Persepolis

The graphic novel, Persepolis, is a great eye opening first hand account of life growing up in a war torn country such as Iran. There were a few suprising facts in the book so far though, I was shocked at the level of mature that the main character, Marjane, has. What is shocking is not that she is more mature than others children her age, its the fact that she still has a naive take on things such as propaganda and rules all while displaying a rebellious streak. Her account of the state of affairs in Iran at the time can help Americans and others learn about their culture and a greater majority of the citizens views. This book can shed light on some negative sterotypes our society deems to be true without having much evidence in a broader spectrum.

Persepolis

Reading Persepolis there were a few things that surprised me. The first was that Marj's family was very wealthy and even had a maid. I would have envisioned it being told from someone in poverty who had a very hard life. Although, it taught me that even the wealthy were against the Sha and wanted a democratic government. Also Persepolis changed my perception on Iran. Before reading i thought of Iran as a place of religious extremists and terrorists. The book taught me that not everyone there was like that. Like Marj said, she doesnt want her country to be represented by a few extremists. I was also surprised that the government made it mandatory to wear the veils. I thought that it was part of their religion and they chose to wear it. I did not know that it was obligatory and at first people like Marj did not even know why there were being forced to wear it. One thing i can relate to in the book is when Marj has her talks with god about what she wants to be when she grows up and things happening in her life. When i was younger i had many talks with god about many issues going on in my life, one being my grandma dieing. This is one connection i can make with Marj.

Persepolis

In the graphic novel Persepolis, we are introduced to Marji and are led through her life in Iran.  There are many issues that Marji has with her current home when the Shah takes over and incites many changes to the people's lives.  For example, all women are required to wear a veil, and are treated as less than men--Marji, being outspoken and a feminist does not agree with how women are treated.
Marji is very well informed for her age, and continued to glean more knowledge from her parents as more and more changes come about in their country.  Many people to America, but their family chose to stay and to hold out.  Eventually it gets to the point where the US Embassy is taken over, so no one can get a Visa to leave Iran for a better place.  By now, bombs are being dropped, boys as young as 12 are being sent off to war; life is getting to be very difficult to deal with.  Marji goes to demonstrations with her parents when she is young, and this is probably one of the catalysts of why Marji matures so fast.

Allison Weening, Post 10

persepolis

In reading Pesepolis we see the main character feel like an outcast from her society in many instances. We see this in her struggle to wear the veil, conform to traditions under the new regime and understand new concepts her society is presenting. She tries desperately to cope with these new changes. Her coping mechanisms become humor and rebellion, she utilizes herself as an outcast and expresses her differences in order to feel comfortable in her own skin. We see this especially when she mocks the events at her school. She finds humor in every situation in order to feel as though she fits in in this new school where she feels uncomfortable. She feels like a stranger in her own home and country. Angela Feeney post 10

Post Ten: Persepolis

A big surprise to me was the reason behind wearing the veil. I thought the only reason was because women were seen as lesser citizens than men. I had no idea that wearing a veil helped men reduce the urges to indulge in sexual activities. That's kind of weird to think about. Like when her grandmother was being insulted and harassed in the street by a man for not wearing the veil, him telling her that she was asking to be raped was absolutely crazy to me. I guess it is because of my idea of the Islamic faith. I view them as very traditional; relationships wait until marriage before having sex, no divorce, no adultery. I don't know much about politics, but from what it seems like, the people in Iran are not progressing. With the government taking over in this radical regime, combining religion and social ideas, their country cannot progress because of their ideology. Women must wear a veil, their education is not emphasized, men are encourage to solely provide for their families, women have no choice but to stay home. This puts a hold on possibilities for new jobs; women basically have no rights, especially in what they want to wear. Everything the country has worked for, it like put to an end. Any ambitions, dreams of growing is now ended because of the strict religious traditions that must be followed. Pam Kawalerski Post Number Ten

Persepolis

So far with the reading we have done with this book, we have seen alot of different themes and ideas that author wants to display. One is how she and her family felt like such outcasts in there own country. At first they were all united in trying to over throw the government and then when they finally did, it didnt end up how anyone wanted it. The government turned into a radical Islamic regime. This turns the entire country into a backward spiral. The people begin to have to conform to certain rules they dont want to like wearing veils, and having to send there sons to the military as young as 14. Also rules are put in place to ban ties and anything to do with capitalism or the western way of living. There are secret police who imprison or kill anyone who opposes the new government. This is certaintly not what anyone in the country was expecting when they revolted against the regime in the first place. But this usually tends to happen when a country is desperate for a new ruler. For example with Germany and Russia both countries over through there previous governments and in exchange ended up with a communist, dictatorship governments. But the country who was once united with its country is now an outcast in their own land. They are still rebels now even though this is what they wanted in the first place a new government. Im sure throughout the novel there will be more signs of oppression and hardships. And maybe even a sense of hope for the Iran people.

