Geneva Week 6 Category 4: Feedback

Geneva Week 6 Category 3: Literary Feature Hunt

Geneva Week 6 Category 1: Class Act

On April 8th we had a very good in class discussion about new snippets. On page 250-251, I believe that this was brought up by Fion, the hollowed out building looks fairly similar to the skulls underneath the city. Perhaps, the martyrs of the city were meant to representthe hollowed out building which look like a towering stack of skull. This leads to the idea of the death of the city. The people end up 'sacrificing' their lives for their country and for their freedom. Although they say that the war was a good thng and a positive effect, the citizens are dying and the city is slowly dying, or decaying with that.
In the panel, Marjane Satrapi is looking at the poster which is juxtaposed by the hollow building. The building may represent the hollow obedience of the religion. The protagonist is looking at the city in a cycle: Marjane is looking at the nurse, who is looking at the martyr, who is looking at the decayed wall who is looking at Marjane. (are they looking forward, or hesitant to look back?)

As the citizaens decay, the city begins to decay. This can also result from the fact that if there are less citizens to work, then the employment rate depleats and the employers end up filing for bankruptcy. This is economic situation is fairly related to the current USA situation, where the economy is collapsing from the top down, and with banks filing for bankruptcy, there are less employers and less income.

I definately thought that this was a very interesting topic, and the idea of cycles...

Geneva

Kevin Week 6 cat.4 sippets

on page 235
Marjane sits on a brench alone to show solitary. She watches people passing through and some of those people are also watching her, with pittiness in their eyes. This panel shows Marjane created an atmosphere of loneliness. You can see the street line between marjane and the people who pass by. the line represents a fence that Marjane creates to not be intrude by anyone.

Geneva Week 5 Category 2: Feedback

On April 9th I received back my perspective of Humanism Essay back. I got a lot of feedback again as usual from Mr. McGuigan, but I FINALLY understand now what I need to do to write better. Improving is not about having a fully developed and out of this world idea (although that will help you get a 7), it is about making sure that your idea (even if its standard but answers the question) is transmitable from one brain to another person's brain.
Going through the essay, having the really short and explanitory sentences made the essay so much easier to understand. Because everyone's brain is different, there is always a different perception of the way the words sound. That is probablly why we speak with different intonations and why we write the way we sound as people. Not everyone writes in the exact same manner, and that is why half the class and practically all my teachers couldn't understand my writing. So here is a short list of what I need to do (and should continue to do) to make my writing better (i.e. more understandable):

• Explain ideas that make sense in my head, but may not make sense in other people's minds
• In englsh always use bracket sourcing (NO FOOTNOTES! and it should be MLA)
• Keep the period inside the quotation marks
• Have a short explanitory sentence here and there
• Mix up the sentence structure
• Long sentences are aburrido, so use a comma or semicolon or colon to change it up
• Gargantuan vocabulary words should only be used here and there ("too much spice in your food just tastes disgusting") maybe twice to three times a paragraph
• When writing essays, stick to maybe two big ideas and really devour the meanings of those ideas in the paragraphs
• It is better to completely close two relevant ideas than to have three open sort of relevant ideas
• Always stay relevant to your topic sentence in your paragraph (if it doesnt explain your topic sentence in any way, cut it or make a new one)
• You should pretty much already know what you want to say in your conclusion before you write the essay
• Start with the most important idea then work your way outwards to secondary or interesting ideas

There are probablly more tips, but these are a few of the most important ones, they are helpful so im writing this so that i wont forget them and so that i can access them from anywhere with internet.

Geneva

Geneva Week 5 Category 4: Snippets

The situation from page 285 to 287 sort of reminded me of her total personality change from pages 190-197. She begins to wear the makeup again to remind Reza of her old self, only to be asked "what [she] is doing out wearing that flashy lipstick" (Satrapi, 287) and also told that it "doesnt even suit [her]" (Satrapi, 287). The situations are similar because she feels the need to change who she is to fit in with her surrounding people. The woman Reza fell in love with was a woman who wore lots of makeup and was very aloof, confident and didnt have many war opinions. The girl Julie and Momo were friends with was a girl who was very shy, worldly and didnt fit in just like themselves. They were a group of outcasts who casted Marjane out because she was too different. Reza stopped loving her when her image and self grooming came to an end.

