Responses to presentations on Maus by Art Spiegelman--October 30 2002

Erica's presentation about her experience in Dachau was really powerful. I
lked how she said that at fifteen years old it was a hard thing to
understand. It seems now with a different perspective the trip is even more
meaningful to her than it was then. I have never been to a concentration
camp, but I did visit Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam and I know how that made
me feel. When Erica described not being able to stand close to the furnaces,
I could imagine what that felt like. It is so hard to believe that you are
actually standing in the exact same places that all of those horrible things
happened. I also liked how she mentioned the two Jewish girls in her school
group.
Samantha's presentation seemed very well thought out. I would never have
thought to compare Maus to Tom & Jerry but after she spoke it made perfect
sense. It was neat to get some insight to why perhaps Art Spiegelman chose
those particular animals to represent different groups of people.

Megan Cooper

Cheryl Welker

I agreed with the first presenter that the survivors had much more than luck
on their side. Vladec as well as his shrink and the man in the movie had
resources and were educated beyond what the average jew might have been.
They had connections with people and had networking ability, which they used
for their own benefit and to help others in need. They all had a way of
talking to people and helping, or coercing them to think the way they wanted
or thought was best for themselves. I agree that they used what they knew
to make things happen. They all had different backrounds, yet their
similarities were the factors that gave them the edge or tactic for survival
of the camps.

I am responding to the "Life is Beautiful" presentation. I liked the way he
linked Vladek with the main character in the movie. I agree with the
statement made about survivors and how they are unique people. People that
survive in situations such as the Holocaust need to become resourceful in
order to survive and come out on top.

-Jaime Stevens

I really enjoyed Greg's presentation, where the movie of Life is Beautiful and
the two books by Spiegelman were compared and contrasted. I thought he did a
fine job in picking out a scene in the movie that directly related to the
character Vladek throughout Maus 1 and Maus 2. His presentation theme was well
thought out, and I gained some insight on why Vladek is able to pull off such
amazing tasks. Like Guido in the movie, Vladek plays along with what he knows
in everyday life, and uses this very wisely to his advantage. Both the
characters are able to make miracles happen with almost nothing to work with.
This is done under terrible conditions where the majority of people would
rather just give up. But the two characters perservere, and end up succeeding
greatly in the end. They are able to live. Greg made these points much more
apparent for me through his presentation and his thoughts reflecting on Guido
and Vladek. Very well done!

James Cole

I took the initiative to look at the photos from shamash.org presented in
Elaine's presentation. I have never seen such graphic photos of the
holocaust. Perhaps for it's cartoon like structure, the holocaust presented
in Maus seemed far less brutal than in reality.

Nathan Mole

I thought that Greg Blevins had an interesting concept to compare Life is
Beautiful with Maus. Vladek and the main character in the movie do seem very
similar, as far as their cleverness and helpful natures.
However, I thought he probably should have picked a different scene to show
the class, as the scene he showed didn't depict the Halocaust at all.

Samantha Yale

I really enjoyed the presentations from both Erica and I believe her name is Samantha. Erica's
presentation was very enlightening and to know that Dachau could have an effect on a 15 year
old just makes the realization of what happened that much more frightening. At 15 most people
are so wrapped up in what is going on around them, so to write about the experience several
years later with such intensity as if it were yesterday gives us a small sense of the power and
horror of what went on. In Samantha's presentation I liked how she compared the character's
with that of Tom and Jerry - a show that we all watched when we were younger and some may
still watch now. Samantha's explaination of what each animal means was fun and very
interesting and a great way to end the presentations.

Kelly Lopas

I really enjoyed Erica's presentation of her school trip to Germany and her
feelings she experienced when she visited Dachau. Her presentation was honest
and heartfelt and should be something that everyone should experience in their
lifetime. One of the most important lessons that should be learned from such
a horrible part of history is for it to never happen again. The only way to
make sure that the Holocaust does not repeat itseld is to continue to teach
students about its events through books such as Maus I and Maus II as well as
keeping the camps as memorials for people to visit and be haunted by the same
eerie feeling that Erica experienced.

Meghan MacDougall

I particularly enjoyed Greg's presentation. I thought that the movie clip was
a very creative and effective aspect of his main point. Guido was a lot like
Vladek--good job!

-Chris Vaughan

Everyone did a nice job. Sometimes humans need to be reminded of the
uncivilized behavior that some people do to dissappeare a specific culture.
Just because people look different, speak a different language, or have
different ideas from our own; it doesn't mean that we have to get rid of them.
We have to understand the diversity that exists around the world and respect
each other.

