How does each
character struggle to assert his own identity both within the family unit and outside of the family bonds? Does their
relationship change over time, or do they treat each other in the same antagonistic way? Ultimately, what do you
think Art Spiegelman is trying to show about family through the portrayal of these characters and their overlapping
lives?
2. There are many themes that are significant in MAUS I and MAUS II, by Art Spiegelman. Two of these themes are
loyalty and survival. In your essay, please analyze the importance of these two aspects of the books and also
examine an additional theme of your own choosing. Make sure that you discuss at least two characters in your
answer. In your opinion, and in relation to the themes you discuss, what is Art Spiegelman communicating about
the difficulties of living under wartime conditions?
3. In MAUS II, by Art Spiegelman, Vladek tells Artie about his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp while
contracting typhus. He says, “At night I had to go to the toilet down. It was always full, the whole corridor, with
the dead people piled there. You couldn’t go through . . . . You had to go on their heads, and this was terrible,
because it was so slippery, the skin, you thought you are falling. And this was every night” (95 or 255). In your
essay, please discuss the differing ways that the theme of persecution is present in both MAUS I and MAUS II. How
do at least two of the main characters either participate in or react against the kind of persecution that Vladek
describes? Do you think that Art Spiegelman’s books reinforce the idea that safety can only be found in isolation, or
does Spiegelman suggest that persecution can be overcome through community?
4. Throughout The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas, the main character, Starr Carter, is shown through a series of
themes during her young adulthood. In your essay, please analyze the importance of the themes of family,
education, and racism in the book as well as one additional theme of your own choosing. Overall, in relation to the
themes that you discuss, how do you view Thomass text as being an empowering one, in general, and, in particular,
for those who identify as Black teen/girls and/or teens/young women of color?
5. Please write an essay where you compare and contrast the father-daughter relationship in Angie Thomass young
adult novel, The Hate U Give, with the relationship that you had have with your own father/Daddy (or father figure).
How is your relationship similar and/or different to theirs? Does their relationship change over time, or stay the
same? What about the overall quality of your relationship? Ultimately, what do you think Thomas is showing us
about what is important to value in father-daughter (or father-child) bonds?
6. The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas, is a novel purposefully written for the Young Adult genre. In your essay,
please write about what makes this book an important one for the genre of young adult fiction. How does Thomas
depict her young adult heroine in her quest for an independent, emerging, female adulthood and her activism for
racial justice? In terms of characterization and theme, in any way you choose, please discuss what important
messages are conveyed to young adults, in particular, throughout this book. Finally, why do you think it might be
important for the next generation of young people to be reading this book in the future?
Please Note: for quoting MAUS, use MAUS I or MAUS II, with the page number, in the citation: (MAUS I 45).
for the Hate U Give, use Thomas and the page number: (Thomas 45). No comma in the citations. The titles are
italicized.
(P.S. you can answer anyone of them, its your prefance, but I recommend number 4 or 6)
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