English 346

Suggestions for Assignment #3–on Maus I and II

Autobiographical Essay

1. Struggling with guilt about social injustice
2. Coming to terms with the Nazi Holocaust [or the Slavery of African Americans or the slaughter of Armenians, or another traumatic historical event that affected you, your family, your ancestors]
3. Your own story of being "Prisoner on a Hell Planet"
4. The story of a life threatening experience resulting from historical forces reported to you by a member of the previous generation
5. Your relationship with somebody who has been damaged by traumatic experiences

Creative Project

1. A comic strip in which you appear as a primary character
2. A dramatic story about separation and reunion
3. A song, a poetic elegy, or a design for a memorial tomb for victims of a historical crime

Expository Essay

1. A discussion of parallels between the frame story–Artie and Vladek–and the contained story–A survivor’s tale.
2. A comparison and contrast between some aspect of Maus and another work of Holocaust remembrance–e.g. the films Shindler’s List or Life is Beautiful, Elie Wiesel’s short book, Night.
3. The significance of a specific incident or two in relation to the work as a whole–e.g. gassing the flies, Maus II, p. 74; the hitchhiker, pp. 98-100
4. A close analysis of a single frame and/or a two page layout.
5. A study of the structure of one chapter–beginning, middle and end, climax and turning point.
6. A comparison/contrast between Lindo Jong or another refugee from oppression in China and Vladek
7. The theme of turning away and turning back in one or more works read this quarter