The Veil - Persepolis - Opening Discussion / Group Work pgs 1-32
"I wanted to be justice, love, and the wrath of God all in one."
The Veil - Persepolis - Opening Discussion / Group Work pgs 1-32: I can't believe that I did this one year as a Group Work rather than a discussion - but I may have been absent and didn't want the kids to fall behind (or I was overwhelmed by a new text in the class). I really do believe that when you start a novel in class - it should be with a discussion - it helps build enthusiasm - from both sides: the teacher and the students. For this book - that is especially true. Students are always amazed how topical this novel is - and how close to their own lives - Marjane's life is. Unlike other books we've read - for Persepolis - because it is a graphic novel, I would put the page(s) we were discussing up on the projector screen at the front of the room. The motto of this website is that "it's all about the text." Well, in a graphic novel - that text also includes the pictures. We begin with page 3 - and get through page 32. We talk about her childhood, school, how she sees herself and so much more. It is such a powerful book - and the students will come in enthused and ready to talk about it.
Lesson Overview
Opening discussions set the pace for how things go for the entire book. Persepolis is no exception - though it took me a few years to find my grounding with this new kind of text. Here is some of what is covered - what happens in this opening discussion. See my Lesson Notes below for more. In the Lesson Notes, page numbers are given for these and many other points. There is also a Group Work that I did - that can be given in lieu of the discussion - but I certainly would go for the discussion if possible.
Here are a few of the questions, ideas, and comments brought up in the opening discussion - see my handwritten Opening Discussion Lesson Notes for more.
The title - where does it come from (THIS IS HUGE - and sets the focus for the entire novel)
Why are the schools closed? (the excuse)
What are the demonstrations about "veils" going on - in the streets?
Why begin with a veil story? (metaphor alert)
Who does Marjane talk with at night? Why? Is it real?
What does she want to be when she grows up? (note in this and previous questions - the link to the poems just done)
What do Decartes & Karl Marx argue about?
How does Marjane craving the normal make sense? (this will resonate with students in a big way)
How did the Shah get into power?
Panel 4 on page 25 - how does this fit with the title of the book?
Middle panel on that same page - Students tell me something! (Marjane's back hurts - like her grandmother's did earlier). Let students see and make connections.
Why are they worried about Marjane's father?
Why is the story on 31-32 so telling? How does it extend beyond just Marjane and her family?
As I said, the lesson notes have these (along with page numbers) and many, many more ideas and things to talk about (if you can read my writing)...
My Lesson Notes
See above for some of what we go over in this Teacher Led discussion. There is so much here than the bulleted points I went over above. I never could bring myself to write on the actual graphic novel (not sure why I objected to this over a usual text) but I took a lot of notes and marked the page (and sometimes the panel) that it occurred on. As always, though we started this book in 2014, the notes grew every year - most of the time from observations, questions and comments that came from the students.
Group Work (as an alternative)
I cannot ever remember opening the novel with a Group Work (I think I said this for the last book too!) - it is not something that I like to do. You want to capture (and share your own) that enthusiasm for the book - to get it off to start - to set the pace. I may have been absent. But in any case, here it is and it covers much of what is said in the opening discussion above.
Remote Enhancements
None that I have found so far.
Links
PersepolisOpeningDiscussion20170118.m4aClass Recording
We begin talking about the graphic novel Persepolis and we jump right into it. We talk about what takes place on the page - we make connections to earlier works and the poems that we read yesterday - and we even have a meta-discussion about the worth of making connections. We cover "The Veil," and "Persepolis" chapters.
Persepolis 3 - The Slap - Group Work #1 - pgs 31 to 71 : This is a two-sided Group Work - so there is a lot here - and all of it designed to get the students to put different parts and aspects of the Graphic Novel together on their own (well - with some questions from their teacher). It also pulls in ideas from other works we've read (like the poem - "The Truth") and that over-arching idea of a "Persepolis" - an ideal world that either once existed or could exist if only we could get our collective act together.
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
What a joy Persepolis is to teach - and I love that the book was suggested by students (current and former) - they told it would fit in so well into the year - and it does. One year, my School Board threatened to ban the book in our schools - and that was quite a wild controversy. Luckily, it only lasted a few days.