The Importance Of Reading Persepolis

What goes through your mind when you read? Do you read deliberately, looking for certain aspects, or do you read as a blank slate? When reading, professors expect a deliberateness that will help you to uncover meanings that are not readily apparent. Thomas C. Foster in his book “How to Read Literature Like a Professor” expands on this concept. He endeavors to instruct his readers in the way he believes they should read, in order to get the most out of each book. He concedes that, “When lay readers encounter a fictive text, they focus, as they should, on the story and the characters” but to truly read like a professor you must also divert a portion of your attention on

Persepolis focuses on major themes like Feminism, Freedom, Religion, War, and Culture. Although this book is about Marjane Satrapi a young girl who lived her childhood in Iran from the 1980’s which was during the Iran revolution, where at a young age she’s already opened up to a warfare environment. This book can be interpreted differently based on the reader’s location, history background with Iran, and the differences in government. In this essay we would be comparing the readers from Iran vs. America.

Marjane Satrapi’s memoir Persepolis is considered a “coming of age” story based on her experiences growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. This graphic novel explores the life she lead in Tehran which encompassed the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. Undergoing life with such a chaotic environment, it took Satrapi courage to act and live as her “authentic self” and explore what it meant to her to be authentic. Similar to Aristotle, May and Medinas Persepolis examines the concept of courage, through the view of innocence; through Satrapi’s childhood.

“Iran was the epitome of evil” This was the world’s view of Iran during its revolution. Persepolis is the autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, and it is written from a child’s perspective. Telling Persepolis from a child’s perspective affects the empathy a reader would have for Marji because people often feel more sympathy for children than other adults. Children are often seen as innocent, impressionable, and kind. This places them in a separate category where they are often judged as innocent until proven guilty because they typically do not have the experience nor the will to lie, hurt, or deceive people. Adults, unlike children, can have all or some of the aforementioned characteristics that cause them to be judged as guilty until

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that provides insight into a young girl living in Iran during the hardship of war. Persepolis takes place during the childhood of Marjane Satrapi. It gives a background of the Islamic Revolution and the war in Iran. Satrapi attempts to guide herself in a corrupted world filled with propaganda. She tries to develop her own morality concerning religion, politics, and humanity. Satrapi was blessed enough to have high class status and parents who had an open mindset about the world around them. Thanks to her slightly alternative lifestyle, she is able to reconstruct gender norms that society has set by depicting the different ways women resist them. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” by Lila Abu-Lughod is an essay detailing the misconceptions surrounding the veil. Through this essay we can see how colonial feminism, the form of feminism in which western women push for a western way of living on their third world counterparts, has shined a negative light on cultures all around the world - particularly Islamic women. The essay shows how women who don’t conform to American societal structures are labeled as women who urgently require saving. Through this essay one can develop a thorough understanding of the veil itself and the many representations it holds to different entities. Although in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Satrapi

Critical reading for this class comes easily. Reading the chapter, highlighting certain points and writing notes helps to understand the content. The topics mentioned thus far have all been fairly easy to grasp, especially since they are familiar topics but as time progresses and the reading become more in depth, this strategy will be increasingly more helpful. Critical reading is always a struggle but hopefully this class, with all of the assigned reading, will help teach how to properly read a textbook, fully understanding each and every phrase mentioned. While reading a textbook, it is easy to get distracted and forget everything that was just read, by taking notes and highlighting while reading, it is easier to grasp the information given. Being able to stay focused and be more insightful throughout this class is a definite growing

I was able to focus on reading, but I kept reading the same things more than once. It took me much longer than it should have to read the narrative. I eventually was able to relate to the writer.

So, that leaves an important question to be answered: how can you stop procrastinating? The first thing I would recommend doing is buying the book or checking the story you must read out from the library. If you wait all summer to complete the reading assignment, you might find that your local bookstore is completely sold out of the novel you need. Or, when you finally get around to stepping into the library, the waiting list for the copy of Legend by Marie Lu that you need by next week is twenty people long. If you read the book earlier in the summer, you won’t feel nearly as rushed to find a copy of the novel and finish it as quickly as possible, which gives you much more time to relax. Another tip for not procrastinating comes from the University of Alabama, “there are three primary considerations in creating your study environment: Your most effective and efficient learning style, the nature of the learning task, and the availability of learning resources.” With that being said, the first thing you need to take into consideration is your personal learning style. You might have an easier time reading the book if you determine how you learn in advance and create a better reading environment for you to study in. If you are an auditory learner, determine whether you learn better with or without background noise, and place yourself within a suitable environment when preparing to read. If you are a visual learner, be sure to read in a place with adequate lighting and minimal distractions (like highways and other busy roads). If you are a tactile learner, be sure to find a suitable place to sit and read- a workspace that is not too comfortable (so you don’t fall asleep) but not unbearable. When determining the nature of the task, it is important to know that you have no say in what you must read; the nature of your learning is

