Maus Unit Projects
Part I – Graphic Novel
In the same way that Art Spiegelman interviewed his father and turned his father’s story into Maus, for your final project #1 you will interview one or more persons close to you about an important event in his/her life and turn the interview into a short graphic story. You may interview one or more people. The stories can be one of the following:
· Migration stories
· Overcoming a challenge
· Learning a valuable lesson
· A memorable experience – can be positive or negative
Step 1: The Interview – Find the story
Who is a family member? Some family members are related by blood, others by memories – so anyone who you feel is a close family friend.
Please have the family member complete the survey once you are done interviewing them. The survey is confidential and you should help them follow the necessary steps to complete the survey.
You should prepare for the interview by coming up with a list of questions to ask. You should plan to talk with the person for at least 10 minutes in order to get all of the information you need. Make note of when and where you are conducting the interview.
I recommend recording the interview (if possible) then writing down the interview later by listening to your recording. If you cannot record, you will need to write down what they say as they say it.
Step 2: Make a plan – how are you going to turn the story/interview into a graphic novel?
Break down the story into parts that you can draw and write for. Once you have a plan for 10 -20 cells then you can start drawing.
Part 3: Drawing and writing. You have to draw 10 – 20 cells that tells your family members story. The drawings must be done neatly, with detail, and effort (you took your time). The writing should be detailed and should tell the story using the pictures as dialogue – like in Maus.
Part 4: Share the completed version with the person you interviewed and use the “Grade Completion Survey” sheet to get a grade from them.
Graphic novel is due the week of April 20th. May 1st
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PART II – AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE
After creating a graphic novel about a family members experience, you will be writing an essay about something you have experienced. Any of the following topics are available for you to write about – you should choose a theme that is descriptive of the topic. A theme is a general sentence that can apply to many different ideas or people. An example is, “choosing your friends is choosing a path to your future.” You may choose ONE or TWO related topics in order to write 2 pages or more SINGLE-spaced:
· Migration stories
· Overcoming a challenge
· Learning a valuable lesson
· A memorable experience – can be positive or negative
Introduction: What are you writing about? Catch your reader interest by using a hook – a statement, question, an exaggeration or a statistic related to your narrative - hook your readers attention. Then you should give your reader an idea of what they are reading about in the next few paragraphs.
Body Paragraphs: The body paragraphs all have a similar format in a narrative.
1. Topic sentence: tells the reader what this paragraph is about.
2. Details and elaboration – give details about the topic and tell more or explain the example.
3. Transition sentence – this connects one paragraph to another by showing how one this paragraph is connected to the next or to the end – conclusion.
Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes what the narrative was about – here is where you repeat to the reader how your life changed, what you learned, why it is was memorable and any other valuable information to leave the reader with an IMPRESSION of your narrative/story.
Autobiographical Narrative is due week of May 25th
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Week of April 6:
· Watch and discuss “Life is Beautiful” film
Week of April 13:
· Review WW II historical context for Maus
· Introduce context for Maus.
· Review vocabulary, writing journal and chapter notes.
· Begin Unit project
· Chapter One: The Sheik
· Introduce plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
April 20
· Chapter Two: The Honeymoon
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Using maps to establish geography
· Unit Project Deadline #1 – Interviewee + survey
· Independent Reading Book #2 – Lexile score based
April 27
· Chapter Three: Prisoner of War
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Unit Project Deadline #2 – Interview due
May 4 - Unit Project # Completed and shown to hear by May 5th - can come into office hours too (330-430)
· Chapter Four: The Noose Tightens
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Unit Project 2 - Personal Narrative
May 11
· Chapter Five: Mouse Holes
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Unit Project 2 - First draft on narrative due
May 18
· Chapter Six: Mouse Trap
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Unit Project Deadline #4 – Narrative peer edit
· Maus Final exam study guide - must have study guide complete to take final.
May 25
· Unit Project Deadline #4 – Narrative due + interview or narrative presentations
· Maus Final Exam - Wed/Thurs.
