1 Story Telling Through Graphic Novels Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman

2 What is a Graphic Novel? A: A graphic novel is a novel that incorporates both written and visual elements to tell a story. This differs from a comic book because a comic book usually covers a segment or part of a story and is much shorter.

3 How to Read a Graphic NovelPanel: A visual or implied boundary, and the contents within it, that tell a piece of the story. Gutter: The space between the panels. As the reader moves from one panel to the next, they predict and conclude what is happening. This is an example of a panel. This tier has three panels This is an example of a gutter between two panels.

4 Anthropomorphism Definition: an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics (Miriam Webster). Or the ​showing or ​treating of ​animals, ​gods, and ​objects as if they are human in appearance, character, or ​behavior (Cambridge Dictionary).

5 Why Mice? Why are the Jews represented by Mice? Think:Jewish Stereotypes Characteristics of mice

6 Why Mice? “Rats, Destroy Them”Propaganda Poster from Nazi Occupied Denmark. 1940s.

7 Why Cats? Why are the Nazis represented by Cats? Think:Nazi Stereotypes Characteristics of cats (from house cats to lions)

8 Why Cats? A German Panzer Tank, nick named “Panther.” Another well known German tank was named “Leopard.” The Egyptians considered cats to be superior beings and used their image in architecture to honor them.

9 Why Dogs? Why are the Americans represented by Dogs? Think:American Stereotypes Characteristics of dogs

10 Why Dogs? Mutts are mixed breed dogs, much like the American “melting pot” concept. U.S. Army Infantry Soldiers during WWII were sometimes referred to as “Dogface Soldiers.” They lived in “pup tents” and wore dog tags for identification. Dogs > Cats > Mice food chain.

11 More AnthropomorphismWhy are the Poles represented by Pigs? Why are the French represented by frogs? Why are the British represented by fish?

12 A German postcard depicting Nazi Soldiers herding pigsA German postcard depicting Nazi Soldiers herding pigs. An image depicting Jews as worms, a plague upon the Earth. A German propaganda poster depicting a Jew as a louse (bug).

13 WWII Novels How will reading about WWII in a graphic novel be different than reading about WWII in a traditional novel? Better? Worse? How so?

14 Why Anthropomorphism? Why did Art Spiegelman choose to use animals in a biographical graphic novel about WWII?

15 Prisoner on the Hell Planet: pg. 100-103In Prisoner on the Hell Planet, a mini-comic within Maus I, Spiegelman uses humans to represent humans. Why?

16 Human Appearances On occasion, humans appear wearing masks of animals. What might that symbolize?

17 Be on the Lookout for… As you continue to read Maus I and Maus II, pay close attention to the imagery and word balloons. Strong inferences about tone and characterization can be derived from the imagery. Pay attention to the diction used by the characters. Some words may appear in bold or italics to convey emphasis and connotation Punctuation is also very telling…