Study Questions: Chapter Two- The Honeymoon

Why does Ms. Stefanska go to jail? What role did Anja play in Ms. Stefanska’s going to jail? Ms. Stefanska went to jail because she was in possession of some legal documents about communists that were not supposed to be held. Anja had these in the first place but when she found out the police were coming she asked her Ms. Stefanska to hide them and the police found them. 

On page 31, Vladek says that he left Anja and their new baby to go to Bielsko to run his new factory and find an apartment for them to live in. How does Anja respond? Have you or members of your family ever had to separate in order to start a new job or new life? How did it feel for the people who moved on? How did it feel for the people who were left behind? Anja responds to this by becoming depressed. The closest thing to leaving home for something, would be my leaving for boarding school.

When do Vladek and Anja realize that the war is coming? How do they know? Use specific pictures and text to support your answer. They relized war was coming when they received a letter from the government. It was outlining the fact that Vladek was to be a Polish Reserves Army. This is all evident on page 40 in the second and third frame where Vladek says ‘…I was in the Polish Reserves Army…everyone knew it would be now a war.’

What happens after Vladek and Anja return from Czechoslovakia? What are they afraid of? After Vladek and Anja get back from Czechoslovakia, Valadk finds out that his factor had been robbed. They were afraid of more robberies and riots that were becoming more nd more frequent. 

Why does Vladek consider taking Anja and Richieu to the town of Sosnowiec? Do they eventually go to Sosnowiec? Where does Vladek go? Yes, Anja and Richieu do go to Sosnowiec because of the war and the fact that Vladek was sent to the frontier against Germany. 

Why doesn’t Vladek tell the doctor in the hospital about his glass eye? What does this say about Vladek’s character? Vladek didn;t tell the doctor about his glass eye because he didn’t want to make him feel embarrassed. This tells a lot about his character and how kind hearted he is. 

Study Questions: Chapter One - The Sheik

This is a graphic memoir. A graphic memoir tells a person’s life through text and drawings. Why does Art Spiegelman use mice instead of people to portray the characters in the story? What do the mice represent? Art Spiegelman uses mice in his story instead of people, because he is trying to get across that in reality, people are just like animals and back then, if you were a jew (which are the mice) you were considered a different spices. 

On page 11, Spiegelman tells us that his father’s second wife Mala was a survivor too, like most of his parents’ friends. Why does Spiegelman call Mala a survivor? What does he mean? Spiegelman calls Mala a survivor because she survived the Holocaust. She was a jew and in this time, jews were being hunted out of existence. 

What kind of relationship does Art Spiegelman and his father, Vladek have? Use specific pictures and text to support your answer. At and his father don’t have a close relationship. This is shown on page 13 in the first frame where Art says ‘I hadn’t seen him in a long time- we weren’t that close.’ 

Why is the chapter called “The Sheik”? This first chapter is called "The Sheik" in reference to Rudolph Valentino. He was a movie star in the early 20th century, a real ladies' man. This is how Vladek (Art's father) describes himself.

Why does Vladek choose Anja over Lucia? What do you think of his choice? Vladek chooses Anja over Lucia because of her personality not her looks. 

Why does Vladek ask Art not to write about Lucia in his book? Why doesn’t Art listen to his father? Do you think it is right for Art to break his promise? Art’s father asked him not to write about Lucia in his book because it’s very personal. I do not think it was right of Art to write it because it was his fathers personal things but it does make the story better.

Extended Response to Advertisement

This particular advertisement is advertising Thai Health and the ‘Don’t Drive Sleepy’ project. We know this for multiple reasons. First, the picture that captures people’s attention is the first thing that jumps out at us. The eye that is shown is half closes and looks like it is about to close. Drawn onto the eye lid, is a car, and drawn below the eye is a motor bike. This is basically means that when you fall asleep while driving, you have the chance of hitting something. Second, the name of the company and what is being advertised is displayed at the bottom of the page. 

The advertiser has used great positioning for this ad. For example, the eye that is shown, fills up the page and is big. This is effective for capturing the attention of the audience, because of the size, colour and uniqueness. The emotional response to this ad is realisation, the realisation that if you fall asleep, you could put yourself in danger, or others around you and this is manly because of the picture and positioning. The advertiser was looking for this type of response, because many people die of falling asleep at the wheel and more people need to be educated or made aware of the project that is at hand, which is why this ad is memorable. 

I believe that this advertising is very successful is raising awareness of this particular issue because it captures peoples attention straight away, its memorable and opens up the eyes of people that were not aware of this project.