Persepolis Part 2 (Movie & Questions)
"In the West, you could be dying in the street and they'd walk right over you."
Persepolis Part 2- Movie & Questions: Students will watch the second half of the film version of Persepolis. It's really perfect - because it picks up right were we left off (our unit only covers the first of the two books that Marjane Satrapi wrote).
As with all of my Movie Questions (see my page on them) - there are questions to be answered immediately while watching the movie - and more thoughtful questions (mini-essays) to be answered on their own for homework. While most movies - and movie questions are over 2-3 days - this will be finished in one period.
Lesson Overview
Persepolis Movie Questions (see my page on Movie Questions). Because we only read the first of the two Graphic Novels that Marjane Satrapi - watching the second half of the film that was made (about both parts) works wonderfully. This part of the film (and of the Graphic Novel) are much darker - but they both contain that sense of hope (see Martin in Candide) and resilience that is such a godsend for our students. As always, there are two different types of questions - those in bold that the students answer while they are watching the movie (it keeps them focused and on track) and those questions in italics that the students answer for homework. Each of the latter questions is a kind of mini-essay that requires them to use what they found in their reading of the novel, our discussions & group works, and their viewing of the movie.
Here are the instructions from the handout (found below):
As you watch, keep a couple of things in mind – one of them is –How does what Marji (later Marjane) experiences have to do with the Ancient City of Persepolis (think of our discussions). The second idea is – how does the media of film (and animation) differ from the graphic novel – just as the graphic novel differs from plain unillustrated text. Have your opening poems out as well.
The Movie - Persepolis (Part 2)
Here is the description taken from JustWatch (a site that tells you where a movie is streaming): "In 1970s Iran, Marjane 'Marji' Statrapi watches events through her young eyes and her idealistic family of a long dream being fulfilled of the hated Shah's defeat in the Iranian Revolution of 1979. However as Marji grows up, she witnesses first hand how the new Iran, now ruled by Islamic fundamentalists, has become a repressive tyranny on its own." Keep in mind - in my class - we only watched the 2nd half of the movie. We start the film with the ending of the first book - Marjane's mother feinting at the airport. The trailer can be found here.
Handout (Movie Questions)
Most Recent Handout
PLEASE NOTE (FOR THIS HANDOUT) - the immediate questions are NOT boldfaced, but the at-home thoughtful questions are italicized. The handout also includes an abridged review by Roger Ebert. Here is an excerpt: "It might seem that her story is too large for one 98-minute film, but "Persepolis" tells it carefully, lovingly and with great style. It is infinitely more interesting than the witless coming-of-age Western girls we meet in animated films; in spirit, in gumption, in heart, Marjane resembles someone like the heroine is "Juno" -- not that she is pregnant at 16, of course. While so many films about coming of age involve manufactured dilemmas, here is one about a woman who indeed does come of age, and magnificently."
Audio Visual Content
Again - here is the link to JustWatch.com - where you can find where Persepolis is streaming. And here is a link to Amazon where you can find physical media for the film.
Remote Enhancements
It is more than possible to watch films together with your class - usually that means having the video you are watching on your computer and sharing the screen with students. You can also keep the comment window open to share things with them (just don't get too distracting). You can also see if they are paying attention or not.
Persepolis 7 - A Rock Opera of the Mind: This lesson has students listening to songs and writing down connections from the novel to those songs in any way they see applicable. The first time I did this lesson, I polled my students and got their ideas for songs to play - and along with my own choices came up with 5. There is a worksheet with a place for the students to write down their ideas (connections), and the lyrics are printed on their handout as well. When the songs are over the students have the rest of the period to write down any other connections they see (after the fact). There are three major reasons for this lesson: 1) To get the students writing 2) By doing this in class - there is no new homework - which gives the students time to get their movie questions from the last lesson done. 3) There is a meta reason too - just as a Graphic Novel required the students to process a new kind of medium - and the movie we watched the last period added another - by giving them music, it adds a completely new medium to our journey for this book.
Thoughts on the Lesson
This is such a beautiful film - and I love that it exists as a separate artistic endeavor from the Graphic Novel - just as Graphic Novels are different than books. I must admit I am not a fan of using Graphic Novels of written books in class, unless they were done or supervised by the original author - as this movie was supervised heavily by Marjane Satrapi.