Maus is a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman in which he is depicting his father’s and mother’s experiences during the holocaust as Polish Jews. The story begins in the 1930s and goes on until 1945, the end of the holocaust.

Holocaust always addresses human destruction and aggression to me and is a testament of resilience and survival. Although there are many lessons that can emerge from this comic, I would use this opportunity to bring attention to propaganda posters and postcards from that WW2. In identifying propaganda techniques used during WWII, students are encouraged to think critically and reflect on how societies and the public can become vulnerable to extreme messages.

This exercise and reflection can equip high school students with necessary skills to assess propaganda’s consequences and empower them to respond to and recognize alluded messages within their own world. Its important for students to recognize that these messages are dangerous and that they, themselves, must engage in critical thinking and analyzing of the images that are displayed for them. Sturken and Cartwright in Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture propose that power and knowledge are achieved by visual communication. Popular culture is defined as culture and knowledge passed through the mass media; magazines, television, radio and internet which contribute to and shapes human thoughts and world view (Strinati:2004). Students should be aware of this power and know how they might be affected by it and how they can utilize it.