Honors English II
Your homework over the weekend is to finish reading Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. As you finish reading you should continue to finish your notes on the family members and the different changes you've seen from each of them. Remember that by taking notes you are much more active as a reader and thus you will remember more of the reading. After you finish your reading, please respond to the prompt below. Remember that you may submit your response on paper, via e-mail, or by completing a comment on this post.
What preconception about Iran has this text helped you to disprove? How has the text done that? Does this relate to one of Satrapi's larger purposes in this text? Why or why not?
Please make sure to make specific references to the text as you compose your reflection.
In addition, you should continue working on your essays. You will get your argument statements back from me on Tuesday with feedback. Use the framing strategy we did today in class to begin your research of the specific frames that you will use in your essay. Remember to focus on detail within the frames (language and graphics) and how these details relate to your overall argument.
ESL English III
No homework for the weekend, but do spend time reviewing your writing notes. I'm happy to see so much growth in your writing as we've been spending a lot of time working on writing skills. Continue to improve and develop your skills!
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The preconception that this text has helped me to disprove is that Iran is a country that has extreme hate for America. The text helped to show me this when Marji says that her parents should go to the United States instead of Turkey (Page 126, middle column, last panel). A country that has extreme hate for another country would not have people in it suggesting that a trip should be taken to the hated country. This does not mean that the entire country is like this, but it shows that some is. This does relate to one of Satrapi's purposes because Satrapi wanted to remove some of the misconceptions that have been placed upon Iran. The fact that my misconception has been removed shows she has fulfilled her purpose.
Satrapi uses her graphic novel as a vessel to disprove many negative thoughts that people have when connecting to the country Iran. This is her larger purpose in her text, and she conveys this larger purpose through showing how many of the people in her everyday life were not quite as extremist as those in power. Many people in westernized countries (and especially in America) often times have the idea that the whole of the population in Iran agrees with those few that are in power. Satrapi shows us that this isn't true at all. She evenly compares the “fundamentalists” and the “moderns” on the first row of page seventy-five. This side by side comparison gives us a visual of the two kinds of people in Iran at the time that we could not have in a regular, written novel. Also, on page 131, row three, frame one, we can see that Satrapi herself was not compliant to how the theocratic government was running the country. She wanted to wear a denim jacket, listen to punk music and wear Nike tennis shoes. This helps readers relate to her and see that not every single person in Iran is strictly religious, violent and against westernization, though the government in place may be.
I believe that these examples and others in the novel fully satisfy her purpose because it allows readers to compare their perception to what is truly going on.
This text has helped me disprove one main preconception. My main preconception is that Iran is full of religious people, who have a religious life. This text has showed me through the graphics and text that not all people want a religious life and demonstrate against it (Pg. 5, Row 1, and Frame 1). This Frame shows that many women were against the Fundamentalist Women’s ideas. The demonstration has showed me the difference between the Fundamentalist People, Modern Women and Progressive Men (Pg. 75, Row 1, and Frame 1 & 2). The Fundamentalist were very religious, while the Modern Women and Progressive Men truly disliked their ideas. On Page 76, Row 3 and Frame 1, it shows that even though they are religious, it does not mean that they are holy. I do not see why they force people to be religious and follow the laws, if they are not going to. This does relate to Satrapi‘s larger purpose, which is not to judge a person based on their ethnic group, religion, history’s past, or what you see on television. My preconception came from the Media aspect of Iran. It relates to her purpose because it shows you the everyday life of citizens and that all citizens are not for the Veil or Beard. They do not want the government to involve religion.
Makenzie Elam
Before reading the book perseplois i thought that lots of Iranians were People who hated america and were terrorist to America. Though now after reading this graphic novel i have learned that this statement was disproved by Iran's own people. We see on page 63 top middle and right panels that America is described as a safe haven from there own country. There is only a little bit of people that mess with america and for that we don't like a lot of them, though now i have learned that the people themselves are pretty normal people just the Fundamentalist are the ones ruining it for everyone else. Aslo through out the story america isn't really talked about at all as an enemy, just a neighbor country to flee to like Austria (page 147 middle left panel.
Over all I have learned a frequently learned motto… "don't judge a book by it cover" which includes people too.
Alex Bird | 2B | 12/15/13
Persepolis has helped me overcome my preconception that the majority of people who practice Islam and live in the Middle East believe in what a few extremists did on September 11, 2001. Satrapi helps me fight this preconception by showing the childhood of an Iranian girl who is against the Iranian Regime. This is larger purpose in Satrapi’s text--to help the audience see past their preconceptions of Iran.
Marji is surrounded by others against the fundamentalists, so it is clear that there are Muslim Iranians who stand against their government. On page 105 and 106, we see Marji’s family defying their government and throwing illegal parties, even at the risk of their safety. This shows that they are willing to do what they think is right even if it means disobeying the Regime. Also, on page 144 Marji stands up to her new religious teacher when she feeds the class lies about the success of the Regime. This shows that even though Marji has just been expelled from her old school from rebelling against her government, she will not back down from doing what she believes in.
Examples such as these show the audience that many people in Iran did not agree with their government and rebelled against them, disproving whatever preconceptions they may have had on the matter.
