Just when I thought I'd seen rock bottom...

[Laura]

maybe I'm overreacting but it seems to me that Schindler's List should be viewed by every student in 7th or 8th grade. This is important stuff. And what's that quote about those not knowing history being doomed to repeat it?

"Schindler's List", while a good movie, is not as powerful or informative as an actual documentary on the Holocaust or reading Elie Wiesel's Night. It would be good for supplemental viewing, but it isn't 100% accurate.

 

[Laura]

Why if this is a college do we need to teach about the holocaust in comic book form.....how about we tell the story through the words and pictures of what actually happened...maybe it is me, but would a comic book depiction of september 11 be more effective then watching those planes fly in on video!!.....the scenes of the holocaust and the retelling of such should be mandatory viewing and listening for all college students

Maus is not what you're thinking of when people say "comic book"--most of them don't win Pulitzers. It's much more than that.
http://www.amazon.com/Maus-Survivor..._bbs_sr_2/104-8267343-0272753?ie=UTF8&s=books
http://www.nmajh.org/exhibitions/maus/

 

[Tazicket]

Maus is not what you're thinking of when people say "comic book"--most of them don't win Pulitzers. It's much more than that.
http://www.amazon.com/Maus-Survivor..._bbs_sr_2/104-8267343-0272753?ie=UTF8&s=books
http://www.nmajh.org/exhibitions/maus/

Thank you for the links! I couldn't figure out how to accurately describe the book. Comic book, though perhaps not the best description in hindsight, was the closest thing I could think to relate it to. My apologies for the confusion.

 

[Laura]

Thank you for the links! I couldn't figure out how to accurately describe the book. Comic book, though perhaps not the best description in hindsight, was the closest thing I could think to relate it to. My apologies for the confusion.

Well, it does use a comic book format to tell the story.

 

[NMAmy]

Surprising? no- Horrifying? yes

I'm a first year grad student in my last year of undergrad the question "is Mexico part of the United States?" was asked which is also quite scary

(The professor whose comprehension of English I believe was quite poor said "no, Mexico is not included" )

Yeah, you'd also be surprised how many Americans think that New Mexico is NOT part of the United States.

I heard another one today from two college students that reminded me of this thread. "Baby boomers have no clue of how to use computers or the internet." Excuse me? You do realize that the majority of your online instructors and the administrators and staff are all quite computer literate, don't you?

 

[mickeyfan2]

WOW!!! This so sad on so many levels. 1 - That she knew so little about recent world history and 2 - That they are teaching it with a comic book.

 

[Tazicket]

WOW!!! This so sad on so many levels. 1 - That she knew so little about recent world history and 2 - That they are teaching it with a comic book.

Check out the links posted by Laura! It is in comic book form, but it is so much more than that!

 

[Laura]

WOW!!! This so sad on so many levels. 1 - That she knew so little about recent world history and 2 - That they are teaching it with a comic book.

I would read Maus before disparaging it. The author, Art Spiegelman, was given a special citation award for Maus by the Pulitzer Prize jury in 1992 for "Letters"--not something that's given out every year. Previous recipients include Carl Sandburg, Alex Haley, E.B. White, and Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maus

 

[mrsltg]

two issues here.

1) the fact that most schools have to teach kids to pass some sort of standrdized test in order to graduate, has lent kids to a learning style that leaves any historical perspective or feeling out!!....thank you "no (every) child left behind".

Baloney. I went to school and had all kinds of stadardized testing (15+ years ago) and yet I still learned about the Holocaust and many other very dark times in history. This has nothing to do with teaching to a test as any history test worth anything would include the Holocaust - we're talking WWII here - not some minor battle.

I fear people are forgetting.

To the poster who asked, I have read Night. It was indescribable. It's now on the bookshelf waiting to be read by my children.

 

[Tazicket]

To the poster who asked, I have read Night. It was indescribable. It's now on the bookshelf waiting to be read by my children.

Looks like I need to put this one on hold, too. (Not sure what the appropriate smilie would be here...)

 

[mrsltg]

Looks like I need to put this one on hold, too. (Not sure what the appropriate smilie would be here...)

