Essay 3: Literary Research Essay
You will write a literary analysis essay that discusses either Art Spiegelmans Maus I & II or Joesph August Merastys The Education of Augie Merasty *Discuss only ONE of the texts. You will write a formal essay (ex. introduction w/ thesis statement, body paragraphs, conclusion and works cited page).
Your essay should be approximately 1000-1250 words in length and contain quotations from the texts as evidence. Research is required for this essay, so you should include a minimum of one secondary source (Ex. secondary sources include the following: dictionaries, encyclopedias, online journal articles, informative websites, newspapers, movie or book reviews, critical essays, etc.)
Pick ONE of the following prompts to write about in your essay response:
What is trauma and how does it affect specific individual(s) in the text?
What is intergenerational trauma and how does it affect specific person(s) in the text?
What is Survivor’s Guilt and how is it conveyed in the memoir?
How is hypocrisy evident in residential schools as evidenced in Merasty’s memoir?
What is oppression and how is it expressed in either text?
What is dehumanization and how is it expressed in either text?
How is the theme of loss of innocence conveyed in the memoir?
What is genocide and how is it represented in the memoir?
What is racism and how is it represent in the memoir?
What kinds of Mental health struggles are evident in the text (ex. PTSD, alcoholism, depression)?
Research and explain some of the main features of residential schools that are represented in The Education of Augie Merasty.
Research and explain some of the main features of the Holocaust that are represented in Maus.
Discuss the theme of betrayal as it is represented in either text.
How does Art Spiegelman use an animal allegory in Maus to convey the conflicts of WWII?
*TIP for adding secondary sources: Try doing an author search in the Library website and you should be able to find some articles on each of these texts.