Alma Ramirez

The presentation by Elaine was very insightful and the brutality of the Nazi era that
she reveled in terms of "numbers of people dead" was saddening and infuriating. The
presentation by Samantha was well researched and the analysis that she did of every
animal seemed to match their representation in the book.

Gufran Vanjara

I really enjoyed Erica’s presentation about her trip to Dachau when she was younger. The descriptions she used to explain her feelings
and reaction of actually standing in a place where some of the worst terrors and abuse ever occurred were very chilling. The extreme
torture and testing that took place must still leave some of the lost souls and spirits in those areas to remind visitors of how bad it
actually was. It is almost disgusting to think there are groups attempting to disprove and belittle such an event that effected so many
people worldwide.

Brian Appiano

I really enjoyed the presentation by Samantha who looked at the animal
symbolism in the book "Maus" and then compared the animal characters to the
characters in the cartoon "Tom & Jerry". Samantha found that the symbolized
meanings of each character reveled possibly more of why the author chose
each animal to represent the different ethic groups portrayed in the book.
ie; Cats symbolize mystical powers and mice symbolize frugality and
rebirth. Samantha then researched the descriptions for the cartoon
characters in "Tom & Jerry" and found that these character descriptions also
seemed to match the descriptions of the characters featured in the book. ie;
Tom is fiendish and Jerry is happily minding his own business.
Really enjoyable ideas and viewpoint of the books events.

Elaine Genasci

Rosanna Durant

I enjoyed Pennies painting. I thought that it was very beautiful and
expressive. When she said she did not know why she painted the shirt blue on
the Jewish women I thought it was to represent her hope for an ending to all
the death.

I found Erica's presentation on Dachau to be very interesting. It was strange
to hear how a place that had been abandoned for decades could have such a
profound impact on the people touring through it. To hear her talk, you could
almost imagine the ghosts of all of that place's victims still lingering
there. It's certainly not a place that I would want to visit.

-Michael Bunting

Greg’s presentation on Maus used a clip from the movie “Life is
Beautiful.” Greg gave a short introduction of the movie and used the movie to
show the similarities between the main character in the movie and the main
character in Maus, Vladek. I felt that his explanation of the correlation was
a little hazy and unclear. However, Professor Marx spoke about the
relationship a little more and told that both characters attempt to make
something out of nothing.
For Penny’s presentation, she made a painting on canvas. She stated
she is not that much of an artist but the painting was very well done. She
explained how the trees in the painting symbolized how the Jews were “stuck”
during the era of Nazi Germany. Her explanation of her painting was very well
done.

Alex Siegel

All presentations were very informative and interesting. This is a complicate
topic to talk about because it is so hard just to imagine how many millions of
people died during those years. Erica's presentation was very interesting and
vivid because of the fact she explained her trip to one of the concentrations
camps. It is unvelible that people do those things and kill so many inocent
people. Erica's description of the camp is an example of the impact it had even
years after.

Raquel Villalpando

i very much enjoyed the presentation on the personal experience at Dachau
concentration camp. The way the story was presented, i was able to also feel as
though i was there and get more of an emotional connection and understanding.
She did a good job of being brave, sharing a personal experience and how it
effected her. I personally would love to go to visit a concentration camp to get a
better understanding of history and the jewish people group. I do not think there
is a better way to learn than experiencing things on a first hand basis.

--elisa chapman

I enjoyed all of the presentaions. The first two papers that were read out
loud are still fresh in my mind. It was interesting to see two different
styles arguing for their side and interest. I like the video presentation
because like the movie it brought a little sunshine to the book and its sad
content.

Regina Zendejas

I found Erica presentation to be very meaningful and relevant to the story we
read. The visit to Dachau and its furnaces and gas chambers can really grab
your attention to the extreme hate, and the true realization of the harsh
injustices that happened on that land and to the human race as a people. She
told this story many years after she had been there and even though she did
not fully understand the whole story encompassed in the holocaust, the eyes
she viewed them with could understand that something terrible did happen
there.

Michael Becerra

I personally enjoyed Penny's painting of the older Jewish woman. This is
because she is the first person to take on the challenge of putting what we
have read into a visual piece without any words. It also had to be especially
hard for her because Maus itself is based around its own images, while Penny
took her own idea of the struggle that these people went through and developed
something entirely different from what we saw in the book. I liked her use of
red in the background and how all of the trees were just twisted stumps
instead of being big and beautiful. The red to me sybolized the anger and
hatered that was felt by all people involved in the Holocaust. And the trees
seemed to represent the twisted ugliness that was forced upon the prisoners.
She did a wonderful job and created a beautiful painting.

Erica Strohmeier