Persepolis is a stunning graphic memoir of Marjane Satrapi’s unforgettable childhood during the Islamic Revolution. The contrast between private and public life in a country absolutely plagued by political turbulence is extremely fascinating as we follow Marjarane’s (Marji’s) coming of age. Some of the many disturbances to ‘normal’ life for her came not only from her family’s strong communist and socialist leanings, but also because it was the peak of her elementary years when the Shah was ousted from power in Iran and an conservative Islamic regime took control. She found chaos in the contradictions between private and public life; in her high school years in Vienna, facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; in her homecoming—both sweet and terrible; and, finally, in her volunteer departure from her homeland. It is the sweet record of girlhood and adolescence which were once so outrageous, now made familiar. It’s the story of a young life weaved with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up. What I thought was very interesting about this book was that it provided a very detailed summary of how the war in Iran broke out a few years prior, and included some actual facts about the Iranian revolution that proved to be necessary knowledge for the reader later in the story. It was like a brief history run down before the main event, and it really added to my overall understanding of the book. I also enjoyed the different views on life and its experiences that I was a witness to through this book. I always thought foreign countries would have completely foreign lifestyles compared to my own, however, this was hardly the case. Marji lived with her family like me, they drove a family car as my parents do, played board games like my sister and I do, and watched TV together like my sister and I do as well, Marji and her friends even goofed off in school like normal kids living a completely normal life. This for me was very interesting, because I have never truly experienced a third-world country for myself. I loved learning that although she overcame some extreme hardships in her life like war and an internal revolution, her home life was not all that different from yours or mine. I think this book really struck something in my heart, to hear about the mass suffering of a people and to visually witness a child experience torture was truly gravitating. I was in awe of the horrible execution and interrogation methods the war prisoners had to face if captured. Even the citizens experienced truly devastating acts. In one instance a movie theatre was locked from the outside and burned to the ground - nearly 400 people burned alive inside. This was an act of protest from the government to give testament to the Iranian people that these new laws were no joke. The change in laws and policy happened so abruptly that it would have in fact taken ages to get used to, however, Iranians were expected to obey right away which I found to be truly messed up. One night Marji and her family were sitting comfortably in their house and the next she was forced into a separate school just for girls, made to wear a veil so as to not distract men and to be a modest woman, and suffer the consequences if she didn't. The Iranian's downward view on anything Western is fascinating to me as well. Americans view themselves as such high and mighty people, and seeing the opinions of different people from different countries really made me think. Marji had a poster of a Western signer hanging in her room, in order for her to even possess such a thing her parents had to illegally smuggle it into the country by sewing it into their jackets and hiding it from national security. It blows my mind how much was off-limits and just how much I take for granted in everyday life. It was a privilege for Marji to go to parties or social events with friends, or to listen to music freely without worrying that people on the street may hear it and call the police. I do many of those things without even thinking twice, however, Marji risked her life every time she set foot outside the house or turned on a scandalous Western song. This story showed me what it feels like to have power and freedom of life ripped from your grasp, to have your rights stripped away, and to have your way of life completely limited and even viewed as wrong or unholy. I learned a lot of historical information too that I will hopefully carry with me throughout my life; information that will help me to not only understand different people's views on life and their experiences but also how people in other countries may be very similar yet very different from myself. -Isabella S.
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When you were young did your parents deny you of an education because it was ungodly, forced you to work in a junk yard because you had to help the family business, or even be forced to bring your brother home for medical attention after he was in an almost fatal car accident? Frankly, I doubt any of these have happened to you, but these are just some of the things that happened to Tara Westover. Tara grew up on a small farm in rural Idaho as the youngest of 7 children. Her parents, Gene and Faye, had the goal of raising all their children as perfect mormons. Tara’s father, Gene, believes that the government is always watching them and that there is a sort of impending doomsday that will eventually be upon them. This belief results in Faye, Tara’s mother, becoming a midwife so she is able to provide care for the family and eventually help repopulate the world when they survive the doomsday. This also results in Gene being very untrustworthy of the government and all things that are related to the government. His hate for the government grew as he had more children. His eldest few had their birth certificates at least, but as more and more children came along he started to not allow them to have birth certificates or even attend public school. This book really surprised me in the way it was written and the way that the story was told. The story is based on the real life experiences of Tara Westover and how she makes her way through life