Category: world war ii

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“We are all the villains”: The Cost of War in Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña’s “Escape” #4

A few months ago, I picked up Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña’s Escape #1, an issue that immediately gabbed my attention and left me wanting more. It’s a series that grapples with the hard questions, specifically questions of patriotism and war. It deals with these themes in a manner that appears, on the surface, far removed from our own lives because the characters are animals, not people, … Read More “We are all the villains”: The Cost of War in Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña’s “Escape” #4

Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” and Speaking Against Fascism

Over the past year, I have tried, at various times, to watch Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940) because I kept seeing Chaplin’s famous speech from the end of the film. Every time I started the film, I couldn’t get past the first half hour, where Chaplin’s Jewish barber survives World War I and rescues Commander Schultz. I didn’t finish the movie until I reread Annette … Read More Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” and Speaking Against Fascism

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The Cost of War in Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña’s “Escape” #1

I toy with a various different writing assignments in my composition courses, typically crafting assignments based on our readings. Last spring I had students construct zines since we read riot grrrl memoirs. I’ve had students create their own comics, either scripts or full fledged comics. This semester, I am having students write fan letters. Since we are reading some early EC Comics, notably a collection of Weird Fantasy and a … Read More The Cost of War in Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña’s “Escape” #1

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Indoctrination Through Education in Nora Krug’s “Belonging”

Nora Krug begins her graphic memoir Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home with an anecdote about one of her first encounters in New York. On the rooftop of a friend’s apartment building, an elderly woman struck up a conversation with Krug, asking her where she was from. When Krug affirmed that she was from Germany, the woman began to relate “how she had survived … Read More Indoctrination Through Education in Nora Krug’s “Belonging”

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The Role of Education in Indoctrination in Anna Seghers’ “A Man Becomes a Nazi”

We know the power of education. We know of its power to expand one’s worldview and to teach students how to become members of a collective society. However, we also know about the controlling nature of education, the way it becomes an extension of those in power and used as a means of control, to gain and maintain power over a populace. Nazi Germany … Read More The Role of Education in Indoctrination in Anna Seghers’ “A Man Becomes a Nazi”