Short Lecture on Maus and the Holocaust (see below)

At least once a week (but maybe twice) I'll post a short video lecture to add to the conversation of our reading. These lectures will bring out ideas I would have discussed in class, often using slides that highlight specific ideas and images. Hopefully they will add useful perspectives as you answer the reading responses and write the next short papers (one is coming up very soon!). This lecture is on being an eyewitness to history, and why that's so important for historical events that are quickly becoming ancient history. Watch below...

AFTER you watch the video, respond to the following question as a COMMENT on this post. Just click where it says "1 comment" and write your own. You shouldn't need to create an account to do this (but let me know if you have any problems).

THE QUESTION: Besides the Holocaust, what other historical event recent or distant, do you feel is in danger of being forgotten? Why should we never forget this event? Why, to you, is it so important? 

ALSO, don't forget to answer the questions for Maus (see previous post) for this week, due no later than Friday. E-mail me with any questions! 

For Monday: Spiegelman, Maus II, Chapters One & Two

NOTE: I'm posting this a little early so you have time to read and think about it. I know it's hard to get started again, and for some of you, it will seem pointless to finish a class you don't even attend. However, we only have about a month left, and I want to get you all to the finish line, and also, to share these works and ideas with you. In many ways, Maus is the perfect work to read at this time, because it's about a man who survives the end of the world, and lives to tell about it. Our world isn't ending, but sometimes it might feel that way...so let's try to finish the semester, and I'll do everything I can to make it bearable and hopefully a little interesting as well.

ALSO, I'll be posting a short video tomorrow with some ideas to think about in regards to reading the second part of Maus. For now, however, here are some questions for Mondays's class. These are NOT due on Monday, but can be e-mailed to me any time this week, but no later than Friday. I'll give you another set of questions later in the week that will be due on Monday. 

Answer two of the following:

Q1: Where do we see Artie wrestling with the ethics of writing a comic book about his father's life (and the Holocaust) in Chapters 1 & 2? What is he most worried about? Are his fears justified, or is it merely another form of guilt for not appreciating his father? 

Q2: What do you think Vladek most wants to communicate to Artie, or to the reader, in his story of the Holocaust? While he's obviously trying to make himself the hero (sort of), what else does he want people to understand about the reality of making it through Auschwitz? 

Q3: One of the most touching passages of these chapters occurs early in Chapter One, when Vladek gets new shoes and a belt for his friend, Mandelbaum. Why is this such an important passage in the book? What does it show us about the very 'human' element of the inhuman Holocaust?

Q4: Even though Spiegelman uses simplistic animal metaphors for the different people in his story, how does he attempt to humanize even the 'villains' in his story? What does he reveal about the nature of the various Germans and Poles who ran Auschwitz? If this is a book about the nature of evil, what might surprise us about the people who commit evil deeds? 

Welcome (Almost) Back!

First of all, I'm extremely sad that we can't continue our normal classes this semester. I had so much more I wanted to discuss with you and teach you--though, I think we can still salvage some of this virtually. However, it just won't be the same, and my only hope is that I'll see some of you again in the Fall in a future class. 

For now, here's what I propose to do with this course:

1. We're going to basically abandon the MWF schedule and move to a beginning and end of the week workload. Basically, I'll post reading and questions for next Monday soon, but these won't be due until Friday. On Friday I'll post the next set of reading and questions. I might ask you to read a bit more than usual since you have more time, but this will also give you more time to respond and process the reading. 

2. I'll also post at least one short video lecture on the blog per week. These replicate the kind of information I would have given you in class, and will basically be a video of my head narrating over a Power Point or a handout. They will be short (10-15 minutes max), but will help you see things in the readings you might not otherwise get, or will help introduce key writing topics and ideas before a paper. I'll also give you a few in-class writing prompts this way, just as we did in class. This way, it will feel sort-of normal.

3. I'll also be posting our next short paper assignment on the blog very soon. 

4. All questions and papers should be e-mailed to me at jgrasso@ecok.edu or jgrasso91@gmail.com (either one is fine with me). Horace Mann is being locked at all times, so you probably won't be able to get inside the building. 

5. If you need to talk to me, feel free to e-mail me at any time. However, if you would rather talk in person, I can do a Zoom conference with you. If you've never used Zoom, it's free to install and very easy to use. 

