OPTIONAL: Persepolis Paper Topics
What suggestions do you have for Persepolis paper topics that could sustain a literary analysis paper? Do you have an idea you want others to comment on? These are topics that could work for the second literary-analysis paper, due the last day of class.
- What does it mean that Satrapi learns about communism from a comic book, and we learn her story from a comic book? What might this say about the simplification of her ideas, and what’s missing from Persepolis? (This idea belongs to Shawna, but you certainly can comment on it.)
- Why are there no images of Khomeini, or specifics about him in the way there are specifics about Reza Khan or the Shah? (This idea belongs to Dave, unless he chooses to give it away, but you might help him out with your thoughts.)
- Is Satrapi trying to sway readers to a particular position, for or against the use of the headscarf/veil?
- What are the blind spots of a child narrator? In what way is this an effective or ineffective tool in this story?
- What is Satrapi’s relationship to religion in this book?
- Your ideas below...
Comments
None of the views that Satrapi tells in her story seem to be the views of moderate individuals. How does this story telling parallels the new coverage stories in the media of our current situation with Iraq?
How does Satrapi’s choice in writing style (through comic and a child narrator) allow her to better relate to the audience? How does it enhance her storytelling? Would she be able to use humor without these writing techniques?
What is the significance of the end of the book?
How does the interaction of Marji with her peers different from the interaction she had with the adults? Does it better tell what her views were of the situation? Does it show how children are heavily influenced by their parents and how they can be somewhat clueless towards the “bigger picture?”
Posted by: Christie Pelzer | November 13, 2006 07:22 PM
- Are there any indications of how other classes were affected by the revolution? If not, why does Satrapi not give the reader a larger scope of what is affecting "everyday people." Is this simply because she is a child narrator and is only showing the reader what is simple (a.k.a. what she saw and knew as a child).
- Is/was Satrapi a proponent of the revolution? It is tough to pinpoint her stance on many issues (revolution, who is good/bad, war, God, religion). If there aren't any definite answers that can be found, what does the unclarity mean? Does it tie back into the idea of a child narrator?
- What are some of the grander themes and messages of the comic? Surely Satrapi published this as a memoir, but there must be other messages she is trying to convey by publishing this. Is she trying to say anything on a large-scale about freedoms?
Posted by: Andrew Cummins | November 14, 2006 05:20 PM
What is the meaning and significance of the veil? does it represent a greater struggle? what else does it represent?
Posted by: Lisa Simonson | November 15, 2006 04:07 PM
What is the meaning and significance of the veil? does it represent a greater struggle? what else does it represent?
Posted by: Lisa Simonson | November 15, 2006 04:07 PM
What is the meaning and significance of the veil? does it represent a greater struggle? what else does it represent?
Posted by: Lisa Simonson | November 15, 2006 04:08 PM
On page 5 Satrapi shows two groups of women, the fundamentalists and the modern women, the fundamentalists are saying “veil” whereas the modern women are saying “freedom”. Is Satrapi trying to show something here? Is she trying to show that the veil stopped freedom and that is why the modern women are asking for freedom? In other words does the veiling stop or prevent women from having freedom? Is there significance to why the women on the left (fundamentalists) have their eyes closed as oppose to women on the right? Is it showing that the fundamentalist did not have any freedom or were brain washed and that is why they have there eyes closed. Because they are just doing what they are told and are not standing up for themselves and are acting like robots or doing this not by their own will? Why do the modern women have their eyes open and why are they mad? Is showing that they have freedom and are standing for what they believe by their own will? Does this picture show that the women who were veiling did not have freedom or did not care about freedom? Does this picture show that the modern women cared about freedom and by wearing the veil could loose their freedom?
Posted by: Ensieea Rizwani | November 15, 2006 04:18 PM