- Read the prompt carefully noticing all requirements for the entry.
- Plan your response in your journal first. Blog-only answers may not receive credit.
- Read existing posts before creating your own to avoid posting the same idea. If someone has already taken your idea, don't simply post it again. Instead, respond to the previous post, adding information, giving new examples, or expanding upon the idea.
| 1) Choose one of the following allusions from Fidel Castro, Leon Trotsky, the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, the Vietnam War, the Islamic Revolution, Dialectical Materialism, Karl Marx, Rene Descartes. First, record general information about the topic. 2) Then, thinking about what you’ve learned and how it relates to the novel as you understand it so far, write an entry for the CRHS English blog. You can start a discussion about one of the topics or respond to an entry already posted; be sure not to repeat what has already been posted. While blogs may seem informal, they require that you edit and revise before you PUBLISH. In your Journal, write a blog entry and revise it. Then, post the blog on the website if you have online access. http://crhs-summerreading.blogspot.com/ Persepolis that you know little or nothing about and research it: Che Guevara, |
The Islamic Revolution is a series of events in Iran's history that are relevant to Satrapi's novel. The Islamic Revolution was caused by an overwhelming opposition to the leadership and influences of Reza Shah. The Iranians believed that his practices were taking away from the country's culture and Islam. The events of the revolution, such as demonstrations and other forms of rebellion, lead to the downfall of the monarchy under the Shah. The monarchy was replaced by an Islamic Republic in 1979 when Marjane Satrapi was ten years old. While many thought the Islamic Republic was going to be more fitting for the country, things took a turn for the worst. People were tortured and executed under the new leadership and Iranians questioned their confidence in the revolution. The people loyal to the Islamic regime had very traditional values and others, like Marjane's family, had more modern values. These conflicts significantly impact Satrapi's childhood and because of her young age, she is not able to fully understand what is going on around her. In the novel, Satrapi has a deep respect for her religion because she has grown up with it all her life. She becomes torn because she wants to be religious but she doesn't want religion to inhibit her freedoms as a child. I predict that Marjane will be forced to grow up faster due to the harsh regulations of the Islamic regime. I also predict that she will develop more of her own values and have a better understanding of what is going on in her country as the novel progresses.
ReplyDelete-Samantha Frenduto
After researching the Islamic revolution, I now have a better understanding of the context behind Persepolis. The revolution brought about a change from a more secular Iran to a more traditional, religious based government. While reading about this major political change, it is hard to imagine the impact it has on individual citizens. At this point, Marjane Satrapi is still a young girl. I am interested to see how the revolution will change her as she grows up. I predict that she will be somewhat rebellious to change, which I believe stems from her parents. Thus far, Marjane’s parents have been characterized as intelligent people, who I am sure will be skeptical of change. I agree with Samantha in that Marjane will strive to maintain her religious beliefs, but not want to lose freedom. However, I feel that her family’s more modern lifestyle will cause Marjane to rebel even more against the government’s forced religion. The Islamic revolution also was a threat to women’s rights, as we have already seen with the veil. I think that Marjane’s mother’s strong influence as an independent woman will equip her with the ability to form her own opinions. However, with a government that persecutes those who oppose it, Marjane’s independent thinking may get her into trouble.
ReplyDelete-Alyssa Medenblik
Fidel Castro, born August 13, 1926, is a prominent figure in Cuban history. Castro was the Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and the President of Cuba from 1976 to 2008. Currently, Castro is the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba - and has been since 1965.
ReplyDeleteFidel Castro practices Marxist-Leninist Communism. Very basically, this means that he believes all property should be public, and everyone should be economically equal.
In my opinion, Satrapi and her friends chose to demonstrate as Castro because of his principles of of economic equality. In the very first chapter of Persepolis, Satrapi wants to be a prophet for this very reason.
Marxist-Leninist ideals also include the principle that government should be for the people. Many people clearly don't like the new regime. Satrapi may have thought that Castro's Communist ideals would have made more people happy - after all, the government is supposed to be for the people and what they want.
-Claire Johnson
Soon after starting the book I realized I knew nothing about the Islamic Revolution. Knowing more about this event is crucial to understanding many of the main characters thoughts and actions along with the novel as a whole. I found some of the most important information to be very general. For example that the Revolution was led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini who wanted a Republic. He wanted to overthrow the Iranian Monarchy led by Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Many demonstrations were set up in order to prove a point and to help gain support. These demonstrations were often shut down and left many people injured or even dead. Shah was eventually forced into exile. Leaving only his followers and army to be overthrown. Soon after the Monarchy reluctantly became a Republic.