Kenny Liszewski Post 10

The Complete Persepolis

In "The Complete Persepolis" Marjane Satrapi helps us understand the struggles of her childhood in Iran during the Iran/Iraq war. It was no doubt a time of turmoil and revolution for its people. The Iranian government was going through a time of change for its Muslim people and like anyone else, change is not adapted very easily. Marj made this very clear. She tried to revolt against the new laws that were put into place but like the rest of the people social identity was mere the same outcome for everyone in Iran.

Marj's whole family seemed to be outcasts of sort. They demonstrated their beliefs and opposed the new laws the Iranian government tried to impose on them. They protested which seemed to work for a while, but then that got rejected by the way the government handled it. It became dangerous to attempt to try it anymore. Also when the veils were imposed on the women they did not want to agree to those rules either they tried to alter the way the would wear them. Marj's family were outcasts from the government and tried to keep a low profile of their actions because of the consequences that would follow them if they were to get caught. The Muslim heritage of Sunni's and Shiite have been at war with each other for centuries and there may never be an end to that. although in Iran it may be a lot less magnified than in Iraq it does exists.

Like all the other pieces we have read this year "The Complete Persepolis" demonstrates another strain of outcasts. Although it may not be someone with disabilities or a vampire they are the outcasts of society and as we live our lives in society we will continue to see plenty of examples of outcasts not even thinking consensually that they are categorized that way.

Scott Swan

Post 10

Glee and Eli Clare

In class it was brought up whether or not putting the other students in wheelchairs was effective or not. The glee club instructor put his students in wheelchairs in order to understand Artie's obstacles as a disabled individual and furthermore the obstacles of all disabled people in response to their lack of desire and cooperation to help diminish some of these obstacles faced by Artie. In my opinion, the wheelchair experience was very effective and crucial in the students' tolerance and understanding of disabled individuals. My high school Latin teacher Mr. Graff once said "the only way to understand a person is to stand under them and look up." This meant that you must have respect for people and put yourself in their shoes in order to be able to fully understand where they're coming from and who they are. The students were able to do this by spending time in a wheelchair. They were able to view and deal with first hand what Artie deals with on a daily basis. Although they were only in wheelchairs for a short amount of time, the time they spent in wheelchairs was very challenging and difficult. The students were left to imagine how incredibly challenging it must be for Artie to have this permanent situation. In addition, Eli Clare would appluad this exercise by the glee club teacher because he wished for disabled issues to be recognized and understood. Furthermore, he didn't want people to focus on his personal experience of being disabled but rather disability issues as a whole and as a greater issue. The students were able to do this and see the greater spectrum of Artie's disability. Angela Feeney Blog post #9

Disabilities

These readings for this week was a very interesting inside look as to what it would be like to be disabled as and held at a lesser standard than those who are considered "normal".  I really enjoyed the Glee episode this week because it was a different way of learning about being an outcast and how being different can be both negative and positive.
The story of climbing the mountain and how it symbolized life and getting over that one big hill was interesting and, like Glee, showed how difficult it was for someone to be disabled and not able to do acts that "normal" people--her friend--was able to do more easily.  I really liked the perspective that she gave on how she didn't like being treated, or held to lower standards than other people, and that it was more frustrating than anything.  I had never thought about this concept in that way, so the new perspective was welcomed and made me realize that if I was in her situation, or a similar one, that I would probably feel the same way--that in order to do something "easy" or something that would never get recognition for anyone else (like that runner who came in last but was still congratulated and cheered for once finished).

Allison Weening, Post 8

Disabilities and impairments/ Eli Clare Readings

The works of Eli Clare focused on the sensitive issue of society's treatment of individuals whom we deem less valuable than us. The classification of these people vary in the opinion of Clare. Clare sheds light on the common misuse of the way we define people. Clare writes that an impairment is something like down syndrome, they person has the capapbility to preform the action it just might take them longer than a regular person. Where as a disability would be something like being a parapalegic. If there are stairs in front of a parapalegic there is no possible way the person could get to the top of the stairs. In class we discussed these definitions and applied them to the episode of "Glee" that we watched in class. We talked about the portreyal of the student in a wheelchair and the criticism the show recieved for the episode. I feel that the show did nothing to misinform the audience or make light of the situation that parapalegics face everyday.

Handicap vs Disability

I thought these stories were really important because they brought up the differences between being handicap and a disability. Clare is able to define both and show how they are different from each other since many people mistake them being the same thing. Also the way she described them through telling her story about climbing the mountain made it simple to understand. I feel this is a very sensitive subject and it is hard to have clear cut answers to questions when dealing with handicap people. Everyone reacts differently and you have to be cautious when talking about it. I often wonder how to go about acting around a handicap person. Part of me says to just treat them like everyone else, but like Clare says there are just some things that they can't do and you can't ignore them.

The episode of Glee was another way to show what people with handicaps have to go through. It shows how it's a sensitive subject and how we really don't know what they are going through physically and emotionally. For example, they can all go in the wheelchairs to see what it's like and all the struggles they face everyday but they can get out of the chair when ever they really want to. They don't really know what they have to deal with. Like when they all thought it was no big deal if the one kid rode separate, but it actually bothered him a lot. It helps to put you in perspective but it can never be the same unless you have to live the rest of your life like them.