trying to adapt to the outside world after being sheltered by her family for so many years. I think it's incredible how Tara’s emotional changes are written throughout the book, it’s transmitted to the reader very well and really makes you feel that she did have this emotional change rather than just stating it blandly. I think the book conveyed multiple important factors of Tara’s life and really made the reader think about how all of the things happening affected adult Tara’s opinion of those around her. This is shown specifically in the book when Tara’s finally makes it into college. When she arrives she is basically disgusted at how other people, especially other women, are dressing. As she is supposed to be attending a primarily Mormon college, she expects that all of the other people attending would have been just like her. It’s conveyed extremely well in the book when she finally starts to notice that her father may be slightly deranged, and how she begins to rebel against him. While reading this book I definitely felt a multitude of emotions from happy, to sad, angry, empathetic, and even disgusted. The book “Educated” has the capability of having the reader feel almost any emotion you can think of, and in my opinion it’s almost entirely based on how you were raised. This book really made me realize how well off I am and how loving my family is. Even though I may be mad at my parents occasionally, I know that I will never have to suffer through what Tara did. It practically gave me a whole new perspective on life and how I should be living it. I need to be more grateful for what I have and help those who may not be as fortunate. Caden M. He didn’t do it, yet the whole world is against him, rooting for him to go to juvie. Amal Shahid was set up by society. His entire world is turned upside down when he is convicted of putting a white boy, Jeremy, into a coma. He was there, but he didn’t throw the last blows that put Jeremy in a coma. He is blamed for someone else's mistakes. He is the perfect scapegoat; he’s not overly wealthy, he has a temper, and he is a Muslim African American. His teachers betray him by telling the court he was different, he was bad, he was angry. Actually, he was just misunderstood. He skipped art school to go to museums, and he talked back because he was curious. Yet, the world has already decided and has written his story. He is a troubled black boy and deserves to go to a juvenile detention camp, they said. In juvie, he has a hard time finding hope after being a victim of the racist justice system. He finds hope and friends through poems, art, and letters. Even when he felt alone in the world, his grandma, uncle, and friends were rooting for him to keep going and not give up hope. After a while, he sets into his new routine of being in juvie, and then he learns that Jeremy woke up from his coma. This book struck a chord with me, and it showed me the racial inequalities in the justice system. I was surprised that Amal was put in juvie even though he didn’t give Jeremy the final blow that ultimately put Jeremy in a coma. In the book, it mentioned how, for him, the judicial system saw him as guilty until proven innocent and not the other way around. I thought the writer’s voice was exquisite, and it was a beautifully written book. I have fallen in love with verse books, and this one helped further my love. Though I sometimes found the metaphors to be hard to understand, I think it gave room for interpretation and thought. I like a book that makes you think, and I believe that verse books make you dive deeper into the real meaning of a story. In this book, the author doesn’t flat out tell you what happened. Instead, they brush around the point and use figurative language to hint at the evens. You, as the reader, have to connect the dots. I believe this book has changed me. Even though I would say I have read many books that talk about inequalities in the world, I think it reinforced my thinking of how racial inequality is everywhere. The book strengthened the idea that I have the upper hand in society due to my skin tone. It’s heartbreaking to think about all the people who have been put in jail even though they didn’t do it, and how their skin color played a role in their loss of years in the real world. Amal talked about how he was set up to fail by society. He was supposed to be troubled, the scapegoat, and a thug because he was of African descent and was Muslim. This book made me think about how many people’s lives have been affected due to racism, specifically judicial racism. By Annika K. Teenagers face a great deal of growing pains when it comes to family, relationships, and their future life ahead. Love, Hate, and Other Filters, written by Samira Ahmed, tells the story of a young American-Indian-Muslim woman, named Maya who goes through the trials of growing up in the Midwest with traditional parents and new American values. Maya with traditional parents and new American values. Maya grows up in a very strict household often not being able to uphold her parents expectations, when all she wants to do is be a normal American teenage girl. She really just wants to hangout with friends, film everything she can, and date the boy of her dreams. All while experiencing many instances of islamophobia all demonstrated by one boy at school. While reading this book the thing that surprised me the most was definitely just how strict her parents were. Maya had really wanted to go to NYU for film school and she ended up having to choose between her dream or her parents, ultimately she pursued her dream and her parents disowned her. This was somewhat hard for me to understand because something that Maya should have determined was so easily willing to be thrown away by her parents. Although the tense plot with Maya’s parents, my favorite part about the book was the way in which it was told. It was given this sort of modern feel. I loved how the author incorporated various text messages, emojis, new reports, and stories to add to the overall style of the book. After this book I definitely learned more about the reality of minorities living in the United States. I had known before of