ReplyDeleteKimberly Redford
Che Guevara was born June 14, 1928, and he was later killed October 9, 1967. He played a major role in the Cuban Revolution when he worked alongside Fidel Castro and Raul Castro. He had joined into the revolution after he had taken a trip to Latin America, and he had been horrified by what he had seen. He disliked the poverty and alienation that was taking place in Latin America, and he wished to change it. After joining the ranks of the insurgents, his rankings steadily grew until he was promoted to Second-In- Command, and he played vital roles throughout the Cuban Revolution. in the chapter "The Bicycle", young Satrapi and her two friends took on the roles as cuban revolutionaries. One of the reasons Satrapi may have choosen the role of Che Guevara, was because even years after he was killed, he was still a symbol of rebellion. At her age, Satrapi would have wanted to be apart of the rebellion in her country , making her want to follow in the footsteps of Che Guevara. She would have wanted to be rebellious, and because Che Guevara was a symbol of rebellion, she would want to act as him because of the rebellion in her own country. Also she may have agreed with some of his ideals and the writings of his.
ReplyDeleteAs I dove into Persepolis I found the Graphic novel format to be confusing and even convoluted at times. In hopes of better understanding the characters and the context of the story, I researched the Islamic Revolution. It has its roots in ancient settlements. The area itself changed ownership several times, creating animosity among peoples. With the rise of the Shah, the citizens saw him as a puppet for westernized culture (The US).Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was the leader of the revolution. He believed that everyone required supervision through government. During the 1970's, things became more heated. The Shah and his family benefited most from oil harvested in the country. The social classes intensified and demonstrations began. The cinema fire was mentioned in the book, as well as in much of the research I performed. The cinemas were common places for people to start demonstrations. The fire murdered 400 people, but it is still unclear if the government was actually behind it. After much more protesting, the Shah finally fell and Ayatollah Khomeini rose as an undisputed leader. The new leader brought with him fundamentalist, Islam ideas. This research brought a new light on the novel. It also clears the confusion around actions and events within the story.
ReplyDeleteJillian Altrichter
Persepolis gives the initial impression of dry and heavy going literature about the Persian civilisation and culture. However it is a fascinating story, written as a graphic novel, about a highly intelligent and questioning young woman growing up in a rigid, fundamentalist religious society. Marjane, the protagonist of the story, alluded to Karl Marx. Marx was a philosopher and revolutionary socialist born in Germany during the 19th century. He came from an educated, liberal, wealthy, Jewish, middle class family, and married into aristocracy. At University, he was exposed to German philosophy became one of the world’s greatest thinkers of all time. He developed ideas on freedom in society and the role of state and religion. He saw that the middle and upper classes had freedom as they had the power and wealth; Marx saw this as a ‘dictatorship of the bourgeoisie’. Society was run by these people for their own benefit. Marx wanted society run by the working class (proletariat) and utopia would be a stateless and classless society, pure communism. The Russian revolution took place well after the death of Marx in 1886 but was based on Marxist doctrine. In the “Bicycle”, Marjane celebrates Marx’s philosophy with him disproving Descartes’ idea that reality is imaginary. As a young girl she idealised Marx. She even says how Marx and God looked like each other. On another note, many of the ideas of freedom and equality in Marx’s doctrine are the same and similar to that of Jesus. The irony being, in that Marx was communist and therefore an atheist. By analysing these characters in greater detail, I have developed a deeper understanding of the novel which conveys the thoughts of the protagonist.
ReplyDeleteChris Garrett
Nice, thanks Google for making me make a Blog account. Anyway...
ReplyDeleteChe Guevara was a prominent figure in the entire Cuban situation throughout the 1950s and 60s. He actually accomplished so much that he named one of the "100 most influential people of the 20th century". However, he is possibly best known for the photograph, "Guerrillero Heroico", taken at the memorial service for the La Coubre explosion (a freighter exploded in Havana harbor, Cuba, killing at least 75 people and injuring over 200 others). You may recognize the picture in which Guevara is looking off into the distance, and, incidentally, looks a bit like a monkey. Anyway, the point is that he met Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution and later became his right-hand man in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Guevara left Cuba after the Missile Crisis and attempted a wide-scale revolution throughout South America, particularly in Congo-Kinshasa and Bolivia. Unfortunately, he was captured in Bolivia with the help of the CIA and eventually executed. His legend lives on in a photograph and as a ubiquitous counter-cultural symbol of rebellion.
Chris Tauer
Che Guevara, although not necessarily a part of the Islamic Revolution, was a great role model and leader that Marjane strived to be like. He was a major figure of the Cuban Revolution and eventually, with the help of many other revolutionists, overthrew the government. He saw the socialist government that was polluting his nation and became disgusted with Jacob Arbenz and his countries leaders. Che knew Fidel Castro, also an allusion in this chapter, and together they lead a group of eighty men in an attempt to overthrow the government. His group declined greatly in numbers as most of the men and women were killed. Together they had to continue through this hard time and figure out how to form a stronger group. Marjane, like Guevara, saw the problems within her own country and realized the people were not to blame but that the government was. She had many setbacks and problems but fought through them like Che, which is why he is such a great role model for a young girl like her. She wished to change what she saw wrong with a passion and fight that was like Guevaras. Throughout the book she turns into even more of a revolutionist and continues in her attempting to achieve her goals.
