by Art Spiegelman
A Study Guide to the Graphic Novel - Sample
The Prologue: RegoPark N.Y. c.1958
1. Which character is narrating this episode?
2. All the characters are drawn as mice in the prologue, except one. What type of animal is the other character and why do you think he has been drawn as a different animal?
3. Examine the houses and the landscapes in each frame. Describe the setting of the prologue. What does it tell us about the type of people who live there?
4. Artie is abandoned by his friends in the prologue. When he tells his father, his response is ‘Friends? Your friends? If you lock them in a together in a room with no food for a week … then you could see what it is, friends!’. Why do you think his father reacts so emotionally? Why isn’t the father sympathetic to his son’s situation? Read his dialogue out loud. Does it sound like fluent English or broken English? What does this suggest about his father?
5. In the second frame, there is a close up of Artie’s foot coming out of his skate embedded in the larger frame showing Artie calling out ‘ow’. Why is the close up embedded in the frame?
6. Examine the way Artie is drawn in comparison to Howie and Steve in the prologue sequence. What differences are there in the way they have been drawn? What might this suggest?
7. The ‘adult’ in the opening frame is drawn mowing his lawn. In contrast, Artie’s father is drawn sawing a piece of wood. What does this imply about the two characters and their priorities?
8. Examine the speech bubbles in the prologue sequence. Are there differences in the font styles which have been used? Why are there square boxed and circular bubbles used? Comment of the size of the bubbles in relation to the size of the frames they are in.
9. Artie’s narration in the opening frame suggests that the events in the prologue took place in the past. Based on what we learn in the prologue, why do you think this particular event has been recounted? Why has Artie remembered this particular event and why do you think it has left such a lasting impression on him?
Reflection
Prior to the beginning of chapter one, the author has included the following quote from Adolf Hitler;
‘The Jews are undoubtedly a race, but they are not human’
• Why do you think this has been included? What tone does this set?
Back to The Wonderful World of English Resources
To purchase this study guide in full, please email me:
Email: Bernadette Sheedy
© 2007 Bernadette Sheedy