Satrapi's novel has eliminated my preconception that Eastern values are completely different from Western values. Going into the book, I knew that many Iranians weren't extremists but I still thought they were distinctly different from Americans. From the beginning of the book, we see Marji's contempt for wearing the veil, similar to the hatred of the dress code in American schools. As we see her interactions with her family members, it becomes clear to us that we all ultimately value the same things. The Satrapis value family just as much as Americans do, if not more. I find Marji's relationship with God connecting to my own. As God embraces Marji on page 30, row 3, frame 2, the reader views a God that is not horrible, sadistic and cruel but rather loving and just. The readers are able to see all of the aspects of Iranian culture that are very similar to American culture.
Satrapi's purpose in this novel is to break preconceptions about Iran and tear down the walls stereotypes have built up. We see that Iranian people are oppressed, not crazy. Their values do not differ much from Western values at all. Marji and her family provide a perfect demonstration of this truth, forcing the reader to think twice about the assumptions they started the book with.
- Rachel Sauls
Persepolis has helped me disprove my preconception that all Iranians are Islamic extremists. It's sad for me to admit it but i did believe that I should base my view of a people off of a single tragic event. Satrapi showed me an example of an Iranian who is totally different from the afore mentioned stereotype. Through the use of childhood events I was able to understand that the culture of Iran goes much deeper than a few extremists. In fact we see that these extremists are the enemy of Marji. On page 133 we can see the fundamentalists (from which extremists spawn from) that are attacking Marji. This shows me that even inside of Iran the fundamentalists are not completely supported. I can't look at a whole country and think of them as these people who are unliked by many inhabitants themselves. In other words, if a country does not even like the extremists then it would be stupid if I thought of everyone in that country in the same light as the extremists.
By disproving my preconception Satrapi relates this to her biggest purpose. "Forgive but don't forget." Satrapi does not try to say that all Iranians are innocent and she does not try to defend the extremists. She wants the reader to remember what those extremists did but to forgive the people who do not support those extremists.
One preconception about Iran that was disproven in Persepolis is that Iran is a militant hateful country. The text showed this through showing both the progressives and the fundamentalists, not just the fundamentalists. Also by creating a parallel between Marji and Iran. I think this does connect to Satrapi's larger purpose, because by showing a more complete picture of Iran Satrapi is able to show the truth about Iran not just the misconceptions many people have about it.
A preconception that this book has helped me disprove is that all people from Iran is an extremist or terrorist. Satrapi has disproved this perception through text by showing her perspective on what the people in Iran actually did during such a hard time. On page 151, last panel, Satrapi shows a long line of young boys at the airport saying that they are all trying to flee from Iran because once they turn thirteen years old they will become soldiers of Iran. This proved to me that not all people from Iran wants to be violent or want to be an extremists. Satrapi shows that there are people in Iran that wants a better life and future for themselves and especially their children. Such as Marji's parents, they send her off to Austria so she can have a brighter future. This relates to her larger purpose in the text because her purpose was to show us the truth she experienced in her life and to break negative preconceptions such as the one I had.
A preconception that was disproven for me was the relationship between Iran and America. The text showed me this by differentiating the fundamentals to the other people living in Iran. The text used light and dark imagery as one of the key concepts to reveal the violence within Iran and its people. For example on page 76, second to last column, this shows how violence is excluding leading up to this point. Their is also the idea of oppression that the people are suffered to endure due to the fundamentalists. I feel that this connects to Satrapi's lager purpose throughout the text, because now she is able to uncover Iran's true self, and is able to disprove any preconceptions that others may have.
Satrapi helped me to lose one really big preconception of Iran.It was that all Iranians hate Americans. The text has showed this to me in two places in the graphic novel.
The fist place the text has showed me that not all Iranians hate Americans is when Marji puts on her Nike shoes and Micheal Jackson pin. This really hit me because both of these things are really American and the fact that her Mom and Dad go them for her was also big to me.
The second and last place where Satrapi showed me that all Iranians hate Americans is at the bottom of page 63 where Marjis friend says "But the United States is terrific! You'll finally get to meet Bruce Lee in person!" This showed me not that only not all Islamic people hate Americans but also that some American celebrities are well known and liked by some Islamic people.
Yes this relates to Satrapi's larger purpose. It does relate to Satrapi's larger purpose because I think that the purpose for her writing the book is so that she could show people what her childhood was like and to show that not all Islamic people are terrorists and hate everyone. By proving this throughout the book it erased previous preconceptions about Islamic people.
The preconception that the graphic novel helped me disprove is Iran being having discontent for America. The novel shows me this because on page 64, middle row, middle panel, Marji’s mom thinks that her family should leave the country and go to the United States. If Iran actually hated the United States, they would not want to go there. This relates to Satrapi’s larger purpose because Satrapi wanted to disprove the misconceptions that people have made about Iran. Since my misconception has been disproved, she was successful in fulfilling her purpose.
This novel disproved the notion that Iran, and other countries in the Middle East, are not the backwaters the media paints them to be. It has also made me realize that significantly less of the population are devout than one would assume. The novel demonstrated this through the stories it told, presenting images that appeared not far off from the typical urban settings. It also did this by showing the significant amount of rebellion in the general populace. The realizationabout the similarity to westernized society is direcly related to the idea of international fraternity, which she claims as her purpose in the beginning of the book.
Reading Percepolis disproved the preconception that Iranians are united in their ideology and dislike of foreign countries. This is communicated throughout the book in the many conflicts that arise over moral issues, particularly between the fundamentalists and progressives.
This also relates to Satrapi's different levels of purpose. The issues in the book are primarily conveyed through Marji's personal experiences and her struggle understanding matters of her family's social class and relationship with a government. But as Satrapi depicts her own experiences, she is also describing the issues surrounding the revolution on a national level.
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