ReplyDeleteLibby Florence
Like the others, this look at the Islamic Revolution was quite the learning opportunity. 1977-1979 Iran represents a period of great tumult bringing change that affected the global population, the communities and organizations in Iran, the interpersonal relationships between friends and strangers, and the individual-level freedoms and fears. The Revolution empowered demonstrations and acts of civil resistance by groups believing that Iran needed to change with the world. Conflict relative to the oil-opportunistic British amplified under the poor leadership of the monarchy. The Shah, divine figure-head of the monarchy, was depicted as lacking flexibility and resistant to innovation/ modernization. Ironically, the Islamic Republic restrained them even more and subjugated the Iranian people to a regime that was intolerant, and also sanctioned by God.
ReplyDeleteArgentine Guerrilla Ernesto “Che” Guevara is recognized as a hero by some, a villain by others, but a revolutionary by all. Che studied medicine at The University of Buenos Aires. While on break, he set off on his motorcycle to travel Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. This series of adventures not only adorned him with the desire to aid those less fortunate, but also resulted in the alteration of Guevara’s political mindset, for his encounters with countless indigent and hapless souls resulted in the belief that only socialism could attain equality. In 1953 Guevara finally earned his medical degree, only to abjure his career choice of a doctor to intrepidly embark on the mission of overthrowing the Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista, in the company of fellow guerillas, Fidel Castro among them. The soldiers that survived the precarious voyage across the Caribbean Sea carried out the only successful socialist revolution in the Americas. In 1966, Guevara set off with the intentions of leading revolutions across Latin America and Africa. However, his plan took a turn for the worst when he was captured by CIA trained Bolivian soldiers, meeting his death, deemed heroic by some, soon after in 1967.
ReplyDeleteChe Guevara deservingly resides on a pedestal within the mind of ten-year-old Marjane Satrapi. She pleasantly dabbles in the resemblance she shares with this revolutionary throughout the chapter “The Bicycle”. Since Marjane has a taste for rebellion at such a young age it is not surprising that she idolizes Che Guevara. Although the name “Che Guevara” may seem trivial at best when jumbled with the other allusions, of which there is no shortage, in “The Bicycle”, it represents rebellion to Marjane. Marjane’s eagerness to be part of the revolution causes her to compare herself to the rebellious Guevara, for he possessed the traits needed to be a successful rebellion. Due to Marjane’s idealization of Guevara, his lasting legend is able to foster, sculpt and sharpen the side of Marjane that is abandoning childhood innocence, into one that is hungry for change and ready to revolt. So far, Marjane seems as if she will never be content with sitting back and watching the revolution drag by. She wants to contribute all she can to the fight for the life of freedom and opportunity she desperately craves. For example, even though Marjane’s parents refuse to allow her to take part in the “real” demonstrations, she continues to demonstrate in her garden whenever she has the chance. Also, in multiple frames, Marjane is shown sporting a bandana embellished with Guevara’s emblem of a five point. In reality, she most likely did not own a piece of headgear like this, however, the illustrations of it proudly crowning her head reveal her admiration of Guevara and show that she is loyal to his ways. Marjane’s idolization of Guevara is not only used to characterize her, but to possibly foreshadow a number of traits that might grow stronger as the book progresses.
Julianne Kennedy
Much like Kim Redford and others, as I began reading Persepolis I quickly realized I knew little to nothing about the Islamic Revolution. To understand this novel, understanding the Islamic Revolution is crucial. I researched the revolution and learned that the majority of events happening in the novel are the exact same as what was recorded about the revolution. During the Islamic Revolution, women were not treated correctly and were segregated against. They had little to no rights. In Persepolis, this remains true. The women are forced to cover up and men are allowed to say and treat them however they please. At one point in the novel, Marji’s mother is called extremely horrid names by men on the street just because her hair was showing. Also, in the novel there were several frames depicting the images of protestors. Little did I know, there were truly anywhere from 3,000 to 60,000 protestor and revolutionaries. The cartoon images do not show that there were that many people protesting the veil. As Kim said, the leader of the revolution was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. From reading Persepolis, you would have never known this extremely important fact about the revolution. In the research I did, I also learned that any newspaper again Khomeini’s ideas of theocracy were closed. In Persepolis the only form of media that is “shut down” is the media’s ability to play the national anthem on the TV. Also, the two parties not affiliated with Khomeini were the Muslim People’s party and the National Democratic Font. Nowhere in Persepolis does it say those two names either. You can learn a lot about the war and revolution from Persepolis, but researching the idea gave me more information to go off of and to help me to better understand the novel.