their struggle but this helped me understand it from someone around my age's point of view. Samira Ahmed does a wonderful job of portraying the story of a young girl trying to find herself amid all the chaos of growing up in a small American town. I like how she brought light to things that teenagers had never thought of or understood until after reading. “Even if we lived in India, I would still be who I am and want what I want. Geography wouldn't have changed that.” by Amelia D. Love, Hate & Other Filters, by Samira Ahmed, is about a young Muslim-Indian girl named Maya growing up in Illinois under strict expectations from her parents who, do want the best for her, are very against her pursuing her true dreams of going to film school and eventually basing her career on it. They want her to follow a more “sensible” occupation like being a doctor or a lawyer, but she has a true passion for film and decides to apply to NYU for film school with her partner-in-crime Hina, her mom’s younger sister, and gets in. All while trying to juggle her parent's nonsupport of her filming, and trying to find a way to tell them about her acceptance, she finds herself in an arduous love triangle. On one hand, there is there is Kareem, the sensible Muslim-Indian boy, in college at Princeton, majoring in engineering, that does actually hold Maya’s interest and is actually kind of fun for her to hang out with and talk to, that her parents would love for her to be with. But, on the other hand, there is Phil, Maya’s longtime crush since grade school, who dreams of going to college in Vermont and becoming an EMT, who is also undeniably white and different than her familial customs and who her parents most definitely would never want her being with. Through all of this love, hate, and hardship, Maya is faced with yet another obstacle. Islamophobia. After a terrorist attack is announced in Illinois, a classmate of hers named Brian becomes fixated on the fact that Maya and her family are Muslim. Hate crimes against Maya and her family ensue due to his prejudice and Maya must find a way to deal with it all. Will Maya be able to make it out of Illinois and finally pursue her dream? Read Love, Hate and Other Filters to find out! I chose this book because I recently did another English project on Islamophobia and the effects it’s having in our society, so I was already interested in part of that topic. This book features Maya, who struggles throughout the book with issues involving her pursuit of film school without her parent's knowledge, her Indian parents expectations, and her faith (Muslim) and how people view it/unfairly link it to terrorism. I personally do not struggle with any of these things. I am not a Muslim, my parents are not Indian, and I am not pursuing film school behind my parents back. This book met these guidelines based on these differences between Maya and me, but also because I think that because her experiences were so different from my day to day ones, I made me think more about her struggles and how I would deal with and handle them, so in a way it made me “break through the wall” so to say in order to fully understand and place myself in Maya’s shoes throughout the book. Quote: “It’s selfish and horrible, but in this terrible moment, all I want is to be a plain old American teenager. Who can simply mourn without fear. Who doesn’t share last names with a suicide bomber. Who goes to dances and can talk to her parents about anything and can walk around without always being anxious. And who isn’t a presumed terrorist first and an American second” - Samira Ahmed, Love, Hate & Other Filters The book I decided to pick from the library shelf was American Street by Ibi Zoboi. It told of a teenage girl, Fabiola, who moved to Detroit from Haiti. She experiences her mother’s detainment in the US, while trying to adjust to the new ways of life in Detroit with her aunt and cousins. Through her time, she finds love and family, forcing her to make tough decisions as opportunities arise. With these new experiences in her new home, Fabiola changes from an innocent, naive Haitian girl. I picked this book because it challenged my perspective of what other teenagers’ lives are like. Fabiola and her cousins lived in Detroit, a city much more dangerous and violent than my own. This, as a result, changed the way the teenagers lived their lives, such as keeping a gun in the house. In addition, the family in the book was a different race than I, so I noticed the racism that they faced. For example, how unfairly the police treated the people in Fabiola’s neighborhood. Also, this book broadened my cultural views. The Haitian religion Fabiola believed in, was much different than any religion I participate in or have learned about. In addition, this book challenged the family setting that I know. In the story, Fabiola’s mother was being detained because she wasn’t a U.S. citizen. I never have to worry about my family being split up or being taken away. The book meets this reading without walls guidelines because, although it is about a teenager, her life and culture is completely different than mine. The bad situations that come upon her are much worse than I can even imagine. From reading this book, I have begun to understand what it’s like living in a dangerous place. Since the story was told from Fabiola’s first-person account, I began to understand what she was feeling as she encountered danger and hardships in her life. I also took, from the book, how difficult it is for an outsider to live in a different world, as seen when Fabiola moved to Detroit from Haiti. Right from the beginning, Fabiola felt alien to her new world. “Is she[Fabiola’s mom] being detained? I stare and blink and shake my head. I search my brain for this word, trying to find the Creole word for it.” Though her life is unlike mine, after reading the book, I could still find ways to relate to Fabiola and her family. Through all of her loss, she still had the love from her cousins and aunt. Fabiola having to experience all of the danger of Detroit made me feel very sympathetic for the people who are stuck in those areas. Also, it made me realize how easy it would be