Hi,
I will be sending this as an email as well.

I want to check in with all of you (individually)about your topic for your final assignment--see previous entry for details. I will try to find you but please also seek me out if we don't usually cross paths.

This is what my notes show about your ideas so far:

Audrey – something having to do with post-WW1 / WW2

Emma – South African TRC after apartheid

Maddie – narratives surrounding African-Americans, particularly connected to ideas put forth in The New Jim Crow

Alison – narratives shaped by music

Alexa – narratives about public education in Detroit, particularly those with racism at their core

Hannah - ??

Janea – Native Americans

Ellie - ??

You should learn enough about your topic to talk confidently about two topics:

1.      What dominant narrative existed or exists about your topic and what led to its creation?

2.      Did this narrative undergo any change, and if so, how? If not, is this a narrative you think needs to change (it is okay to say no if you are able to show how the narrative is rooted in truth)? 

Think about this and be ready to check in no later than next Tuesday. 

Final Assignments

Hi all –

There are still a number of you who haven’t submitted your last assignment(s) on Persepolis. If you are in that group, please attend to that as soon as you can.

You have, essentially, two remaining assignments for this IDS. I’m outlining them both here, and we’ll discuss “due dates” in future meetings.

1) Examination of a circumstance in which a cultural narrative was deliberately created, positively or negatively. Positive examples: the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in South Africa or the way Germany strove to make reparations to Jewish families in the wake of the Holocaust. Negative examples: the way stereotypes and fearful accounts have been perpetuated against any number of minority groups in this country—African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, etc. I’d encourage you to pick a circumstance that resonates with you in some way, even if it’s not a narrative that applies to you personally.

2) A piece of personal writing that speaks the truth about a circumstance in your life that would not be widely understood by others. Consider all aspects of your identity: gender, race, age, cultural background, beliefs, and more. What do you have to say that others need to hear? What is an issue or topic you think society in general can’t talk about—and what do you have to say that might drive the conversation forward?

I’m hoping to meet with all of you during 6^th or 8^th on TUESDAY of this week to talk more about these projects.. Hope you are well!

Assignment Six and Wednesday Meeting

Hi everyone. Sorry for the delay on posting the next assignment.

I'd also like to meet with everyone either 6th or 8th block on WEDNESDAY of this week.

Assignment #6, due no later than Monday, April 3. (I'd prefer it by this Friday, but I want to honor the Monday-to-Monday arrangement.)

Read: Finish Persepolis. 

Write: Respond to one of the following questions in a bit of a longer format: Aim for at least 400 words, and post this to the blog.
1. If you've seen the movie, how does it compare to the graphic novel? How does her story work differently on film?
2. Do you think there is a broad audience for Persepolis? Consider groups in the United States that might have the highest level of misunderstanding or hostility toward Iran as a country. Would Persepolis help them understand Iran on a deeper or more nuanced level? Why or why not?
3. Write about Marji's evolving perception of war throughout the graphic novel. How might Marji's perspective compare or contrast with someone growing up in the United States?
4. How are you and Marji similar and different? (If you go with this prompt, push yourself to go past superficial comparisons.)
5. Who do you think influences Marji the most? Why? What's important or meaningful about her relationship with this person?

Nothing to watch, unless you haven't seen the movie version and want to watch it.

After break, I'm going to ask you to embark on a text of your own selection. I'll have 5-6 to choose from and you can pick the one that interests you the most. (If you have ideas for books or even films that you feel really connect to the ideas of this class, let me know.)

Assignment Five: Continuing Persepolis

Hi all! I’m really enjoying your responses to last week’s questions. Don’t forget to respond to one of your classmate’s responses as well as posting a response of your own. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow during either 6^th or 8^th.

Assignment #5

Nothing to watch this week!

Read Persepolis through pp. 100 (up to “The Wine).

Write Respond to 8 of 10 of the following questions. You must answer 9-10 and then can pick any six from the remaining question. Submit to Susannah (email) by the end of the day on Tuesday, March 21. These responses should be reasonably robust—at least 5-6 sentences apiece.

Please note any allusions, references, events, etc. that are confusing or unfamiliar—while I assume you’ll probably look up things you don’t know, this information will help me better teach the material in the future.

1)     What do you notice about the way women respond to the veil?

2)    Why do you think American pop culture has such an effect on Marjane and her peers?

3)    Comment on Marji’s relationship with God. How and why does it change/evolve?

4)    As a character, what does Mehri bring to the story?

5)    According to Marji’s dad, why will there never be peace in the Middle East? (In “The Party”) What do you think?

6)    What ideas about heroism does the story present? Comment on the way that heroism as a concept can vary by culture or region.

7)    As a character, what does Anoosh bring to the story?

