Persepolis

Last year, I realized that many of my students make gross generalizations about culture, race, and religion. One of the many stereotypes that I found particularly frustrating was the general conception that Muslims are terrorists, or at least fanatical and extremist.

As a teacher, I'm not trying to preach to students. I don't wish to tell them my views on everything. But, I want them to learn to think for themselves and become more open minded and tolerant and aware and compassionate. I want them to learn to be wary of making judgements based on sex, class, race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, etc. I want them to grow, learn, and develop not only as students but as individuals who question and think and wonder.

I just recently started teaching Persepolis to my sophomores. It's a powerful and moving graphic novel/memoir about Marjane Satrapi's experience growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. I love it and I hope my students will grow to love it too (once they understand that it's OK that they are going to struggle with the content and history). I am hoping that they learn to think differently about the Middle East, Iran, and Islam.

Persepolis is new to me. I read it about two weeks before I started teaching it. Since it's incredibly historical, I had to refresh my Iranian and Islamic history. Although historical context is usually important when teaching any novel or memoir, Persepolis is overflowing with historical (everything about Reza Shah's overthrow of the Qajar Dynasty- with the help of the British, of course-, the westernization and modernization of Iran under the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini's leadership and life in Iran under his rule, Lenin, Trotsky, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, the My Lai massacre, Cyrus the Great, the Arab invasion, Mongolian invasion.........) cultural, religious (Islam, Judaism, philosophical (dialectical materialism what?), economic theory references (Marx, Engels....)

Teaching Persepolis has been difficult. My students are struggling with the historical content. I taught the Iranian Revolution using a powerpoint presentation with LOTS of images and pictures, but it's still tricky.

Some questions students asked me today: Wait, I thought there were a lot of improvements in Iran under the Shah, so why did the people hate him? Didn't women gain rights under the Shah? So why did they want a revolution? If Ayatollah Khomeini executed thousands more than the Shah did, why did the people follow him? Why did the CIA help set up the Iranian secret police? Why did people see Iran as a puppet state? Were the British really in charge? Why does the U.S. meddle in everyone's business? Do they only care about oil? Why did the U.S. help arm and train the Iraqis under Saddam before the Iran-Iraq War? Why is the author ashamed about her social class, when she is wealthy? Was Michael Jordan alive at this time? Are we going to bomb Iran? Where was Osama bin Laden? (fighting in Afghanistan against the Soviets, I think???) Do women still have to wear the veil? Why are we reading this?

Even though it's been challenging, I am enjoying it. My students love that it's a graphic novel, and many of them seem super interested in the history, even though they're struggling with it.

I recommend Persepolis.