to take up bad habits in order to protect family. Fabiola beginning her new life in Detroit as an innocent Haitian girl and growing to be one of the Four Bees showed me that people can change through experiences, time, and people. Finally, the “real” language that the author used really helped me see that, although their lives are different from my own, those lives still exist and need to be recognized. By Morgan A must read story; truly inspirational. I read the book The Complete Persepolis, an autobiography of the author Marjane Satrapi. The story is shown through the eyes of a young girl and the troubles she faces with identity, religion, and life in Iran during the Iranian Revolution. Going more in depth, Marjane experiences death in her family, friends being bombed, a period of depression, religious issues, and trouble finding herself and her identity. Although Marjane faces many troubles during her childhood, she learns a lot in the journey of life and goes through a series of coming of ages. Because the story is told in the perspective of Marjane, I was able to quickly realize what the theme and motif of the book was. Marjane Satrapi, the author, used this technique of first person perspective and brought the message of the book to a whole new level. Throughout this blog, I will be showing you the theme of the story. I chose this book because I wanted to read about something that I wasn’t very familiar with. Going into this book, I knew it was an autobiography which influenced me into the choice of this story. Because I live in America and am privileged, reading this story was very new to me; in a way, it changed how I think. I am now much more knowledgeable and aware of the people who live life in more grim situations and environments. This makes me think of how lucky I am to be living in Decorah, Iowa. While Marjane in the story is facing problems like bombings and religious prejudice, the most I worry about is homework. One example that hit me hard is when Marjane comes home to Iran finding out that some of her best childhood friends are dead. I can’t imagine losing some of my best friends and family. After reading this story, I learned one big lesson that I will carry on forever. It changed me and gave me a sense of what is happening outside of America. I know I am lucky and I hope to help and defend people like Marjane in the future. I imagine she lived a darker life than she hoped which motivates me to be more generous, giving, and unselfish to all people. Marjane isn’t the only one affected by religious prejudice, bombings, and close family and friends’ deaths. Her story is only one of the millions of people going through hardships. It really makes me think of how lucky I am to be living a peaceful and unbothered life in Iowa. Marjane’s story is an inspiration to me and people need to hear her story. “Saying goodbye is a little like dying.”- Marjane Satrapi By Joseph S. Two people who fall madly in love live polar opposite lives, yet still find a way to communicate with one another and see each other. The book, Like No Other, by Una LaMarche, is about two teenagers, Devorah and Jaxon, who’d seem to live similar lives to someone who doesn’t know them. They’re both 16, they go to the same school, and even live in the same neighborhood, even with all of that in common, they live more opposite lives than anyone could probably imagine. The author switches perspectives from each of the main characters, Devorah and Jaxon, every chapter throughout the whole book. The author wants readers to see that even with drastic differences and both internal and external conflicts in the way, two people can still come together. This could be applied to individuals, groups of people, or even whole nations. At the beginning of this book, I thought, “No way these two people can ever be friends.” On page 76 in the book, Jaxon says “My mother used to say that no one knows what's going on in a stew but the pot and the spoon” (LaMarche). Jaxon said it to Devorah because he never could never fully know what’s going on in her life, because she’s the only that would ever know the whole truth. The whole beginning of the story is almost set up to make you think that they are going to hate one another. As the story evolved along with Devorah and Jaxon’s relationship, I began to realize that they have much more in common than I thought; they get along very well, and they like and care about each other very much. Throughout the book, the author has chapters that seem like Devorah and Jaxon have completely changed their minds about one another, but then you realize this is just the author’s way of making readers realize how strong of a relationship the two individuals have. After reading this book, I realized that I could be much more open-minded about other people who are very different from me; whether that be that they are a different race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, or gender than me. The book made think I should try to expose myself to more people who are very different than me. Many of my friends are very similar to me: white, Christian, grew up in small-town Iowa, and mid to upper-mid class. There isn’t much diversity in my school or in Decorah in general. Fortunately, my parents have made it a point to teach and expose me to people who are drastically different than me. Usually, this has been through travel or the internet. I think this book will help me a lot in the future to make a point of exposing myself to very diverse communities, ones that are very different than me. By Justin R. “We have serious problems and important work that must be done in this state” (Stevenson). Within the book, Bryan Stevenson describes the stories of people who have received excessive and unfair punishments for crimes that they either did not commit or didn’t deserve such severe punishments. Throughout all of these stories, Stevenson wants the reader to know just how broken our justice system is and how we need to put some effort to eliminate this problem. Stevenson really surprised me right off the bat in Just Mercy because he described these innocent people like Walter McMillian, receiving life imprisonment