8)    Write about one or both of Marji’s parents and how they influence and shape her outlook on the world—you can write about them as broad characters or focus on specific moments in the chapters.

9)    In what ways is Marji’s coming-of-age familiar and/or universal? What elements of her experience are unique to her particular circumstances?

10) Discuss a moment where the format (as a graphic novel) helps you understand an aspect of Marjane’s character or life experience in a way that a solely written description could not.

Meeting Times

I'm sending this to you as an e-mail, but I thought I'd post it here as well.

Hi ladies,

I’d like to start implementing weekly meetings (in place of the Friday lunches I mentioned in the last post). I need face time with you, and we need opportunities to dialogue as a group and get richer conversations going about these works.

I’ve looked at everyone’s schedules, and everyone other than Janea is able to come to a meeting either 6B or 8B: so those are the two blocks I’ll hold meetings. (Janea, we’ll talk more about your situation individually.)

6th block will meet in a TBD location. 8th block will meet in my room (209). 

My thought is that we will meet the first B day of each week. Since our assignments will be due Mondays from here on out, we’ll always have recent material to discuss.  

If you’re free both times, you can pick which block you come to.

Let me know what concerns you might have with this. Otherwise, I’ll look forward to seeing you this Tuesday 6^th or 8^th block.

Assignment 4: Beginning Persepolis

Hi everyone! A few people have suggested shifting the assignments to being posted/due on Mondays, so the weekend is closer to the due date. This is fine with me. So, all of this will be due Monday 3/13. Also, some of you still have missing work on Twilight. Go through the past assignments to see if you posted/ commented on everything you need to. 

Also, I'm going to start making Friday lunches a regular thing. I know not everyone will be able to come every week, but come when you can, and we'll talk about what we're reading and other topics related to class and this idea of Changing the Narrative. 

ASSIGNMENT #4:

This week, we begin our study of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Before we begin, it will be helpful for us to gain a broader understanding of the world and historical moment she lived in.

Watch:

Iran's Revolutions: Crash Course World History 226. This video talks about the background and lead-up to the 1979 Iranian cultural revolution, which is where Persepolis begins. Satrapi sort of describes these events, but does so from the perspective of a child, so having a bit more background information will probably be helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w4Ku6l7OEI

When Marjane Satrapi released the film version of Persepolis, she did an interview with Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it was satirical news, so if some of Colbert’s comments seem weird and offensive to Iran, that’s intentional. The interview, however, gives you a nice sense of Satrapi’s personality and some context on her approach to the story.

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/07hrs5/the-colbert-report-marjane-satrapi

You might also find this reference useful: https://satrapi1.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/iranianhistory4.pdf

Write: As a reply to this post, answer the following questions:

1)     How much of this information was familiar? Did you learn this in other history classes or elsewhere?  

2)    As Americans, what do you think are our first associations with or about Iran? What do you think contributes to these perceptions?

3)    Anything else you want to share about these viewings?

Respond to at least one other person’s post!

Read: Start Persepolis: pages 1-39

(Next week’s work will be more reading and discussion questions on Persepolis)

Some of my thoughts on this section...

There were many things in this section that are worth discussing, but certain parts stood out to me most. The first would be when Anna Deveare Smith switches back at forth in the same moment between the character of Daryl Gates and the character of Mrs. June Park. The immediate shifts between the two characters created a powerful effect, because it shows how what they’re saying is connected but it still shows their individual point of view on what they were discussing. This also allows comparison between the two, especially emotionally. While Gates seems monotonous about the situation, Park is full of anger and confusion as to why her husband was shot.

Secondly, I thought Smith’s portrayal of Elaine Young was really interesting. To see a woman of color appear as a privileged white woman kind of made the act satirical in a way. I definitely saw this presentation as mocking racial privilege. This is because of the tone of Smith’s voice and how she is displaying  stereotypes that come with a privileged white woman. Her entire interview shocked me because it showed me just how selfish a privileged person can be.

Elaine Young starts her interview by talking about her date, and at first didn’t even address the issue of the riots and chaos that were happening around her. She also makes the writer of the letter seem in the wrong for bashing on her for “Having fun at the Beverly Hills hotel during the riots”. Elaine Young acts guilty for a fleeting moment and says “No way in the world did I mean to be flippant on television about the riots” but then continues to mention how “There we were at the Beverly Hills Hotel” and “At a certain point you just have to say let me put this out of my mind and be done.” This shows that she doesn’t actually seem to care about the riots, and all she talks about is the Beverly Hills Hotel and how nothing else mattered because she felt safe there. She even states that she is just thankful that she is alive and that all she will do is hope that people will be alive when it is all over. This really angered me because she knows that she is privileged, but instead of using that privilege to help others in a time of need she is using to her own advantage to get out of any situations where she would have to care about less privileged people.