ReplyDeleteAlexandra Klein
After reading just 10 pages of Persepolis, I realized this is nothing like the Spiderman, Superman stories you read in comic books, it's about a young girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution. During the Islamic Revolution was lead by Ayatollah Khomeini who believed in theocratic rule. Civil resistance started to form from Khomeini, and street fights starting breaking out around the country. In this chapter a lot this is happening, so knowing these facts really help understand what the story it about. Growing up during the Revolution was hard on a young girl, especially when she doesn't quite comprehend whats going on. Marjane does a legitimate job of explaining the story in this chapter and really shows the reader what is going on. I feel like growing up in a situation like this really helps Marjane mature as a young woman, and it helps the reader really understand her maturity. All of the events that happen in this chapter help Marjane mature as a young woman and help us mature as a reader.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Metzger
At first, I didn’t understand how the Vietnam War connected with Satrapi’s story. Then I looked at how the United States got involved in both wars. In the Vietnamese war we backed the anti-communist South Vietnam. Even at one point making air strikes on North Vietnam and destroying communist supply bases in Cambodia. During this war between one and two million Vietnamese were killed.
ReplyDeleteDuring the Iran and Iraq War we supported Iraq. Not only did the U.S. fight for Iraq we gave them weapons, military intelligence, and Special Operations training. After this war it is estimated that five hundred thousand to one million were dead, one to two million were wounded, and that there were more than eighty thousand prisoners. Knowing this I can see why Satrapi was not fond of the U.S.
If I was Satrapi I would feel like the United States was just killing my people for selfish political reasons. I would be resentful that the U.S. was acting like police men of the world and that they were abusing their power as one of the world leaders.
Sarah Howard
Fidel Castro was a very prominent figure in Cuban history, and a strong advocate for the protection of the rights of his fellow citizens. Even as a boy, he helped organize a strike among sugar workers on his father's plantation for better treatment and salaries. This was only the first time he showed that he took the rights of his people very seriously. Despite the fact that his parents were illiterate, Castro excelled in school and later became a lawyer. He then joined the Cuban People's Party, which fought against many injustices that the people of Cuba were faced with. Unhappy with the government, Castro came to the conclusion that the only way for his party to gain power and restore justice to the people of Cuba was to start a revolution. After his first attempt to overthrow Fulgencio Batista (The president and dictator of Cuba at the time) failed, he was imprisoned for two years. When Castro was released, he traveled to Mexico to plan his next attempt to gain power. He then returned to Cuba where he and his followers used Guerrilla tactics to overwhelm the Cuban Army, causing Batista to flee the country. As the new leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro had a very large amount of support and approval from the Cuban people, and enacted many policies to strengthen the country's education systems, increase worker salaries, and return land to its proper owners.
ReplyDeleteI think that Castro relates to the novel because he fights for the rights of his fellow citizens and is a symbol of rebellion. In Marjane's situation, it makes perfect sense that she would reach out to figures such as Fidel Castro who rebelled against their governments because her own country is seeking change and new leadership.
Courtney L. Arena
Fidel Castro was born in 1926. He graduated from the University of Havana with a degree in law. He arrived in Cuba to try to overthrow the government in 1956. He became a political leader in Cuba in 1959, where he transformed his country into the first communist state in the western hemisphere. He later became a major figure and symbol of the Cuban and communist revolution. Although he was not part of the Islamic revolution, he still greatly affect Marjane and the person she is becoming in this chapter. In many way Marjane is similar to Fidel Castro in the way they view communism. I think throughout the book those views will get stronger and stronger. I agree with Libby that Marjane strives to be like Che Guevara but Fidel Castro being a great political leader was just as strong in the revolution and Marjane might agree that he is even better than Che Guevara. When you look at Marjane now, you can already see characteristics of Fidel. They are both very strong people that will never change their faith no matter what. Her interest in Fidel Castro could be foreshadowing how she will grow as a person and she might have similar characteristics as Fidel Castro in the future.
ReplyDeleteHolly Smith
Like Karl Marx, Leon Trotsky was a communist/socialist philosophizer. He is improtant to the story because he wrote many books on communism/socialism. Trotsky was an avid revolutionary, he aided Lenin in overthrowing Czar Nicholas II. Trotsky was even imprisoned for his antics and his work conveys that level of passion which he felt towards his revolution. Satrapi was given many books on communism, as well as various other topics, which is how she heard of him and even why she wants to be a part of her revolution so greatly. It is because she felt influenced by the actions of Trtosky, who was striving for change in his native country of Russia.
ReplyDelete