Unit Title: Graphic Narratives & Maus

Teacher: Sarah Geist

Focus Class Description: 11th grade Honors English; virtual learning with block schedule

Essential Question(s): How do people tell their stories and the stories of others? How does one’s past affect their present and future?

Objectives/Goals of the Unit:

SWBAT analyze how Spiegelman uses a combination of images and text to tell the story of his father’s trauma and explain how that trauma affected his relationship with his father.
SWBAT create a graphic narrative that effectively uses a combination of images and text to tell their own stories.
SWBAT use evidence from the text to support their claims in discussion.

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters
uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3
Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are
introduced and developed).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5
Analyze how an author's choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution)
contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

Summative Assessment: Personal Graphic Narrative

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

DAY 1 DAY 2
SWBAT read the panels, captions, Asynchronous Reading Day:
and speech of a graphic novel in ● Maus Ch. 1-3 (pg. 3-69)
the correct order, left to right, top to ● The Last Days
bottom.
SWBAT define and identify Attendance Form:
examples of important terms ● Rat Collage
relating to graphic novels, including
panel, frame, gutter, bleed, layout, Mental Health Resource:
 caption, speech bubble, thought ● Yoga for Your Heart (10 min)
bubble, and sound effects.
SWBAT connect the film The Last
Days to background knowledge
about the Holocaust.

In-Class Activities:
● What Is A Graphic Novel?
● Comics Key Terms
● Modeling with Maus
● Art Spiegelman Interview
● Introduce Graphic Narrative
Project
● The Last Days + Dachau
Background

Independent Work:
● Read Ch. 1-3 (pg. 3-69)
Maus
● Work on Part 1: Proposal

DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5

SWBAT informally write their ideas Half Day: 37 minutes Asynchronous Reading Day:
about the text before sharing them SWBAT define storyboarding and ● Maus Ch. 4-6 (pg. 71-159)
out loud with their classmates. describe the main features of a
SWBAT analyze Spiegelman’s storyboard. Attendance Form:
relationship with his father and with SWBAT create a storyboard of their ● Tom and Jerry Collage
the Holocaust. graphic narratives that is based on
SWBAT critically reflect on how the their project proposals. Mental Health Resource:
discussion influences their thinking ● Healthy Sleeping
about the text(s). In-Class Activities: ● Breathing Bubble
● Part 1: Proposal due
In-Class Activities: beginning of class
● Explain Dialogue Journal ● Storyboarding Mini-Lesson
● Discuss The Last Days and
Maus Ch. 1-3 Independent Work:
● Read Ch. 4-6 (pg. 71-159)
Independent Work: Maus
● Read Ch. 4-6 (pg. 71-159) ● Work on Part 2: Storyboard
 Maus
● Work on Part 1: Proposal

DAY 6 DAY 7 DAY 8

SWBAT informally write their ideas SWBAT discuss how they will use Asynchronous Reading Day:
about the text before sharing them their chosen medium to turn their ● Maus II Ch. 1-5 (pg. 3-136)
out loud with their classmates. storyboards into complete graphic
SWBAT analyze the decisions narratives. Attendance Form:
characters are forced to make in the ● Mickey Mouse Collage
novel. In-Class Activities:
SWBAT critically reflect on how the ● Project workshop Mental Health Resource:
discussion influences their thinking ● Part 2: Storyboard due ● Set to Go
about the text(s). before class ● How to Survive College
● Discuss storyboards Application Season
In-Class Activities: ● Snipping and tech modeling
● Discuss Maus Ch. 4-6
Independent Work:
Independent Work: ● Read Maus II Ch. 1-5 (pg.
● Read Maus II Ch. 1-5 (pg. 3-136)
3-136) ● Work on Part 3: Rough Draft
● Work on Part 2: Storyboard

DAY 9 DAY 10 DAY 11

SWBAT informally write their ideas SWBAT provide meaningful Half Day: 75 minutes
about the text before sharing them feedback on their peers’ graphic
out loud with their classmates. narrative drafts. Share Graphic Narratives (due
SWBAT analyze the role that luck SWBAT brainstorm for their graphic before class)
and/or skill plays in the text. narrative presentations.
SWBAT critically reflect on their
experience reading Maus, a story In-Class Activities:
about the Holocaust, and graphic ● Project Workshop
novels. ● Part 3: Rough Draft due
before class
In-Class Activities: ● Peer review
● Discuss Maus II
● Art-Vladek Word Cloud Independent Work:
● Work on Graphic Narrative
Independent Work: Final Draft
● Turn in dialogue journal
● Work on Part 3: Rough Draft
 Maus Graphic Narrative DUE Friday 3/12

“The real story of Maus is not an Auschwitz for beginners, but it’s the story of a son trying to
understand his father’s life, and the son’s a cartoonist so he tries to understand it by putting it in
little boxes” (Art Spiegelman).