The efforts she put in to 'save' the friendships and relationships were almost like stepping back to the old mistakes and trying to rewrite her history. Another reoccuring motif in this story is the return to her family and her grandmother. She always seems to keep her grounded and, like the bed on page 70, her support was not there when she needed it.

Geneva

Geneva Week 5 Category 1: Class Act

On April 6th we discussed some interesting questions, they were sparked from the MYP rubrics and were led into a series of question storming. They included:

• How does Marjane connect to the everyday human being? How is she different?
• How does this style promote what is being said in the text?
• By the end of the comic, is religion a positive or negative force for Marjane?
• How can we judge what is beautiful?
• Does anyone actually have a personality? Do you own it or is it part of someone/something else?
• Is family crucial for self-realization?
• If this comic was set in our era, what changes would be made? How would it be the same/different?
• What changes happened as a result of her journey?
• How does Marjane grow mentally and physically? Does one play off the other?

After the question storming, we broke off into discussion groups with a main idea question. My group consisted of David, Lucy, Denitza and myself. Our question was "How can we judge what is beautiful?" and this question originated from Bhanesha.

There are always different images of what is beautiful, you taste is different than mine. It is difficult to judge what is more or less beautiful with such a general perspective. Also, we are only given the knowledge of our perception of beauty, we do not really know what another person's version of beautiful is, until they tell you what it is they call beauty. Examples of these images are certainly comics, novels, movies, photos, songs...etc. All mediums of art are different or the same image of beauty just taken by different people who blend in their own ideas with the original one.

"There are two forms of beauty, inner and outer beauty, "said lucy.

"Yes but the dictionary says that Beauty is defined as a fine specimen," retorted Denitza.

"Just because the dicionary says it, doesn't mean its true." David added in quietly. His comment was so quiet that Denitza probablly didn't hear. Geneva smiled to herself on the side. If Denitza had known what David said she would have immediately gone into 'rebuttal mode' and would try to dictionarify David's head off with all her facts (which probablly would come from the secret vault of facts about why beauty is skin deep, which came from her training days in JRP).

"I think that the people who are pretty have an easier and more happy personality. So then they have inner and outer beauty because they are not shy and they aren't ugly too." Lucy said, trying to change the subject.

"Exactly, because the people with outer beauty have the confidence to develop an open personality," said Denitza.

"But does your personality define your beauty? Can a personality be beautiful?" David questioned.

"Well Marjane seems to think so, because on page 190 she percieves her growth as a deformity and gathers the ugly image of herself from other people's images of beautiful. This is a result of culture. The region she grew up in and the region she was living in at the time (Austria) had completely different visions of beauty, so she was stuck between her old Iranian image of beauty and the new image of Austrian beauty. Almost as if the other people around her are her mirror and she only sees the ugly image that they reflect of her" said Geneva finally.

"But she can't compare to the white people in Europe. Like me, I can't compare to the people here because I am Chinese." said David (lol just kidding, Lucy said this :P)

This concludes a short snippet of our conversation at the park.

Geneva <3

Kevin: week 4 cat. 4 snippet

We disscussed this snippet in class, I will just post it review.

On page 153 and 341, the bottom panels are very similar but the atmosphere is different. this shows that a person goes for a vovage and come back with a different personality. It is proven through Marjane and her family's expression. On page 153, the shading of her parents are dark and sad; however, on page 341, the shading is birght and happiness ( with her grandma's "tears of joy")

Kevin: Week 4 Cat. 1 Class act

on monday, we start off our class with our guilding question, How do we tell our stories? How does the medium* shape our message?
*:Medium: the art form that is used in the message, e.t, newspaper, TV shows, diary...etc.
As a reader, i thinkMarjane tells her story with her own ability, which is using art. She can draw out her feeling, her solitary, her life through papers to papers, and the reader couldn't stop flipping through her life and tries to experience what the author had experienced. This is the medium Marjane used to shape her story.

