WVU's Campus Read
The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman has been selected as the 2024-25 WVU Campus Read. All incoming Honors College students are expected to read this book during the summer months. ***
The WVU Campus Read program is an academically-driven common read experience that
engages students, faculty, staff, and even members of the Morgantown community,
to share ideas and think critically through thoughtful dialogue.
We ask that you delve into the material a little deeper and reflect on the book before starting your classes this fall. The Campus Read examines deep, complex issues that may be triggering to some. If you feel the need, please reach out to counselors at the WVU Carruth Center at 304-293-4431. You can also request an appointment online.
Objectives
Life can seem unfair, chaotic and unsettling at times. In this year’s Campus Read, The Complete Maus, Art Speigelman shares he and his father’s story of human rights abuse, generational trauma, memory, and the complexity of racism, morality, and survival.
Throughout this meta-biography, Spiegelman remains committed to capturing his father’s story. Ultimately, his commitment to capturing historical events experienced by his family members becomes his life’s work.
Here at the Honors College, we encourage you to learn about the experiences of other people through examining diverse voices and narrative. How will you make meaning of your own life experiences and the experiences of others?
The Honors experience is about becoming more of who you really are. We will support you during your time in the Honors College and encourage you to uncover, discover and develop the real you.
Through the Honors College Summer Reading Assignment, we encourage you to think critically, consider all options to make the best possible decisions, and work toward becoming the best version of yourself. Active reflection, after all, is an integral part of higher education, and what makes the college experience something that is invaluable and life-changing.
Your Assignment
The Honors College has developed three prompts for you based on the graphic novel.
The use of ChatGPT and other AI generative technologies should not be used for
this assignment.
Choose One Prompt
For prompts 1 and 2, write an essay that is:
- 1200-1500 words
- double-spaced
- 12-point font size
- Times New Roman
- one-inch margins
- APA or MLA format
- Include a cover page with your name, title of assignment and date
Prompt 1
Throughout the book, Art Spiegelman interjects a few conversations between Artie
and his dad, Vladek. These conversations imply there may be tension, misunderstanding
and frustration between father and son. From the short conversation they had
beginning on
page 6 to the complex emotions Artie expresses on
pages 174-176, it is apparent that generational trauma and guilt ravaged
Artie and Vladek’s relationship.
- Do you think either of them recognized that trauma was influencing their relationship? If so, how did you see it manifest in the story, in the actions of their characters, etc.?
- How could they have tried to better understand each other and attempt to heal generational trauma?
Use specific examples from the book to highlight where you think they could have improved their relationship.
Prompt 2
In this story, Art Spiegelman depicts human beings as three different animal
species. He portrayed one group of people as mice, another as cats and another
as pigs. His categorization of human beings into these three distinct species
is vital to the story he wants to tell.
- How does that portrayal help him reveal the hate and fear present in the Holocaust?
- From your perspective, why does such hate and fear continue today? What can we do about it?
Provide specific examples from the book where you identified the worst in humanity and where you identified glimpses of hope.
Prompt 3
One of the very clear themes from
Maus is that of generational trauma, which is defined as the “harmful
effects of historical mistreatment or abuse. The symptoms of these traumas
are passed down from generation to generation,”
according to Therapist Reshawna Chapple, Ph.D. LCSW.
Here are several articles that may help you better understand generational
trauma:
- American Psychological Association - Intergenerational Trauma
- What Is Generational Trauma?
- TCNJ Journal of Student Scholarship
- Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science
Although generational trauma is often used when describing the experiences
of the survivors of the Holocaust, it is also prevalent among people
whose ancestors were enslaved, witnessed violence, were immigrants, were
impoverished, or were part of some other historical abuse, and whose
descendants still feel the effects of that mistreatment.
- Did your grandfather or great grandfather fight in a war? How have his stories affected your life? Do you think it affected other members of your generation?
- Was your grandmother or great grandmother allowed to have her own credit card? Did she have access to reliable birth control? Did she ever have a job? Did they treat her differently there, or pay her the same rate as the men? Have any of her stories of those situations affected your attitudes or life?
- Were any of your ancestors really poor during the depression? Were they ever subjected to class bias or race bias? Have those stories changed the way you look at the world?
- Was someone in your family witness to a historical event that still shapes the way that you, their descendant, thinks and behaves?
Create a video or digital narrative using Adobe Express to discuss your experience with generational trauma that includes:
The video or digital narrative must include:
- A thesis statement.
- At least 7 photographs with 3-5 sentences of narrative for each photo that support the thesis. Students are welcome to use pictures of themselves, their lives, their books, their family, or whatever photographs they feel relates to their experience with generational trauma. You are welcome to integrate pictures from Maus as well. (Digital Narrative)
- At least 45 seconds of information that supports your thesis in a cohesive narrative. (Video)
- An explanation of what the generational trauma has to do with Maus.
- An explanation of how the trauma of your ancestors has affected you and other descendants of other people who lived through the same traumatic historical event.
- Music, pictures, narrative and videos that creatively illustrate your main thesis.
- Elements of Design and Interior Architecture in Guatemala (Digital Narrative)
- Public Art in Guatemala (Digital Narrative)
- A Woven History of the Art of Textiles and Womanhood in Guatemala (Digital Narrative)
- Mountaineer Roasting Company Coffee Bean Supply Chain (Digital Narrative)
- Lake Atitlan in Guatemala (Digital Narrative)
Grading
The assignment will be graded out of a
total of 100 points. The assignment rubrics are available
below.
For questions about the summer reading assignment, please email
honors@mail.wvu.edu.
*** If you would prefer to complete an alternate assignment, please email us by August 2 to request that information.