For your final project of this unit, you will be creating your own graphic narrative. Choose a
story from your life. It can be a single moment, something that happened over a longer period
of time, or someone else telling you the story of their life. Whatever you decide, you should be
the protagonist of your narrative.

NOTE: Make sure to choose a story that you are comfortable sharing with your classmates.

Use a combination of images and text to tell your story. Consider the strategies and techniques
that Spiegelman uses in Maus to inform how you decide to tell your story.

The final graphic narrative must be at least 4 pages long and include at least 12 panels.
You will decide the layout and content of each page.

You can use a variety of mediums to create your graphic narrative. Some options include:
● Drawing your comic by hand
● Using digital drawing software to draw your comic
● https://www.storyboardthat.com/storyboard-creator (most user friendly)
● https://www.pixton.com/ (allows you to create a personal avatar)
● https://www.makebeliefscomix.com/ (whimsical animation style)
● https://www.canva.com/ (more varied layouts; allows you to upload images)
● Other (bitmoji, photo collage, etc.)

We will be spending Wednesdays workshopping this project. Each Wednesday, you should
bring a part of your project to class.

Part 1: Proposal DUE 2/24 (5 pts.)

Write 100+ words describing your project. What story do you plan to tell? What medium(s) do
you plan to use? What are some strategies and/or techniques that you want to try?

Part 2: Storyboard DUE 3/3 (5 pts.)

Create a storyboard of your narrative. Draw the layout and write a description of what will
appear in each panel.

Part 3: Rough Draft DUE 3/10 (5 pts.)

Bring some part of your project to class. You do not need to have a finished draft, but it should
be complete enough to allow you to participate in a peer review.

Part 4: Final Draft DUE 3/12 (25 pts.)

 Maus Dialogue Journal

2/23: The Last Days & Maus Ch. 1-3

Write about a scene or moment from The Last Days that provoked an emotional response in
you. How did it make you feel? Why do you think you felt that way?

What is ONE word that describes Spiegelman’s relationship with his father? Use evidence from
the text to support your choice.

What are some of the ways Spiegelman sees his father still being affected by the Holocaust?
Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Reflect on today’s discussion. How has it influenced your thinking about the text? What
questions do you have? What aspects of the text do you want to explore further?

3/2: Maus Ch. 4-6

Choose a panel from Ch. 4-6 that stood out to you. Describe the panel, provide the page
number, and explain why it interested you.

Vladek and his family are forced to make many impossible choices during their time in the
Jewish ghetto. Select one of the following impossible choices and explain why you agree or
disagree with the choice the characters make. Use evidence from the text to support your
answer.
● Whether or not to send Richieu into hiding with Mr. Ilzecki’s friend
● Whether to give Anja’s grandparents to the Jewish police or keep them in hiding
● Whether Vladek’s father should stay in the safe line with his son or sneak into the unsafe
line to be with his daughter and four grandkids
● Whether to die from poison or from the gas chambers at Auschwitz
● Whether to kill the man who found their bunker in the ceiling
● Whether to try to escape to Hungary

Vladek and Mala do not get along. Why do you think they remain married? Why did they get
married in the first place? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Reflect on today’s discussion. How has it influenced your thinking about the text? What
questions do you have? What aspects of the text do you want to explore further?

3/9: Maus II Ch. 1-5

As he interviews his father, Spiegelman witnesses Vladek do and say some very questionable
things, including being racist toward a black hitchhiker. Write about a time an older relative or
friend did something problematic. How did it make you feel? How did you respond? How did
others who may have seen or heard respond?

How much of Vladek’s survival depends on fate/luck and how much of it depends on his
skills/intellect? How would Spiegelman answer this question? How would you? Use evidence
from the text to support your answer.

On page 64, Vladek says, “yes...about Auschwitz, nobody can understand.” What is the point of
telling the story if nobody can truly understand it? Use evidence from the text to support your
answer.

Reflect on your experience reading Maus. What is the effect of using the graphic novel medium
to tell a story about the Holocaust? Do you think Spiegelman was effective in telling his and his
father’s stories? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.