Maus

Holocaust literature is something that everyone experiences when being educated in the American school system. Most frequently, book that students are assigned are classics like Night and The Diary of a Young Girl. Prior to this course I had never been introduced to a graphic novel encompassing the history of the Holocaust. Maus by Art Spiegelman is definitely a text I would use in the classroom. This graphic novel was very interesting to read and because of the medium very easy to read. The visuals provided in the books were amazing and it really helped to create a experience in my mind.

These books would be great for differentiated instruction. The text was not hard to read and the visuals made it even easier to understand. Struggling readers should be given this text because it is engaging and the medium makes it easier to read. I don't think that we should stop teaching the classics surrounding the Holocaust but I think this text would be great for supplementary instruction. Obviously, book one would be the book that would have the most focus. These books could also be used to teach social justice and inequality. The text can be violent and it can be hard to process so it will be important to create an environment in the classroom where students feel safe. The Holocaust can be hard to learn about but books like this make it engaging and really highlights the atrocities that people experienced during this time in history.