows that people can overcome tragedy
• Vladek survives• Starvation• Exhausting manual labour• Beatings• Humiliation• Typhus• Separation from his wife• The death of his first-born son• His wife’s suicide
David Moore, 2015
Differing interpretations of the text
Maus is a poignant tribute from a son to his father
• Art portrays Vladek is a survivor
• And a loving father
David Moore, 2015
Differing interpretations of the text
Art Spiegelman exploits his father’s suffering in Maus
David Moore, 2015
VCAA examination questions
David Moore, 2015
Sample examination question
1. The ideas, characters and themes constructed by the author and presented in the selected text
2014 VCAA examination
David Moore, 2015
Sample examination question
2. The structures, features and conventions used by authors to construct meaning in a range of literary texts
2014 VCAA examination
David Moore, 2015
Sample examination question
3. The ways in which authors express or imply a point of view and values
2014 VATE sample examination
i. ‘Spiegelman shows us that trauma in one generation can haunt the next.’Discuss.
David Moore, 2015
Sample examination question
4. The ways in which readers’ interpretations of text differ and why
Cambridge Checkpoints VCE text guide – The Complete Maus
6. ‘Art Spiegelman deals with the Holocaust and his own father’s suffering in a flippant way in his graphic novel, Maus.’ Do you agree?
David Moore, 2015
Finding resources
• Commercial study guides (Insight, Neap, Cambridge University Press)
• The Age, text talk “Many layers of Maus”
• Podcast, Sunday School withLibbi Gorr (774 ABC Victoria)
David Moore, 2015
Final tips
• Read/revisit the VCAA Examination report
• Practise planning essay topics• What type of essay question is being asked?• What are the key terms?
• Practise writing under timed conditions
• Go beyond dialogue in your essay• Discuss drawings and symbols
David Moore, 2015
Good Luck!David Moore, 2015
David Moore, 2015
Character – Vladek (The survivor?)
• Pragmatic• Handed food to a Kapo (p222)• Befriended a Nazi guard
David Moore, 2015