Part I – Graphic Novel
In the same way that Art Spiegelman interviewed his father and turned his father’s story into Maus, for your final project #1 you will interview one or more persons close to you about an important event in his/her life and turn the interview into a short graphic story. You may interview one or more people. The stories can be one of the following:
· Migration stories
· Overcoming a challenge
· Learning a valuable lesson
· A memorable experience – can be positive or negative
Step 1: The Interview – Find the story
Who is a family member? Some family members are related by blood, others by memories – so anyone who you feel is a close family friend.
Please have the family member complete the survey once you are done interviewing them. The survey is confidential and you should help them follow the necessary steps to complete the survey.
You should prepare for the interview by coming up with a list of questions to ask. You should plan to talk with the person for at least 10 minutes in order to get all of the information you need. Make note of when and where you are conducting the interview.
I recommend recording the interview (if possible) then writing down the interview later by listening to your recording. If you cannot record, you will need to write down what they say as they say it.
Step 2: Make a plan – how are you going to turn the story/interview into a graphic novel?
Break down the story into parts that you can draw and write for. Once you have a plan for 10 -20 cells then you can start drawing.
Part 3: Drawing and writing. You have to draw 10 – 20 cells that tells your family members story. The drawings must be done neatly, with detail, and effort (you took your time). The writing should be detailed and should tell the story using the pictures as dialogue – like in Maus.
Part 4: Share the completed version with the person you interviewed and use the “Grade Completion Survey” sheet to get a grade from them.
Graphic novel is due the week of April 20th. May 1st
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PART II – AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE
After creating a graphic novel about a family members experience, you will be writing an essay about something you have experienced. Any of the following topics are available for you to write about – you should choose a theme that is descriptive of the topic. A theme is a general sentence that can apply to many different ideas or people. An example is, “choosing your friends is choosing a path to your future.” You may choose ONE or TWO related topics in order to write 2 pages or more SINGLE-spaced:
· Migration stories
· Overcoming a challenge
· Learning a valuable lesson
· A memorable experience – can be positive or negative
Introduction: What are you writing about? Catch your reader interest by using a hook – a statement, question, an exaggeration or a statistic related to your narrative - hook your readers attention. Then you should give your reader an idea of what they are reading about in the next few paragraphs.
Body Paragraphs: The body paragraphs all have a similar format in a narrative.
1. Topic sentence: tells the reader what this paragraph is about.
2. Details and elaboration – give details about the topic and tell more or explain the example.
3. Transition sentence – this connects one paragraph to another by showing how one this paragraph is connected to the next or to the end – conclusion.
Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes what the narrative was about – here is where you repeat to the reader how your life changed, what you learned, why it is was memorable and any other valuable information to leave the reader with an IMPRESSION of your narrative/story.
Autobiographical Narrative is due week of May 25th
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Week of April 6:
· Watch and discuss “Life is Beautiful” film
Week of April 13:
· Review WW II historical context for Maus
· Introduce context for Maus.
· Review vocabulary, writing journal and chapter notes.
· Begin Unit project
· Chapter One: The Sheik
· Introduce plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
April 20
· Chapter Two: The Honeymoon
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Using maps to establish geography
· Unit Project Deadline #1 – Interviewee + survey
· Independent Reading Book #2 – Lexile score based
April 27
· Chapter Three: Prisoner of War
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Unit Project Deadline #2 – Interview due
May 4 - Unit Project # Completed and shown to hear by May 5th - can come into office hours too (330-430)
· Chapter Four: The Noose Tightens
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Unit Project 2 - Personal Narrative
May 11
· Chapter Five: Mouse Holes
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Unit Project 2 - First draft on narrative due
May 18
· Chapter Six: Mouse Trap
· Continue plot timeline, vocabulary, chapter notes, chapter journal entry
· Unit Project Deadline #4 – Narrative peer edit
· Maus Final exam study guide - must have study guide complete to take final.
May 25
· Unit Project Deadline #4 – Narrative due + interview or narrative presentations
· Maus Final Exam - Wed/Thurs.