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)