Geneva Week 4 Category 4: Snippets

Page 190-197 is an extended snippet regarding the symbolism of the scarf. The significance of the scarf represents the "softnened"(190) edge that she gave to her new look. The relationship between her and her friends is sort of deteriorating at that point. They are finally seeing her for her individuality and she is breaking out of her shell of shyness. So she breaks off on her own ideas, with the confidence that they will support her efforts ("earning of a little bit of spending money" [Satrapi, 190] by cutting hair). The pressure of keeping her friends evidently leads her to strain her relationship with her family, and break her promise to herself and her grandmother, but faking her true nature. For example, smoking joints and pretending to be high just to fit in.
This desprate need to fit in has led her to emptiness and inner conflict. The lack of feeling like she fits in has toughenedher and forced her to strain her relationship with her family and pride.
The scarf fits in as the softener or as a supporter. When she is wearing the scarf, she feels the most left out and insecure (it softened her), but without the scarf, she stands up for herself and remembers her home and true character.

Geneva<3

Geneva Week 4 Category 2: Feedback

While writing my Perspective paper, I needed a guide to continue on with my paper. An added factor was that I didnt know where to really start, so I began with the formula given to us on the back of our agendas.
This is the formula I followed and I think that I was able to really judge my own writing and give myself feedback. It sort of made you look at your own writing and step back and judge if it was the right style, grammar or vocabulary. Also it really kept me in line and made me wander off on a tangent less often.

Topic:
Humanism perspective of Persepolis
Research:

• Marjane discusses the limitations of her society and her inability to recieve a full educatgion in Tehran. >This represents humanism through the `world aspect` becaues even as a young child she doesnt follow tradition. Her love for world improvements and the beginning of her, rejecting her own religion `at the age that Marie Curie first went to France to study, I`ll probablly have ten children` (73)
• Describing the actions required for patriotism reflected resentment and ddislike. Clearly, she wanted to live free. > `Hitting yourself is one of the country`s rituals. During certain ceremonies, some people flagellated themselves brutally...me, I immediately staerted making fun of them.`(96-97)
• Growing up with a family that also reflects western culture and deflects Islamic tradition is a sequence of actions that slowly push Marjane into Humanistic lifelstyle and belief. >Road check guards trying to find infidelity in her father represent the family`s representation of their own culture. Example: Drinking and Partying "been drinking have we?! I can tell by your tie! Piece of westernized trash!"(108)>Page 109 and 110 images reflect her family`s casual grip on their religion. Breaking their own country`s laws to keep a piece of "western" culture that they`d grown accustom to .
• Marjane sees the war that she lived thruogh as way to deal with and relate to her own freedoms as a child. Clearly, not through a religious persepctive. Marjane looks deeper than religion on all aspects of this war. (Jumps straight to the purpose and remarks by the people >the regime for example)>"They evenutally admitted that the survival of teh regime depended on the war" (116)>"Those who were opposed to the regime were systematically arrested and executed together" (117)

Her grandmother also represented a guiding figure in Marjane`s life. Her remarks were always very non-religious and reflecte dthe "greater good philosophy" of Humanism.>"I don`t want to preach, but let me give you some advice that will always help you... In life you`ll meet a lot of jerks. If they hyurt you, tell yourself that it`s because they`re stupid. That will help keep you from reacting to their cruelty. Beacuse there is nothing worse than bitterness and vengeance.. Always keep your dignity and be true to yourself."(150)

Format:

Essay 700-1000 words

Purpose:
The focus of this essay is to persuade the audience that there is a connection between Persepolis and the remarks of a Humanist after reading this comic.
Audience:
Mr. McGuigan and the Grade 10 class

This is not really feeback from others, but it is sort of me giving feedback on myself and looking back at what exactly i needed to do. It definately helped to clarify the question and have a vague idea first, then look back at what I had for research and made it so that there is an evident connection between anything I wanted to metntion (so it didnt sound like i was going off topic).
I know that Mr.McGuigan always tells us this, but it was good to just re-clarify what I needed to do and having the process and the steps ready made my organization very simple to decipher. I knew where which information was and how i needed to turn that into an essay.

