Hi everyone, I am new to this website. My English ATAR exam is next week and I would love if any one of you who excel in English were to please provide me feedback on this essay I have written on the graphic novel Maus. Thankyou!!!

Question: Discuss how the combination of modes has been used to build the representation of a particular idea in a studied text and how this provokes reader response.

*Maus English Essay*

‘Maus,' a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman, explores the story of a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust in World War Two, Vladek, between 1944 to 1945 and his son Artie, who attempts to understand his experiences in the present day during the 1970s to 1980s. World War 2, led by Nazi Germany, involved the persecution and murder of undesirable minority groups, specifically Jews. Spiegelman conveys the idea that war and genocide have dehumanising effects exclusively by incorporating written and visual modes such as anthropomorphism, clothing, symbolism, dialogue, shading, facial expression, and tone. This invites readers to respond sympathetically to the Jews in World War Two.

Throughout the novel, Spiegelman utilises anthropomorphism to convey how Jews were inferior to the Germans during World War Two, thus, dehumanising them. For example, in the comic, 'Maus,' Jews are depicted as mice and Germans as cats. This visual mode illustrates the respective roles of Nazis as predators (cats) and Jews as prey (mice) in World War Two. It reinforces the belief that Jews were subhuman, viewed as vermin who needed extermination. It represents how the Jews were stripped of their humanity as they were reduced to objects to be hunted down and eliminated. Anthropomorphism helps readers highlight the persecution the Jews experienced, supporting them to further sympathise with the victims. Furthermore, the use of clothing Spiegelman has drawn onto the Jewish prisoners in the World War Two concentration camps further attempts to depict the dehumanisation of the minority race. The Star of David armbands were used to collectively identify them, which diminishes their individual identity. They were also dressed up in the same prisoner uniforms and were branded with tattoos like cattle. Readers are positioned to sympathise with the loss of identity of the Jewish, which disintegrated in the chaos of the war. Thus, through multiple visual modes such as anthropomorphism and clothing in practice, Spiegelman displays how war and genocide have dehumanising effects, engaging readers to respond sympathetically in the novel, 'Maus.'

Furthermore, throughout the graphic novel 'Maus', the dehumanising effects of war and genocide are continued to be shown through the continuous diminishing of Jewish identity. Scattered throughout the novel, chimneys are utilised as a visual mode to represent the abhorrent manner in which Jews were systematically murdered in gas chambers. It further helps represent the dehumanisation of Jews, whose millions of individual identities and personal stories were reduced to smoke and ashes from the chimneys of Nazi concentration camps. The chimneys are symbolic and illustrate to readers the destruction of Jewish culture and identity.Additionally, on page 61, Vladek narrates to Artie how the Nazis made Jews 'sing prayers while they laughed and beat us… they cut off our beards.' This dehumanises the Jews because it shows that the Jews were mere entertainment for the Germans and nothing more. They would laugh and beat the Jews because it was a fun game, and their actions did not feel criminal or cruel as the Jews were considered pests of society. Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, and a man's beard is a significant aspect of this. 'They cut off our beards,' meant the Jews were disconnected from their roots, further eradicating their identities and showing the dehumanising effects of war. Readers are positioned to feel outraged by the activities of the Nazi party and thus sincerely express sympathy towards the Jews who suffered from an identity crisis due to the mistreatment of their race in World War Two. Therefore, visual and written modes such as symbolism and dialogue have been applied simultaneously in the graphic novel, 'Maus,' to instigate the dehumanising effects of war and genocide, inviting readers to respond sympathetically.

On page 232 in the graphic novel, 'Maus,' the panel at the bottom shows a closeup of the Jews in concentration camps being engulfed in flames. Art uses shading to accentuate the roaring flames which cover the Jewish mice. The shading helps draw the reader's attention to the facial expressions of the mice screaming in agony. The multimodality in practice in this panel represents the inhumane experiences endured by the Jews during the Holocaust. It reminds the reader of the dehumanising atrocities committed during the Holocaust, helping them understand the sufferings of the victims and further sympathise with them. Additionally, Vladek, a Jewish survivor of World War Two, recounts to Art how the 'prisoners that worked there poured gasoline over the live ones and dead ones.' World War Two for the Jewish was equivalent to hell due to the torture they endured before their final breaths. The bleak tone Vladek uses in his delivery of the suffering of the Jews displays the dehumanising effects of World War Two on Holocaust survivors. This form of torture the Nazis inflicted on the Jews is viewed as inhumane to Art and the audience today. However, Vladek has become numb to the atrocities his community has faced as it was the norm during the war, thus, the reason for his monotonous, emotionless, and inhumane tone. This rouses readers to sympathise with the Holocaust survivors for enduring these traumatic experiences. Thus, through shading, facial expressions, dialogue and tone, Art has conveyed the dehumanising traumatic effects of war and genocide, making readers deeply sympathise with the Holocaust survivors in the graphic novel, 'Maus.'

In conclusion, Spiegelman's graphic novel 'Maus,' uses multiple written and visual modes to convey the idea of how war and genocide have dehumanising effects, engaging the reader to respond sympathetically. The novel's use of anthropomorphism, clothing, symbolism, dialogue, shading, facial expression and tone all help convey the experiences of Jews during World War Two, which resonates with contemporary society today.

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