I feel that the tools listed in the article “Read Like a Graduate Student, not a Mystery Fan” are going to help me immensely as I continue my course of education. The first chapter I read, for another course that I am currently enrolled in, I read from front to back like I would normally read a chapter for enjoyment. Upon completing the reading assignment, I felt like I had retained very little information. After reading the first discussion questions required for the course, I had to re-read portions of the first chapter in order to address the topics from discussion questions. I did not read the chapter from front to back but read the introduction, then the summary and finally the content. The second reading,

What is a hero? We all have our own ideas as to what makes a hero, whether they be a superhero, a war hero, or a personal idol. The one thing these heroes all have in common is that they are all respected and looked up to for something they have done. In Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, there are many heroes. The graphic novel is Satrapi’s autobiography of her childhood in Iran, during and after the Islamic revolution. Throughout her novel Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi utilizes powerful graphic and textual elements on pages 61 and 146 to show how Marji’s original optimistic and whimsical belief about heroes changes as she realizes that there is pain and suffering behind every hero.

“Why? Why? Why? Why life always leave person lonely in darkness Tom?” University Chris asked Tom his friend. He guessed this would be a new beginning… The beginning of a new world… But it was the beginning of wiping his tears forever and get through the pain Heli has given him. The girl who promised him to be with him forever but today kissing another guy in front of him in their red car perceived him “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere” because a girl who was with him since grade four, shared every problem with him but sadly tearing him apart today. Ultimately, both sat on the table silently with their lunch, when suddenly Heli comes to him. “Hey Chris, what is going on? Um... I need to tell you something…” said Heli. Tom stood up and left in anger silently because of Heli and 19 years courage less guy said “Yes Heli come sit; what happened?” Heli was rubbing her hands, while gazing at the security guard holding a gun.

Throughout the book persepolis they have many themes. It has Nationalism, Imperialism, Revolution, Danger, and Religion. The themes all connect to the war with Iran and Iraq. They all happen during the war.

Persepolis is an autobiography by Marjane Satrapi that pushes the reader to visualize Marjane’s life from childhood to growing and becoming an adult. This story takes place in Iran and it’s during the Islamic Revolution. The name Persepolis itself comes from the capital of an ancient Persian empire. The most prominent motifs for this novel is smoking, and the major reason for it is repetition, Marji spontaneously changes her lifestyle, habits, and attitude after she begins smoking, and that holds hands with another major motif which is coming of age. This writing will prove to you how Marji’s start of smoking and coming of age will bring changes to her lifestyle, attitude, and habits.

Persepolis is structured as a graphic novel because Marjane Satrapi was able to use graphic weight, emanata and the organization of panels, to benefit her story. On the page that I chose to take a deeper analysis of Marji’s uncle Anoosh is allowed his last visit with Marji before he is sent to execution. Marji goes to visit him, and they both know that he is being put to death but Anoosh is the only one who speaks and tries to tell Marji that it's going to be okay because he was fighting for something that he really believed in. Satrapi’s choice to write this book as a graphic novel proves to be very beneficial especially on this page.

Persepolis was written by Marjane Satrapi and was published in 2004. Marjane wrote this book to tell the life that she was living and the difficulties she faced. Persepolis takes place at the same time as the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Revolution is seen to be one of the most important events to take place in Iranian history. This is significant to know while reading the book because it shows how the revolution affected the people of Iran. The girls were forced to wear veils to school; boys and girls were separated from their schools, which caused the people of Iran to begin protesting against the Shah. They wanted a democracy and to overthrow the king. The protest became more dangerous everyday; people were being killed for standing up for what they believed in. One day while Marjane’s mother was protesting, her picture was taken and published in the newspaper. She was terrified, so she dyed her hair and wore dark sunglasses. She felt as if someone recognized her then they would try to kill her for being a demonstrator. The story is told from the eyes of a young, determined Satrapi. At first she believed that the Shah was a great leader because her teacher told her that he was chosen by God. However, her father informs her that he wasn’t chosen by God. She also learns that her grandfather was a prince and a prime minister who was imprisoned for behaving as a communist. At