Book Summary:Marjane Satrapi, author and illustrator of this graphic novel, shares an autobiographical account of her childhood from age six to fourteen during the Islamic Revolution while living in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Satrapi tells her story through powerful black and white comic strip images and dialogue intended to capture the emotion, intensity, and devastation of daily life during a time of such political change and unrest. The reader, through a child’s perspective, learns about the eventual fall of the Shah regime, the victory of the Islamic Revolution, and the distressing effects of the war between Iran and Iraq.
Satrapi portrays herself in this novel as the very blunt and precocious child of two progressive Marxist parents who continuously show rebellion to the Shah regime by participating in demonstrations, drinking alcohol, and exposing their child to western influences like Kim Wilde, Michael Jackson, denim jackets and Nike sneakers. These western influences lead Satrapi to question the extreme repression around her: wearing the veil and the forbiddance of parties, alcohol, dancing, and fashionable clothing. By reading Persepolis, we learn about the fascinating history of Satrapi’s country and family. Even during this time of political turmoil, the Satrapi family survives through love, laughter, and tears, together.
About the Author:
Marjane Satrapi was born in Rasht, Iran in 1969. While growing up
in Tehran, her family was heavily involved with communist and socialist movements before the Islamic Revolution. She went to school at the Lycée Français and witnessed the rising suppressions of Iranian daily life as illustrated in her graphic novel, Persepolis. At the age of 14, her parents sent her to Vienna, Austria to free her from the the Iranian government. In Vienna, she attended the Lycée Français de Vienne. Much of her time as an adolescent in Europe influenced the sequel to Persepolis, Persepolis II. Throughout her high school years, she lived in and out of friends’ homes and ultimately became homeless. After an intense bout of the pneumonia, Satrapi decided to move back to Iran and attended the University. Here, she met her future husband of only 3 years, Reza. The couple divorced when Satrapi turned 24. She then earned a Master’s degree in Visual Communication from the School of Fine Arts in Tehran. She now lives in Paris, France, where she writes and illustrates children’s books. She was also very busy working on the film, Persepolis, which was released in 2007. She also works as an illustrator for various magazines and newspapers.
· Marjane Satrapi on writing graphic novels and her family’s influence:
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Why did she write Persepolis? (click)
Excerpt from this interview:
What do pictures allow you to express that words alone could not?
Marjane Satrapi: Image is an international language. The first writing of the human being was drawing, not writing. That appeared much before the alphabet. And when you draw a situation—someone is scared or angry or happy— it means the same thing in all cultures. You cannot draw someone crying, and in one culture they think that he is happy. He would have the same expression. There's something direct about the image.
Also, it is more accessible. People don't take it so seriously. And when you want to use a little bit of humor, it's much easier to use pictures.
How to use this text in the classroom:
There are a wide range of instructional strategies and activities that can be implemented while teaching Persepolis in a secondary classroom. I think one of the most important things to keep in mind is that your students are probably not coming into your classroom with substantial knowledge about the Islamic Revolution or what life was like in Iran in the early 1980’s.
1. To introduce the background of this story, a webquest can be designed. A webquest can be used before, during, or after reading to expand students’ knowledge about any particular topic this text addresses.
·This is a helpful link to locate information about Iran and the Islamic Revolution that students can use for research. More resources for students
2. A great way to deepen students’ knowledge and comprehension of this story is to research the author, Marjane Satrapi. Answering questions such as why she wrote this text and what she wants to portray to readers will enhance discussion and clarify purpose for reading.
http://www.randomhouse.com/pantheon/graphicnovels/satrapi.html
3.. There are several friends and family members in Satrapi’s life. In order to keep track of these characters and their roles, a family and friends tree can be designed by each student. This tree will help students during in-class discussions as a quick reference about who was involved in specific events.
4. Another very helpful way to organize the events of Persepolis is to create a timeline of events that visually display the progression and sequence of the main events throughout the story. Link
6. Students can use information discovered in research and in this autobiography text to compare life in America and Iran as a child or adolescent.
