Memo 3b--Examining Persepolis as a Primary Source Text

This week I chose to continue delving into primary sources in terms of my I-Search.  Rather than investigating tools used for teaching graphic novels, however, I looked into a specific graphic novel that is “canonized” in some ways as a graphic novel “worth teaching” in schools.  Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, is an autobiographical graphic novel that was originally composed in French, and it tells the story of Marjane as a 10-year-old girl in the midst of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in the early 1980’s. 

Persepolis is beautifully written and illustrated, and for those reasons alone it is certainly worth teaching to students as a work of literature.  I feel that the novel could also be useful, however, for several more specific and more curriculum-based reasons.

The autobiographical form is something that I feel receives too little attention in schools.  What better way to introduce the autobiography as literature than through something as approachable and non-threatening (in terms of actual verbal language) as a graphic novel?  For this reason, it would also be useful and interesting to introduce the idea of students writing their own autobiographies.  Every student has a story to tell, whether they realize it or not, and I feel that composing their own autobiographies (or even smaller autobiographical vignettes, memoires, or short stories) in the graphic novel form could be very engaging and very authentic for students who are so rarely given the opportunity to tell their own stories.  Giving students the agency that comes with sharing their story in writing is a reward in itself.

Additionally, Persepolis can make for a gateway into teaching fiction writing and storytelling in general.  The narrative form is still present in an autobiography—there are autobiographies written without narrative structure, but they run the risk of lacking a certain appeal for students.  Graphic novels to teach the storytelling and narrative processes seems almost obvious when you consider the shared importance of time and space in the graphic novel and in fiction.

Another interesting and apt approach to teaching this particular graphic novel in the classroom would involve reading the text using different critical lenses.  It would be particularly interesting to examine the experience of a young girl dealing with sexism and religious and governmental change in a revolution that occurred in the past while comparing her experiences to those of the students themselves. 

Examining Persepolis as one of many specific texts to introduce in the classroom has flooded my mind with new ideas and considerations for teaching graphic novels as interesting and diverse literature in the classroom.  I am beginning to consider how I could use this novel and others to help students not only read different literary forms but also write in them.