Geneva<3

Geneva Week 4 Category 1: Class Act

On April 2, 2009 the class participated in a grand speed-snippet session.
We focussed on the DP IOC rubric: 15mins of prep, 5-7mins of presentations, 2mins of feedback followed by a switch of partner presentors.
During this time, Mr.McGuigan was editing through our Jigsaw writing pieces or our critical perspective reports (700-1000 words).

My two partners were arpreet and smokey.
Arpreet:
(update of week 1 snippets) Page 10 Panel 5 is a Simile depicting a 2D version of the text of panel 4. the image of piles of people ontop of a fallen multiperson bike links to many wars, that deal with those exact situations. In the 1864 American Civil War based film Glory, after every battle, the soldiers were piled on top of wagons and trucks to be burried. The fact that the people are already dead and the fallen bike create a universal image of the ransacked revolution.
The lack of background makes the image very universal. The overall detail in the image creates a simplicity that reflects any bloody revolution. Any revolution functions like a machine and Satrapi uses a bicycle as an example mechanism of a revolution. The choice of a bike is certainly a child influenced machine, because the connection between the transportation is simple and practically their only legal option of getting around (other than walking). There is also a juxtaposition of the images in panels 3 and 4 in comparison with panel 5. The balance of the shading compares the heavy explanations and images. The simile is balanced by the yin yang-like balance of the image and the discussion of the characters.
Smokey:
Page 154 with no panel is an image of no images. Written with the purpose of universality, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi uses this page of blank space as a message and mind time-travelling gutter. This is a gutter of the novel and allows the readers to makethe connection from page 153 to 155. As a result of the large gap, the blank space is time for Marjane to extend her maturity and change moments. Page 155 is less than a few months later, however, because her family is in a completely different country from her, she is forced to `grow up`and provide for herself. The last word used on Page 153 is `go` and that explains and puts our minds on a plane using the blank space to Austria.
For the most part, the change in setting, from Iran to Austria, divides the comics in which they were originally sold and written in. She goes away to another country to get away from religion and war. Only to enter a new reltiong that she doesn`t necissarily believe in either, and fight a war against herself.
Combination of their feedback:

• Talk as if i were talking to a recorder
• Explain the images
• Introduce the author and the text
• Reflect on motifs and themes
• Reflect on perspective papers (if lacking iin material)
• Keep paragraphs circular (come back to the main idea)

Geneva <3

Geneva Week 3 Category 2: Feedback

In our class, before Spring Break, we were supposed to continue the wirtten portion of our Literary Jigsaw activity. The objective of this activity was to write an answer to one of the five questions assigned in the Literary Jigsaw. We had to be concious of specific criteria based on grammar and style improvements.
Criteria:

• Semi-colon
• Colon
• Comma-splice
• Topic Sentence
• Conclusion
• Vocabulary
• Literary Features
• Graphic Novel Features
• Contractions
• Concise Style
• Argumentative Style

Included in my answer entailed a lot of the feedback that concerned my regular writing style. These improvements included

• Use three word sentences
• One or two colons or semi-colons per paragraph
• Range in techniques
• Keep it simple
• Not as much vocabulary
• Concise

This breakdown really helped me determine my level and helped me see what I need to accomplish to improve in my writing. This feedback certainly applies to the rest of my written work and gives me an outline for what I need to achieve in future work.

More later...

