Summary
• Persepolis is an autobiographical
memoir of Marjane Satrapi’s life
as a child during the Islamic
Revolution in the late 1970’s. In
the book, she discusses the
changes in which she had to
make in her life to conform to the
new regime within her country,
such as wearing a veil and not
having the ability to own anything
with Western influence.
• This memoir depicts Satrapi’s
childhood confusion and the
extreme contradictions between
her home life with her parents
and her public life.
Readability
Persepolis is a unique read
for students because…
Readability
This makes learning more
fun for students, while they
read they are able to
visualize exactly what
Marjane Satrapi witnessed
growing up.
Concept
Map
Different
private
and
public life
Societal
Pressures
Cultural
Shift
Adapting
to
change
Child’seye view
of
changing
society
Growing
up in the
midst of
war
Motivation….
• “As for me, I
sealed my act of
rebellion against
my mother’s
dictatorship by
smoking the
cigarette I’d stolen
from my uncle two
weeks earlier.”
• (page 117)
Objectives
• Display to students that
reading can be a fun activity
• Teach students that graphic
novels are a great tool to
make reading more fun
• Students will be able to
identify what a memoir is
• Students will write their own
memoir about a significant
time in their lives
• Students will be able to
create their own version of a
graphic story based on their
memoir
• Copies of
“Persepolis”
• Pens/Pencils/Marker
s/Colored pencils
• Notebooks
• Drawing paper
• And…an open mind!
Procedures
• Class will discuss their ideas
of what a graphic novel is.
• Read “Persepolis”
• Write journal entries to
reflect on the novel and the
issues within the novel
Graphic
novels
rule!
• Each student will write a
memoir about a significant
event that happened within
their life
• Along with the written
memoir, they will create a
graphic representation of
the memoir to emotionally
connect to their memoir
Discussion Questions
Are there stereotypes with a
graphic novel? Are they only
comics? Could they tell a story
just like a regular book?
Do you think that Satrapi’s
experiences and thoughts would
have been different had she
been older?
How would you handle the
challenges that Satrapi faced as
a child?
How would you feel if every book
was a graphic novel? Would they
be easier to read? Would you
enjoy reading more?
Language Arts Connection
• Keep journals every night
after reading through
“Persepolis” and discuss the
issues brought forth in the
novel. Also, make sure to
note how you would feel in
that situation.
• Write a memoir about a
specific event in your life.
This event can be good or
bad and you must express
your emotions through your
writing about this event.
• Using a scene from your
memoir, make a graphic
representation of the scene.
Make sure that it correlates
with the emotions within
your writing.
THE END!