The authors of A Writer’s Reference note that “[r]evising is rarely a one-step process” (Hacker and Somers 19). Editing for surface-level correctness is essential, but it isn’t the only step, and it shouldn’t be the first. Begin instead by re-seeing (or re-visioning) your analysis and considering its focus and organization. Ask these questions:

• Is it a focused analysis rather than an overview of a scene in Maus?
• Does it present a clear thesis?
• Would the analysis benefit from a different organization? If the strongest piece of textual evidence appears in the first body paragraph, try moving it to the last one.

After you have addressed those questions, examine each paragraph one by one, from first to last.

Introduction

• Does the first sentence name the author, Art Spiegelman, and the title, Maus?
• Does the description that follows create a picture of the panel or panels for the reader? For more on descriptive paragraphs, see pages 45-46.
• Does the description include pertinent terms, such as dialogue, narration, panel, speech balloon, and tier?
• Is the description followed by a clear thesis? Can the thesis be a point of disagreement among reasonable people? (If the answer to both questions isn’t yes, revise accordingly.) For more on writing a thesis for an analytical essay, see page 69.

Body Paragraphs

• Does each body paragraph present textual evidence (words and images from the panel or panels) that supports the thesis? For more on supporting a thesis, see page 69.
• Do the paragraphs include pertinent terms, such as dialogue, narration, panel, speech balloon, and tier?
• Do the paragraphs include at least one relevant quotation or paraphrase from an authoritative secondary source and one paraphrase or quotation from Maus? Note: You may quote or paraphrase your secondary source in the conclusion rather than in the body paragraph.

Conclusion

• Is the conclusion a well-developed paragraph?
• Does it reiterate the thesis without repeating it verbatim? For more on writing conclusions, see page 18.

After you have revised the paragraphs one by one, review the MLA section of A Writer’s Reference to ensure your document complies with style guidelines.

MLA Style

The MS Word file or PDF that you will submit to Moodle should comply with the format guidelines for MLA (Modern Language Association) manuscripts, including in-text citations with signal phrases (384), and works cited entries (392-423). 

Remember that in addition to submitting your revision to Moodle, you will publish it as a post on your WordPress blog. Your blog post will omit the first-page information included in your file submitted to Moodle (your name, my name, course, section, and date). You will include in your blog post an image that documents some part of your writing process away from the screen, such as a photo of your reading notes or a page of your handwritten draft.

Works Cited Entries

The following list includes sample works cited entries for secondary sources. Note that in your MS Word file, your works cited entries will have a hanging indent; in other words, each line except the first one will be indented five spaces or one-half inch.

Bosmajian, Hamida. “The Orphaned Voice in Art Spiegelman’s Maus.” Considering Maus: Approaches to Art Spiegelman’s “Survivor’s Tale” of the Holocaust, edited by Deborah R. Geis, U of Alabama P, 2003, pp. 26-43.

Brock, Michael and Zachary Goldstein. “The Lasting Effects of World War II and the Holocaust.” Guilford Technical Community College Globalization, Education, and Literacy Committee Presentation, Microsoft Teams Live Stream, 16 Mar., 2021. Lecture.

Cavna, Michael. “Why Maus Remains the Greatest Graphic Novel Ever Written, 30 Years Later.” The Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2016/08/11/why-maus-remains-the-greatest-graphic-novel-ever-written-30-years-later/.

Chute, Hillary. “History and Graphic Representation in Maus.” A Comics Studies Reader, edited by Jeet Heer and Kent Worcester, UP of Mississippi, 2009, pp. 340-62.

Miller, Nancy K. “Cartoons of the Self: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Murderer—Art Spiegelman’s Maus.” Considering Maus: Approaches to Art Spiegelman’s “Survivor’s Tale” of the Holocaust, edited by Deborah R. Geis, U of Alabama P, 2003, pp. 44-59.

Spiegelman, Art. “Why Mice?” Interview by Hillary Chute. New York Review of Books, 20 Oct. 2011, https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2011/10/20/why-mice/.

Wilner, Arlene Fish. “‘Happy, Happy Ever After’: Story and History in Art Spiegelman’s Maus.” Considering Maus: Approaches to Art Spiegelman’s “Survivor’s Tale” of the Holocaust, edited by Deborah R. Geis, U of Alabama P, 2003, pp. 105-21.

Works Cited Entry for a Blog Post

Lucas, Jane. “ENG 111: Maus under the Microscope, Part II.” Jane Lucas, 3 Mar. 2021. https://janelucas.com/2021/03/03/eng-111-maus-under-the-microscope-part-ii/.

Works Cited Entry for an Online Lecture

Lucas, Jane. “Maus under the Microscope.” English 111, Guilford Technical Community College, Microsoft Teams Live Stream, 1 Mar., 2021. Lecture.