Persepolis Rationale

Jaclyn Burr, Todd Day, Rachaelle Baxter

Summary: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
--- School Library Journal
Marji tells of her life in Iran from the age of 10, when the Islamic revolution of 1979
reintroduced a religious state, through the age of 14 when the Iran-Iraq war forced her parents
to send her to Europe for safety. This story, told in graphic format with simple, but expressive,
black-and-white illustrations, combines the normal rebelliousness of an intelligent adolescent
with the horrors of war and totalitarianism. Marjis parents, especially her freethinking mother,
modeled a strong belief in freedom and equality. Her family initially favored the overthrow of
the Shah, but soon realized that the new regime was more restrictive and unfair than the last.
The girls independence, which made her parents both proud and fearful, caused them to send
her to Austria. With bold lines and deceptively uncomplicated scenes, Satrapi conveys her
story. From it, teens will learn much of the history of this important area and will identify with
young Marji and her friends. This is a graphic novel of immense power and importance for
Westerners of all ages. It will speak to the same audience as Art Spiegelmans Maus
(Pantheon, 1993).
Graphic Novel =
comic strip format
A Story of a Family, Identity, and Growing Up
Goals of World Literature
In World Literature, we study college-preparatory curriculum, with the
overarching goals of opening students minds to other cultures,
broadening their perspectives of the human experience, and
strengthening their skills of critical analysis. Our hope is that they can then
apply these skills to multiple aspects of their lives and be active thinkers in
their own modern societies.
Practical Use in the Classroom
During our 4th quarter, students read The Kite Runner, and we have room for a
short novel to be paired with this. This novel is non-fiction, which is something that
currently does not exist in our curriculum, and something that students have asked
to read more of, and which will give students a deeper understanding of historical
and current events. Additionally, we only have one female author in our current
curriculum, so this text would increase the diversity of our texts, in reading the
story of a modern woman. Persepolis connects with our other texts subjects, such
as war, trauma, the search for identity, coming of age, and resilience.
Engagement
Students often feel disengaged when reading some of our older texts, so we
have been working on trying to incorporate more relevant and engaging
materials into the class. Persepolis is current and highly engaging, as the
genre of graphic novel appeals to disengaged readers, much like the
graphic-novel Maus, which is read in our A.P. Language class. Many students
have never read a graphic novel before, and express extreme interest upon
their first exposure to one. Especially by their senior years, many students
have lost the love of reading that they may once had experienced, and we
believe this novel would breathe new life into the curriculum.
Skills
In an ever-changing society that is increasingly visual, students who are
armed with wide-ranging skills of critical analysis will fare better in their future
endeavors, inside and outside of the academic sphere. Persepolis not only
engages readers with a written story, but also challenges readers to view its
unique illustrations in connection with the text. By reading the illustrations,
students can critically analyzing images and draw their own deeper meaning
-- skills that are invaluable in a media-saturated society. Additionally, this text
opens opportunities for students to engage with their own empowering
reflections on their journeys and identities.
Historical and Cultural Significance
Satrapis memoir reveals the complexity of her culture, as she experiences the
every-day trials of growing up like any other teen, but also faces the extraordinary
socio-political changes going on in her country. In this way, this novel will help
students be exposed to more than a single story of Islamic culture, in viewing the
complexity of a young womans story of growing up amidst the Iranian Revolution.
The narrator and her family reflect complexity, courage, and integrity, attempting to
navigate a changing political climate, pushing away from the restrictions of their
surrounding culture while seeking betterment for themselves and their societies.
Persepolis exposes students to a culture with which they may not have vast
exposure to, therefore increasing students knowledge of global affairs, as well as
their ability to empathize with people from different backgrounds.
Controversy
Chicago Public Schools: The book was approved for use in grade 11 classrooms,
removed from grade 7 classrooms, and reviewed for use in grade 8 10 classrooms.
Following the districts review, grade 8 10 teachers who wish to use the book in their
classrooms are now required to first complete supplemental training.
As Chicago students themselves pointed out, the few panels in Persepolis depicting
torture techniques that were used on Iranian dissidents are no more graphic than
images encountered while studying other true events such as the Holocaust or
slavery. Moreover, many of these same students are exposed to real-life violence daily
in their own neighborhoods (Response to Challenges: from Comic Book Legal Defense Fund)
There are other examples of controversy, as with many classic novels that we already
teach, but most schools have continued teaching the novel with success.
Northville and Ann Arbor have this book as a course text
Relation to Common Core Standards
1. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.6
Analyze a particular point of view or cultural experience reflected in a work of
literature from outside the United States, drawing on a wide reading of world
literature.

2. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1d
Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and
disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and
understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning
presented.