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ENGL 1020: Literary Criticism

This module will explore the concept of literary criticism. It is intended to supplement the Comp II library session.

Maus Literary Research Essay

Assignment Details:

Choose one of the following prompts found in Maus. Your thesis will contain the answer to whichever question you choose.

  1. How does Spiegelman honor the victims without trivializing the Holocaust? 

  2. How is Maus more about Art Spiegelman, a second-generation Holocaust survivor, than about Vladek?

  3. How is his use of a cat/mouse metaphor beneficial to understanding Maus and why might it be detrimental?

  4. How are both Vladek and Art Spiegelman unreliable narrators?

  5. What is the purpose of including “Prisoner on Hell Planet” in the middle of the graphic novel Maus?

Since Maus is a graphic novel, don’t forget that at least half of the things you know come from the drawings, so comment as appropriate on the panels, as well as the narrative which support the answer to the question you will investigate. Your essay must be a minimum of 1500-words, use MLA style, and have a works cited. You must quote or paraphrase from all six of the secondary sources, as well as your primary source Maus. Your essay must be written in the 3rd person and include all appropriate graphic novel and literary terms in your essay. 

The introduction paragraph should introduce your thesis. Your thesis should answer your research question. This is what makes your thesis argumentative. It also needs to contain the novel's title and author’s name. 

Example Thesis: The problem of memory in Art Spiegelman’s Maus is compounded by Vladek’s unreliability and Artie’s estrangement from his parents. 

You will have multiple body paragraphs. The first sentence of each body paragraph needs to identify the subject of that paragraph and should tie in directly with the thesis. 

Body Paragraph Formula:

  • State in one sentence the topic of your paragraph.
  • Explain your topic sentence.  (2-3 sentences)
  • Support with quotes from your sources and the narrative/drawings taken from Maus. (6-8 sentences)
  • Conclude in one sentence with a transition to the next idea that follows.

Remember to use the formula:

  • State, Explain, Support, and Conclude in each of your body paragraphs.
  • The explain portion should contain your analysis.
  • The support sentences should contain quotes from your 6 secondary sources and from Maus.
  • Keep your quotes or paraphrases brief because they must not constitute more than 30% of the essay. 
  • Of the 6 secondary sources, 3 must be peer-reviewed journal articles and 3 must be books/ebooks.
  • The conclusion paragraph should concisely review the information you have presented in your essay and encourage the reader to appreciate Maus for what it has to offer to the modern reader.

Themes to consider as you add topic and keyword terms to your searches are: Anti-semitism, Bigotry, Civilians in wartime, Class, Families, Genocide, Grief, Identification, Isolation, Luck, Marginalized individuals, memory, nature, Nazism, parent-child relationships, post-traumatic stress disorder, race, redemption, survivor's guilt, survivor stories, transmission of trauma from one generation to the next. 

Read more about the different eBook collections available to students on this Subject Guide.