Be prepared. I can't even put a descriptive word to it. It's an incredible description of living hell. But, it must be read.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I would read Maus before disparaging it. The author, Art Spiegelman, was given a special citation award for Maus by the Pulitzer Prize jury in 1992 for "Letters"--not something that's given out every year. Previous recipients include Carl Sandburg, Alex Haley, E.B. White, and Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maus

I am disparaging it, but it is not how college kids should be learning history. This would be better for early high school. I learned all about the holocost and never needed a comic type book to do it. I found the actual war photos more compelling. Seeing skeletons standing in rags, mounds of bodies, etc is far more telling and real to me.

 

[Tazicket]

Be prepared. I can't even put a descriptive word to it. It's an incredible description of living hell. But, it must be read.

Will do. Thanks for the warning. There's a lot of things that are not particularly pleasant, but must be done. It's crucial to never forget.

 

[amy4bruce]

The correct term to describe Maus is "graphic novel," not comic book. In other words, it is a novel, just like any fiction book you can read, but told with pictures in addition to words.

The effect of Maus is different than the effect of an actual documentary, or a collection of photos. Those hit immediately. With Maus, you can be reading along, digesting the horror, but there's a disconnect. After all, you're reading about cats and mice. And then, suddenly, you realize what it's actually about, and it becomes even creepier. Just my experience, of course. Then again, I was a fan of Art Spiegelman before Maus.

 

[cheyita]

It is depressing how many adults are unaware of history and current world/national events (not entertainment-based). I used to watch that game show Street Smarts -- how depressing was that?!

My DD had a unit on the Holocaust last year, in the 4th grade! Granted, it wasn't in near the detail that a high school or college student would learn it, but it covered the basics and included reading several related youth fiction novels. I can't believe a college student wouldn't even know it involved Germany!

 

[goofygirl]

Another student told me, and I believe he was sincere and not attempting to bait me, that he understood the Holocaust to be part of a conspiracy, a myth perpetuated by those who were invested in maintaining a Jewish power base. It emerged, through our many out-of-class discussions, that he believed things said by his parents and then found "evidence" on Holocaust denial websites.

Was he Mel Gibson's kid? LOL!


How scary is it that this generation is the one who is supposed to take care of me when I get old? I think I'd rather be alone and take care of myself.


PS- I never heard of Maus, but I certainly have heard of the Holocaust and Nazis. In my public junior high school, they made us watch a film of the camps with the piles of bodies, ovens, etc.

 

[lovesmurfs]

I would hope that you don't view all of our generation as naive as the girl stated in this thread.
Just remember one of us does not represent all of us...and think how you would feel if someone grouped you into such a generic group as a generation.

Sorry I just get so angry when people group us together as one and let the less informed represent all of us. (BTW, I am a senior in college and I read Maus in German)

It is sad, though. My husband had an interview with a reporter from our regional paper yesterday (he's getting mobilized to Afghanistan). He had to tell the reporter about what happened during the Cold War -- she had no clue and didn't even know about the Berlin Wall.

I have to admit that my HS education (20 years ago) was lacking in the 20th Century info. We got stuck somehow for 2 months in the Civil War, and then had 1 week to cover the whole 20th Century. She divided our class into groups, and each group took a decade. How much do you learn from THAT?

 

[mickeyfan2]

Sadly but I worked with some guys from Germany (about 40 now) who said that the Holocaust did not happen but it was made up by the Americans. I am really scared about what the country who was the key player in this is teaching it's young.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Like others have said, it's so much more than a comic book. It's Art Spiegelman's biography of his father, a holocaust survivor. It's his story in Poland before the war, what he went through in the ghettos and Auschwitz, how he survived, and also the relationship between father and son.

"Incredible masterpiece" aren't words that truthfully apply to many works, but they apply to Maus.

 

[babytrees]

Has anyone read the book Night? My freshmen DD's have to read it for the Honors English class. It is also about the Holocaust.

My freshman just finished that too!! She was affected by it, she had heard about the Holocaust before this but something about the book affected her and I think I need to read it!

I think I am going to have to look into Maus also. Nothing though compares to actually going to a concentration camp...I went as part of my HS graduation trip to Dachau.

I am glad I opened this thread.