Honors Composition

Study Questions for Spiegelman's Maus, Vol. 1, Ch. 1

1. What is the first thing you notice about Spiegelman's method of presentation?
   What characterizes his comic-book style?

2. Before the memoir proper begins, why does Spiegelman (Artie) present us with the roller-skating episode from his childhood?

3. When and where does the first chapter take place? What was Vladek's profession?

4. When he goes to see his relatives in Poland, how are the Poles depicted?

5. Whom does Vladek marry and where do they live?

6. Why does Art include the story about Lucia, when his father told him to leave it out?
   What does Art mean when he says he wants to make the story more real, more human?

7. In Chapter One, is there any sense of what's about to happen to Vladek, his family, and his people?