or worse, capital punishment. In most of the cases the prosecution had very little to no evidence to prove them guilty. Now why would the jury or judge convict them as guilty in these cases? Well most of the time the jury or judge was paid off or they were very biased against the defendant. This also just challenged my original thoughts and feelings because I always thought our justice system was the best in the world, but that just made me notice how naive people are in the twenty first century. Just Mercy really opened my eyes at how little I know about the justice system or anything relating to court cases. I had taken Mock Trial in 7th and 8th grade, but Stevenson showed me of how I’ve only scratched the surface of how the justice system works. In that class I learned the basics of how the justice system works, but the class never prepared me for having discrimination and bias within the system. After reading about this bias and discrimination it helped me change how I perceive stereotypes. Everyone just assumes that the justice system will be as fair as it can be, but nobody notices how it’s broken until you’re the one being treated unfairly or you’re attempting to help the unfortunate like Stevenson. Overall this will all help me to be more aware of how things work in today's society and not to just assume it is the best of the best. Finally, within the book Stevenson says, “The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.” I believe that everyone should read this book to really see how their character truly measures. By Landon M. Some things in life simply don’t make sense. The experiences that are faced by humanity on a daily basis may be confusing and seem to have no true meaning other than to hurt the people involved. I know that I have definitely felt this way during my life. When I read the book I am J by Cris Beam, I noticed that I must not be the first, nor the last, person to feel this way. The story is told through the perspective of a seventeen year old transgender man named J, who was born Jeni. J’s story is about transitioning to the male gender and learning how to help the people he loves, as well as himself, understand exactly what he’s going through and who he was meant to be. He has to take up the troubling crosses of telling his best friend, Melissa, and his parents, Carolina and Manny, that he is a boy who was born a girl. Most everyone that he shares this information with shuts him out at first. Melissa and Carolina eventually come around, but even in the end of the book Manny is still having trouble grasping that his daughter is not really his daughter. Along this terrifying path, J meets other trans mentors such as Zak and Chanelle who help him learn to love himself and who he was born to be. They guide him and give him the support system that his family is failing to provide. J explains his bond with Chanelle through this quote: “Chanelle is like me in many ways. We are both easily misunderstood...she isn’t afraid to tell people that she’s transgender… meeting her was an event that changed my life” (Beam 293). I’ve become more educated on what the word transgender means as I’ve lived and grown. Especially in the time that we are living in, information is so readily available and people are not as scared to share their stories. I knew that transgender people were simply born in the wrong body. I knew that gender reassignment surgery was a option, but that it was expensive and unattainable for some people in their situations. That was about all I knew. This book showed me an in depth perspective of what it truly means to be transgender. I was able to look into the mind of a young man who hated the pigtails his mother brushed his hair into. It was a story that I never would have experienced if I hadn’t read this book. It surprised me how much J truly hated who he was. Sure, I’ve disliked certain parts of myself and wished that I could change them, but I have never felt such disdain for my body that J felt for his. He just wanted to be like every other boy he saw as he walked to school each morning. He wanted to be who he was meant to be. By reading this particular book, I noticed something very important. I am so incredibly lucky. From a very young age, my parents have always told me that if I ever have a problem that I need to come home. They will not be angry or make me feel bad about my situation, but they will help me understand what is happening and we will work through it as a family. I’ve never had to fear that my family would throw me out of the house because of something that I’d done. I’ve always had a safe place to go where I could be completely myself and grow in that sense. J has never had this kind of home life. His parents were furious when he quit swimming and they didn’t even try to understand his situation as a transgender man. J was left with nowhere to be safe. This thought crushed me as I was reading I am J. How must it feel to not even have your parents know who you really are? If my best friend came to me and told me that they were going through exactly the same situation as J, I would try to comfort them as best I could but honestly, I would have no idea. This book forced me to realize that not everyone is even close to as privileged as I have been in the home life area. I guess I try to forget that the world isn’t all happy families and memorable meals shared around the dinner table. I try to forget that some parents don’t listen to their children and that some children can’t stand to look their parents in the eye. No matter how hard I try to forget these things, I know that I can’t make them disappear. But I can change my own ignorance to them. I can make myself aware of what the real world is like and how sometimes listening and trying to understand a person can make all the difference. This is exactly what the book, I am J, has done for me. It has helped me open my eyes to the fact that my life isn’t the only kind of life. By Katie V. |
AuthorSTenth grade students at Decorah High School share how they're reading outside of their own experiences and how it has changed them. Categories
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