Persepolis review

Persepolis review
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EngelsMiddelbare schoolvwoLeerjaar 5,6

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Persepolis review

Slide 1 - Diapositive

Information
- You should have enough to study from for examples and explanations from your Persepolis reader
- Panels at the back = most important
- Themes and explanations discussed in class, supplemented here with info from Litcharts (I've already taken what you need for you - each doc is 36 pgs long so use if you want but you don't need to)

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Most important themes
Ones already discussed in depth in class:
- Growing up and growing old
- Identity, culture and self-expression
- Gender and oppression
- Suffering and trauma

Slide 3 - Diapositive

Growing up and growing old - which panel exemplifies this for you?

Slide 4 - Question ouverte

Growing up and growing old
- Coming of age novel
- Throughout the 2 novels we see Marjane grow up and how her relationships with those around her change
- Marjane changes throughout the novel - revolutionary/prophet, Western influence, accomodating to Iran
- Relationship with herself and her country

Slide 5 - Diapositive

Growing up and growing old
Growing up comes with many challenges and the book shows how these growing up not only changes you physically, but also has a profound effect on how you see the world and the people around you.
Examples? Look in your reader.

Slide 6 - Diapositive

Culture, identity and self-expression - which panel exemplifies this for you?

Slide 7 - Question ouverte

Identity, culture and self-expression
- Novel about different cultures and growing up as a third-culture kid
- West vs. East plays a big role in book
- All 3 concepts are intricately linked and make up who you are
- Throughout the book Marjane navigates these concepts, what they mean to her and how they directly effect her 

Slide 8 - Diapositive

Identity, culture and self-expression
In the novel, Marjane constantly struggles with who she is and how she expresses herself - first the Islamic regime holds her back, then being a foreigner in the West, and finally when she juggles her Eastern and Western identities in an even more strict Iran in the end. Her decision to move away reflects how she doesn't feel at home in one place and that she cannot be herself when she's repressed in all 3 of these areas.

Slide 9 - Diapositive

Gender and oppression - which panel exemplifies this for you?

Slide 10 - Question ouverte

Gender and oppression
- Book centers on a female protagonist and the struggles that come with growing up as a woman in a culture that oppresses them
- Veil major symbol, makeup added later - oppression vs. freedom
- In Austria, the sexism was quite literal; in Iran, it is physical and mental (women vs. women)

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Gender and oppression
Throughout the book Marjane faces sexism, whether this be moments of harrassment in Austria or the systemic oppression of women in Iran. Her navigation of her own identity as a woman in these cultures show how difficult it is to grow up as an independent, progressive woman even in modern times and the importance of showing how sexism prevails in order to act on it.

Slide 12 - Diapositive

Suffering and trauma - which panel exemplifies this for you?

Slide 13 - Question ouverte

Suffering and trauma
- Suffering plays a role throughout the book - people suffering under regimes, suffering from violence and injustice - very literal but also figurative
- Meaning of trauma - are Marjane's experiences in Austria less traumatic than growing up in Iran would have been?
- Effects of trauma and suffering are made clear - especially growing up

Slide 14 - Diapositive

Suffering and trauma
Marjane goes through different forms of suffering and trauma throughout the book, and shows the detrimental effects on the psyche. She is clear in showcasing how her experiences away from her family in Austria, meant to save her from the trauma of war, also had a profound and negative effect on her. The goal is to show how trauma can shape a person but how it doesn't have to define them - she leaves.

Slide 15 - Diapositive

Other important themes
Religion, repression and modernity
Nationalism, heroism and martyrdom
Violence, forgiveness and justice
Children, war, and growing up
The personal vs. the political

Slide 16 - Diapositive

Religion, repression and modernity
- Marjane starts out very religious (prophet, relationship to God)
- Book shows detrimental effects of a very religious regime and how it actually forces individuals to question religion
-  Hypocrisy of religion - were the Guardians of the republic actually pious?
- Ultimately, the graphic novelportrays the repressive religion imposed by the Islamic Republic as actually standing at odds with the heartfelt religious feeling and belief experienced by an individual.




Slide 17 - Diapositive

Nationalism, heroisim and martyrdom
- Novel shows how one can struggle with the idea of nationalism - what does it mean and what is the object of nationalism? Regime or country?
- Marjane's relationship is twofold - she hates and loves her country at the same time
- Book aims to give readers a different perspective - by telling her story, Marjane shows how these ideas of love and hate can coexist
- Martyrdom - Marjane's relationship with what a hero is and her obsession with having personal heroes changes

Slide 18 - Diapositive

Violence, forgiveness and justice
- Iranian people a literal and figurative victim of the regime - they literally die but figuratively, turning against one another shatters the unity 
- Idea of forgiveness - Marjane grapples with idea of justice and forgiveness. Is justice served anywhere in the book? How have the Iranian people gotten justice and how can she forgive those who do not deserve it?

Slide 19 - Diapositive

Children, war and growing up
- Marjane is forced to grow up quickly in war and moving to Europe
- Smoking a cigarette = adult; seeing war = adult
- Book shows how easily mallable children are - young boys being sacrificed in name of war, they don't get to grow up
- Marjane quick to believe what people tell her, but as book goes on she realizes she must make these decisions and form these opinions on her own - she has to grow up

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The personal vs. the political
- no individual in the story can exist or be understood outside of the context of the historical change happening in Iran around him or her, no matter how much he or she might try
- if one cannot escape the political in one’s life, how much should one
participate in the political sphere, and does one actually have a choice in the matter?
- Cannot seperate the personal from the political  

Slide 21 - Diapositive

Symbols
1. The veil - key symbol of repression, especially against women
2. Bread swan - Anoosh gives her these - him making the most/finding beauty in difficult situations
3. Plastic key painted gold - "ticket to paradise", propoganda and way for regime to get soldiers; also shows class divide
4. Cigarette - growing up, her personal restrictions from her parents vs. restrictions from the regime
5. Reza and Marjane's thesis - Marjane's love for Iran but also the realization that she cannot continue living there

Slide 22 - Diapositive

How to study?
1. Make sure you've read the book. Examples don't get explained well if you don't know the full context of the novel.
2. Your reader provides you with many thematic aspects of the novel and corresponding examples. Panels in back are free game on the exam.
3. Know the themes in relation to specific panels and examples.
4. Remember = example is specific moment!

Slide 23 - Diapositive