Vocabulary A Comic Book Glossary

Panel: a single box or frame on a comic page Border: the outline of a panel. Some panels are borderless. Gutter: the blank space between panels on a page Bleed: artwork that extends to the edge of the page Balloons: the containers of dialogue spoken by a character, usually appearing above the speakers head. Chapter Openers: the first page of a chapter, which serves as a poster instead of as a narrative device.

Chapter 1: The Sheik

Places
Rego Park: neighborhood in Queens, N.Y. where Spiegelman family settled after coming to America and where Art Spiegelman grew up Czestochowa: a small city not far from the border of Germany in Poland (Spiegelman, 12) Sosnowiec: hometown (in Poland) of Vladeks family and Anja a nd the Zylberberg family 1. Describe the faces in MAUS. Are they iconic (could be anyone) or particular (could only be Vladek)? 2. Why do you think Spiegelman drew the characters this way? Hitler reduced the Jews to vermin. Is Spiegelman doing the same thing? Why? 3. Who has Arts father remarried? What happened to his first wife? What do the two wives have in common? 4. What does Arts father do while he tells Art his story? What is this symbolic of? 5. As Arts father, Vladek, begins his story, whom does he say was int erested in him romantically? To whom does he say he looked like?

Chapter 2: The Honeymoon

1. Why does Miss Stefanska go to jail instead of Anja? On page 29, what do the visual elements depict? What do they represent? Find other visual parallels to this imagery elsewhere in the chapter. What do these elements represent? What is the purpose of this? 2. What symbols are on page 33? What associations do these symbols have? What is the effect of the swastika in the panels on page 33? Is it the same in every panel? 3. What is the nature of Anjas depression? What reasons does she have (or not have) for being depressed? 4. What did Anja do for the communists? Why did she do this? 5. What do Anja and Vladek see from the train when they go to Czechoslavkia? What is the significance of this? 6. What news does Vladek get about his business upon his return from the sanitarium? What does Art suggest caused it and what is Vladeks response to this suggestion? Is Vladeks interpretation credible?

Chapter 3: Prisoner of War

1. Why does Vladek wear a mask on page 64? Now look at Spiegelmans self-portrait inside the back cover. Why is he wearing a mouse mask? What does this mean in terms of choosing animals to represent the human characters in the novel? 2. In what ways is Vladek a prisoner of war in Chapter 3? Is Art a prisoner of war? 3. At the prisoner of war camp, who are the two groups of segregated prisoners? How are they treated differently?

4. How does Spiegelman show that Vladek disguises himself as a Pole on the train back to Sosnowiec? Does the character Vladek do anything different to pretend he is a Pole? If so, what is it? What is the difference between what Vladek does and what Spiegelman draws? 5. What does Vladek do with Arts coat at the end of the chapter? What does this s how about his character? How does this relate to the events in the rest of the chapter?

Chapter 4: The Noose Tightens

1. What is the significance of Anjas missing diary and Arts search for it beginning in this chapter? 2. Describe some of the techniques Vladek uses to get money and resources to help support the family and himself in Sosnowiec. 3. How does Ilzeki help Vladek? 4. What happens to the Zylberbergs furniture set? In what ways are the Zylberbergs dishonest? In what ways are the Germans dishonest? 5. What does Ilzeki do with his son? Why dont the Spiegelmans do the same with Richieu? 6. Who are the Jews that are hanged (what are their names and how does Vladek know them)? Why are they hanged? What effect does the hanging have on Vladek? Use details and information from the text to support your response. 7. Why did some Jews decide to become Jewish police? 8. Why does Vladeks father go over to the bad side in the stadium?

Chapter 5: Mouse Holes

1. How is the Anja in Prisoner on the Hell Planet different from the Anja in the rest of MAUS? 2. What incidents in the chapter reveal Haskel and Pesach Spiegelman to be kombinators? What are the consequences of their various ethical decisions? Why does Spiegelman include information about what happened to the two cousins after the war? Is there a correlation between their actions and the later events in their lives? Why does Spiegelman juxtapose this information? 3. Why does Art express that he feels guilty about his mothers death in Prisoner on the Hell Planet? 4. Who is Persis? What does he do for the family? What happens to the children after this? 5. How do the Nazis find the Spiegelmans, Mr. and Mrs. Zylberberg, and Lolek in Srodula when they liquidate the ghetto? Who is able to get out of the detention they are taken to and how do they get out? 6. How do Anja and Vladek eventually get out of the ghetto? How does Spiegelman use diction and imagery to show that this moment is both a conclusion and a transition? 7. How does Vladek feel about Mala? Do you think his characterization of her is accurate?

Chapter 6: Mouse Trap

1. Do you think Malas statement that Maus is an important book. People who dont usually read such stories will be interested is accurate? Why or why not? 2. What did the Spiegelmans governess say she would do for the Spiegelmans? What happens when they go to her house? 3. How do Vladek and Anja try to disguise themselves in Sosnowiec? How does the author show the degree to which their disguises work? 4. When the smugglers come to Vladek and Mandelbaum, how does the author show how they disguise their language? 5. What is Anjas response to the smuggling plan? How does this fit in with other examples of Anjas character? Is this consistent or inconsistent with her characteristics? 6. What happens on the train to Hungary? Where does it occur? What is the significance of where the incident occurs? Where are the prisoners taken immediately after their arrest?