Vladek's Story Of Survival Compared To That Of Primo Levi

We learn early in the book that Vladek’s personality in the story comes off as arrogant, extremely frugal, self-centered and sometimes he appears to be OCD. However, what Vladek tells about times before war shows that he was more loving and not as self-centered especially when it came to his first wife. Vladek is a Holocaust survivor and while telling his story to Artie he shows signs of being guilty for surviving. This story starts with the suicide of Anja and ends with his death, which is a reconciliation to Anja. Although he got remarried, it is clear that Mala cannot begin to compare to Anja which is why he doesn’t feel guilt towards Mala. The fact that he keeps Anja

The characters are an important technique used to position the reader to see how precious the environment is. Abel is the most important character and is constructed as a boy that is passionate and cares

Vladek is depicted as a hero who shows countless acts of selflessness and generosity and a villain who is, “opinionated, tight-fisted, and self-involved”. (Brown 6) Art Spiegelman’s book Maus, tells the story of how Vladek and Anja Spiegelman survived the Holocaust. Spiegelman illustrates Vladek as a man who single-handily saved his family from starvation and Auschwitz in World War I. During Spiegelman’s interviews, we get an idea of Vladek’s darker side since the war ended. Mala to speak of her astonishment and disgust in Vladek’s character. Which leaves us to question how truthfully these stories are being told. In the end, Vladek’s unsuccessful heroism is a constant reminder of his failure; survival with Anja was always easier, after her death, Vladek pushes everyone away with his “guilt and manipulation” (Brown 7)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Brian Selznick, 2007) tells the story of a mysterious young boy named Hugo, living in the walls of a Paris train station in 1931. It follows Hugo’s adventures, dreams, thoughts, and most of all, his quest to answer the many questions he has about his past. The Invention of Hugo Cabret “is a graphic novel that successfully alternates slabs of written texts with pages of black and white illustrations” (Lawn, 2012, Para 4). It is discovered firstly, how words and images work together to portray action and suspense. And secondly, how the words and images together arouse emotion from the reader and draw in the audience. These tools and techniques

Seuss was still able to make reading fun and enjoyable to children. Along the lines of his illustrations, Theodor Geisel was among the first authors to put illustrations equal with text, enabling his readers to follow the action and the story simultaneously. True to his eccentric character and unique perspective, Seuss basically drew things as he saw them. Surprisingly, he had strict guidelines on how to write children's books. There was only one illustration per page and nothing could describe anything pictured. That way, children can work out the story from the illustrations. In addition, his characters are unique. Although his characters may seem simplistic, Seuss' illustrations are inimitable. Through his drawings, word selection, and rhythm, Seuss created subliminal messages for his readers.

of the themes in the novel easier to see and decipher. Using the archetypes that he did

6. What is the significance of Vladek’s dream about his grandfather? What recurring meaning does “Parshas Truma” have in his life?

as to why someone would want to speak to him. 4 paragraphs later Sergei has come to the

Furthermore, the illustrations paint a beautiful picture that I like to think is an insight into a child’s mind, which I is a key element in this book and what makes it so great. Since the book is narrated by a child the intentional simplicity of the words and the controlled chaos that is the illustrations breathes unadulterated life into a rather normal children’s book.

The author shows great craft in the book, one way she does show craft is in her dialogue. She expresses the character's emotions by adding different words to the dialogue and signs. For example,”I did it!” gasped Soren.(Lasky 164) The author says Soren gaspes instead of he said, also she shows that it is an exciting moment because there is an exclamation point at the end of the talking. The Author also puts song lyrics in the book, this shows craft because it is what the owls like doing when they are happy or praising someone, for example,”What gives a wriggle and makes you giggle when you’em whose weensy little feeling make my heart really beat that makes me feel so jolly for the darling centipede my favorite buggy feed I always want some more that's the insect I adore more than beetles,more than crickets which at times gives me hiccups I crave only to feed on a juicy centipede I shall be happy forever .(Lasky12) This is good author craft because it shows that the owls ike centipedes they made a song to remind them of how it taste and makes them feel.

This paragraph shows that Barker spent a lot of time putting details into his illustrations was very important because they created lots of suspense and force you to pay attention to the illustrations.

His big break as a children’s book writer came as a result of his wife. She was a producer of a television show and invited one of the show’s guests home for dinner on night. After dinner she and Chris Van Allsburg showed him some of his illustrations as part of a casual after-dinner conversation. He was immediately impressed and gave the number of Walter Lorraine, an editor with Houghton Mifflin Company, to him and asked him to call him. When he finally contacted Mr. Lorraine, the man was so impressed with his drawings that he convinced Chris Van Allsburg that he should venture into children’s book writing.

Also by using animals, it allows for an easier read, thus we are able to focus more on what Spiegelman is trying to get across in the current pane and not the characters themselves. By Spiegelman using animals and using comic book form, the reader is able to literally “draw” their own conclusions as to what they believe is going on pane by pane, rather than having the author describe the whole scenery to them.

Second, the choice of a comic format serves as a vital aspect in the reader’s understanding of the visual society and making awareness through generations as more attuned to the image than to the word. In Vladek's world, being and living as a human meant living in fear. Vladek escapes the fear of death for a time through the intercession of an S.S. officer who wanted to learn English from him and in return provided him with some protection (78). This

The two pages begin with a frame where Art Spiegelman as the cartoonist (we know it is the Art as the cartoonist, partly due to the scene, but also in great part due to the use of masks rather than the complete animal metaphor used throughout the rest of the novel) is being interviewed by a pair of dogs, as specified earlier, signifying Americans. The characters are standing upon this pile of mice corpses with flies buzzing around them. As the frames continue, Art Spiegelman is further accosted by different groups of people. Following the dogs, a man wearing a cat mask begins to interview Art about the criticism he has been receiving in Germany. After the man in the cat mask, a person in a mouse mask asks him about Israel. Following the person in the mouse mask, another person appears in a mask that is trying to make a business offer, but the type of animal that is represented is indistinguishable. Also in this frame, the image of Art begins to shrink as he sits in the chair. In the following two final frames on the first page continue, Art's image shrinks even further until he is the size of a small child. It is even seen that he is acting like a small child as he begins to cry. On the next page the frames begin again, but all the people that were previously interviewing him have disappeared. However, in the corner of the first frame, there is a fly still buzzing around. Then in the next frame, Art makes further commentary about