Reflecting on Maus

Maus was a powerful graphic novel, to say the least. I'm glad I finally got to read it; I've always heard it was amazing and since I was little I've loved reading comics. Although I don't think I'll be using the book with my students at this point, I definitely think I'll use it at some point in the future. And even though I won't specifically use Maus this year, reading the novel inspired me to do more with comic books. Calvin and Hobbes was a huge favorite of mine growing up, and it's a strip that handles some really "higher order" issues. I think my kids would enjoy reading them, and be able to "get there" with the right scaffolding.

If I do use Maus in the future, I would definitely have to do a lot of front loading. I think in order to really understand what's going on in the book, you have to have a lot of background knowledge and a solid understanding of what happened in Europe before and during WWII. Without that crucial knowledge I suspect my kids would be lost, and therefore not buy into the book, or gain the appropriate understanding of these very serious, and horrific, events in our recent history. In that same vein, I might worry that my students wouldn't take the book seriously because animals are used to depict humans. Even with a discussion of the symbolism, I'm not sure I could convince my students (many of whom already have a difficult time distinguishing between fact and fiction) that these were real people and real events. That issue would also have to be addressed. But maybe I'm not giving them enough credit; maybe they would understand symbolism all the better for reading this book. I might follow it with Animal Farm to make similar connections.

In any event, I really enjoyed reading Maus, and I'm sure it will be beneficial to my teaching in the future.