Essential Questions:
1. The New York Times describes Persepolis as “the latest and one of the most delectable examples of a booming postmodern genre: autobiography by comic book.” How do you think reading Persepolis as a graphic novel would compare to reading it as a memoir or narrative? Does reading Persepolis this way add or take anything away from the story? Why do you think the graphic novels as a genre are so popular? Do you feel this genre transcends the comic books?
2. The foundation of this story is Marjane's family. What are the qualities of this family? How do Marjane’s parents handle the duties of parenting in such a politically turbulent environment? What type of home environment do they provide for Marjane? Where does this family get their strength?
3. Compare and contrast the roles of women in this story. Look at the roles these women play: Marjane, her mother, her grandmother, teachers, neighbors, the maid, etc.
4. What would you say the author is saying about religion and its effect on the individual and on society? How does religion affect the way people interact with each other? Does religion define certain characters?
5. What are your thoughts about the topic of social class throughout this book? How is this different before and after the revolution? How does Marjane view social classes? Discuss examples from the text.
6. What are the main themes throughout this text?
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/631
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/satrapi.html
http://www.spreadpersepolis.com/
There are references to drug/alcohol use, premarital sex, homelessness, mental and physical illness--would these cause a problem using Persepolis as a whole-class text? Having used this text in a co-teach 9th grade English class last year, I agree that some background about the Iranian revolution is and important pre-reading strategy. A web-quest followed up by class clarification should be very helpful to the students. The interview with Marjane Satrapi really highlighted the positives of the genre.
ReplyDeleteI liked the resources provided as needed for the teaching ideas imbedded in your blog. This saves a great deal of research time to determine where to find the information. The author interview was also helpful and interesting. Thanks Nancy
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of comparing the main character's life to life today in America. What if students could take it further, and write a what if scenario. What if this kind of thing happened in America? How would it be the same? How would it be different?
ReplyDeleteAnother good thing to do, I think, is to address the characteristics of a graphic novel and how might the story be different if it was told in a traditional format.
I like your ideas for classroom use. I find it interesting that the author was inspired by Spiegelman's graphic novels. That makes me think these two books would work well in a text set or genre study for students. The students could compare the illustrations, the text, and the use of text between the two books. I think the book deals with an important topic and I am interested in reading it. I liked your idea about creating a timeline for the book...what a great interdisciplinary activity (Social Studies/English, maybe even a little math depending on the follow up questions).
ReplyDeleteI really like the multiple uses that graphic novels can play in the classroom. Obviously there are concerns about adapting this new kind of genre into the curriculum, but there are some real pluses to its addition. Through reading Persepolis I found that graphic novels can serve a few different purposes. The first is that it can be taught as a new genre. Students can see how to read it, as well as learn form it. Also, it can be used as a text that will help students get engaged in a topic that they might otherwise be disinterested in. FInally, teachers can use graphic novels as outside reading across content areas for additional understanding. Ultimately it will be beneficial for students to understand that just because a text has pictures in it doesn't mean they can't use it as a tool to learn something from it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Barb that using a webquest before reading this graphic novel would be very beneficial. Because this story is based upon such a serious period in Iranian history, I think that it would be very easy to create a cross-curricular project or even use this novel in a world history classroom. Administrators (and literacy professionals!) are now pushing for reading and writing to be emphasized in all content area classes and this could be a great way to pull in those areas of instruction while not taking the focus away from the world history curriculum.
ReplyDeleteWhile we used this text as part of a text set on graphic novels, I couldn't help but think that this might also work in a text set with something like Red Scarf Girl. I haven't read Persepolis but it sounds like it has some similar themes running through it (revolution, repression, etc). This text may work for those students who dislike reading "traditional texts," while still exposing them to these ideas.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea using the webquest before, during and after reading this novel. I did not expect to enjoy this story as much as I did. I found myself in the book store shortly after, piking up the sequal. It's amazing to read a story like this, told through the eyes of someone who lived it. It gives the words more meaning, and the pictures help fine tune the feelings the reader is experiencing. It's one thing to create the image in your head, but having the authentic pictures created, even though they were basic pictures at points, provided an even better reading experience for me. Although graphic novels might not be for everyone, I think they would work well to engage a reluctant reader, or help teach the idea of creating an image in your head while reading, even if the reading is a newspaper article.
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