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ou are required to write book reports for this course on Persepolis part I. Your paper should be from 5-6 pages,
double-spaced using a 12-point font with one-inch margins. Make sure
you allow plenty of time to read the novel, Persepolis by Marjan Satrapi
in order to complete the report by the due date.
Make sure that your report includes your name and the title of the
book along with proper citation of all the sources. (Please use any
citation style of your choice, just make sure to cite your sources)
Develop a thesis and support it with evidence from the book, reading assignments, and recorded (power-point) lectures. This thesis statement should be rooted in one of the questions posed below.
The review needs to explain the book’s content in sufficient detail
that the reader understands the central argument, or else the main story
(this should be no more than one-quarter of the paper). Keep in mind
that the rest of the paper is an argument. You are writing to persuade
the reader that your thesis statement is correct. To do so, you will
have to cite passages from the book as well as other texts from course
readings and material from lectures.
The review should be a discussion of the argument or main themes of the book in the context of other things that you’ve learned from the reading assignments, lectures, and documentaries for this class: connections, comparisons, contradictions…
The different themes might include: Different
interpretations of Islam, namely patriarchal interpretation of Islam
(hadiths), Shi’a/Sunni divide, the influence of tribal and kin-based
customs on gender in the Middle East, Western perceptive on Islam and
gender in the Middle East, Orientalism, defensive development,
nationalism, and nationalist movements, imperialism, colonialism,
Westernization, etc.
You might also want to reference some of the below questions when deciding on an argument/theme for your paper:
1. What parts of Persepolis helped shape your impressions of Iran as a nation and/or of Iranian people?
2. What do you learn about the rise and fall of the Shah of Iran and the role of the US in this process based?
3.
How are the Islamic fundamentalists represented in the book? What
suggestions does Satrapi make about the relationship between faith and
fanaticism?
4. Early in the narrative, Marjane’s mother quotes her
own father’s saying: “When a big wave comes, lower your head and let it
pass” (94). To what extent does what Satrapi calls this Persian
philosophy of resignation to explain secular citizens’ acceptance of
Islamic rule?
5. How “Islamic” was the “Islamic Revolution”? How “republican” (ie:
pluralist, inclusive, democratic) is the “Islamic Republic”?
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