Otherwise, stay tuned and PLEASE keep checking the blog, since this is our lifeline for the course. Everything will show up here in the next few weeks. Take care and I'll talk to you soon!

--Joshua Grasso

Class Changes--see below

NOTE: No class on Friday--I cancelled class since I feared people would take an early Spring Break, and I wanted to start the second half of Maus with everyone back and refreshed from Spring Break. But then I found out we wouldn't be back from Spring Break! 

Be sure to check your e-mail and/or Facebook/Instagram/Texts from the university for details about class cancellations. 

Spring Break is next week, and then the President decided to extend Spring Break for an additional week. Classes will resume on the 30th but only on an on-line basis, meaning I can only conduct class via our blog. We'll talk more about what this means tomorrow, and of course I'll keep you updated on the blog itself. If you have any questions, just e-mail me any time.

So we'll keep going, keep reading and doing questions, and I'll try to give you my insights on the works we read, but obviously, without our class discussions. I'll have to revise the schedule to accommodate our lost time, and maybe even delete one of the assignments (oh no!). :) 

I'll write more during Spring Break, and I'll e-mail everyone as well in case someone forgets to check. Again, please e-mail me with any questions. Enjoy the break and stay safe--and well! 

For Wednesday: Spiegelman, Maus, Part I: Chapters Four-Six

For Wednesday: read the rest of Part 1, which comprises the chapters "The Noose Tightens," "Mouse Holes," and "Mouse Trap." Then answer two of the questions that follow:

Q1: How does Spiegelman play with the mouse/cat metaphor in the rest of Part 1? In other words, when does it help him tell Vladek's story effectively, and/or when does he want us to forget it entirely? Focus on a specific scene that shows this.

Q2: Why does Spiegelman include his earlier autobiographical comic, Prisoner of the Hell Planet, in the narrative? How does this disrupt the flow of the story as well as the style of the comic? Do we learn anything important about the characters of the piece to justify its inclusion?

Q3: When discussing the realities of life in the ghetto, Vladek explains, "At that time it wasn't anymore families. It was everybody to take care for himself!" How does Vladek document the breakdown of society in the ghetto and elsewhere? What makes Vladek so different from the others (or is that simply what he wants us to think)?

Q4: What does Artie call his father a "murderer" a the end of Chapter Six? Doesn't this strike you as a senseless and selfish thing to say to a Holocaust survivor? Or do we agree with him that, on some level, Vladek has committed his own act of biographical genocide? 

For [Next] Monday: Read Spiegelman, Maus I, Chapters 1-3, “The Sheik,” “The Honeymoon,” and “Prisoner of War”

NOTE: Even though this is a comic book, Maus is the true story of Art Spiegelman and his father, Vladek, who survived the concentration camps during the Holocaust. He spent years interviewing his father, and then turned those interviews into two comics, Maus I and Maus II (though we have them in one collection). He also made the fascinating decision to use animals to tell his story: the Jews are mice, the Germans are cats, the Polish are pigs, the French are frogs, etc. You have plenty of time to read this for next week, so take your time and think about how the story uses pictures and words to tell a “true” story. The questions below will help you make sense of the story if you’ve never read a comic before and are confused by the format.

Answer two of the following for Monday’s class:

Q1: The obvious question first: why do you think Spiegelman uses mice, cats, etc., in his story? Does this take away from the seriousness of his story? Does it make it seem less real? Or does it help us focus on a more important part of the story? Use an example from the comic that helps illustrate this.

Q2: What kind of relationship do Artie and his father have in the comic? Where do we see this specifically? Why do you think he focuses on this rather than simply telling the story of the Holocaust outright?

Q3: At the end of Chapter One, Vladek tells Artie not to include certain parts of his story, including his relationship with Lucia, because “this isn’t so proper, so respectful.” Since he often wants to edit out the truth or make himself look better, do we trust him as a narrator? Do you think we’re getting the absolute truth, or merely his version of it?

Q4: There have been many stories about the Holocaust—books, movies, TV shows, etc. All of them are trying to remind us what life was like for the survivors (and the victims) so we can never deny these crimes. Discuss one thing you learned from the book (a small detail, a historical fact, or something else) that deepened your appreciation for this moment of history. What dark element of the Holocaust did it help shine a light on for you.