Geneva

Geneva Week 3 Category 1: Class Act

This is a continuation of the Class Act in Week 2. Of course, this will discuss the in class conversation we had, discussing Snippets and the connection of Existentialism and Marjane Satrapi.


On page 71, the image is quiet and blank.The image of young Marjane floating in space reflects a connection to the text

Geneva Week 3 Category 4: Snippets

Throughout Persepolis religion has played a strong role in Tehran society as well as Vienna's society. The countries that she had been heavily immersed in were also countries heavily involved in religion. Clearly, her life is run by religious guidelines. Many of the countries she has lived in rely heavily on religion. She grows up and returns to Tehran, where religion (Shiite Islam) is one of the root problems and uncertainties during her childhood. When she moves to Vienna, her life turns upside down again, because she wants to fit in. But she finds it hard because of her surroundings. The way she was brought up clearly does not coincide with the values of the Austrian society (who are Catholic or a division of Christianity).

Geneva

Geneva Week 3 Category 3: Literary Feature Hunt

On Page 139-141, the first panel shows a lot of symbolism. Because there is an actual background and setting, the image sends amessage of despair in a specific area and that is used to decipher the setting from one location to the next. This page represents a lot of grahic novel literary features, such as:

• Negative space
• Closure
• Moment to Moment
• Action to Action

The usual lack of descriptive images and specific scenery throughout the novel is emphasized differently on these pages. Marjane Satrapi's emphasis on her surroundings makes the scene more suspenseful and creates a rising action from panel to panel. Because the backgrounds are so different, the images drawn make the situation narrow to her home specifically to her mother. Usually, Satrapi refrains from using specific scenery or imagery when drawing, but on these panels, there is a use of specific locations, this makes it easier for the readers to move from location to location in the same hurried and worried feeling as Marjane is (assumingly feeling in the scene).

The large amounts of negative space leaves room for interpretatoin. This includes, the text ("faster! please hurry... [Satrapi, 139]) and the images (worry bubbles fraying from her veil on page 139 panel 3).

More later

Geneva

The negative space

Geneva Week 2 Category 4: Snippets

On page 68 and 69, it caught my eye that Marjane Satrapi changed her attitude. As well as havng a significant part of her life changing, Marjane also expresses herself differently, from her usual personality as Tomboy, to wearing a nicely patterned golf-dress. The most intriguing portion of the panels was, not just the use of text and the gripping last moment between her Uncle Anoosh, the patern of her dress.

Usually, Marji does not wear patterned clothes or dress-up for anything. However, to see her Uncle Anoosh for the final time, she does. He even mentions "what a beautiful dress!" (Satrapi, 69) when he first sees her.

From afar, the dress looks like S's (for Satrapi?) or even musical notes. Yet, when Uncle Anoosh gives her his classic symbol of the bread swan, the shape of the swan and the shape of pattern on her dress look similar. If you look closer, the dress pattern does take on the shape of a swan.

The swan seems to represent their bond and swans generally symbolize love or fidelity. This represenation could reflect their strong affection for each other. By wearing the dove on her dress, it also represents how their bond will always remain with her.

On page 95, the image of women beating themselves is an interesting image. At first glance, they look almost like the same women. But there are minor features that make them look completely different*. The uniformity almost makes them look like a wave or army working in total unison. The text states that it is a funeral march that they are walking to, making the group look more wave like. This idea of a wave is also used in the previous text, where Taji (Marjane's mother) discusses her father's philosophy. "When a big wave comes, lower your head and let it pass!". This demonstration of women almost look like a wave, and even though we do not know what the group is thinking, it is possible that they are 'lowering their heads' by holding their tongues and 'letting it pass' by not standing up and speaking their opinions. This relates to 1984 during the Two Minutes Hate, where everyone is yelling and screaming and they don't really know why, they just follow. This sense of group mentality is similarily drawn from this image. The women look so blank, because they don't know why they "had to beat [their] breasts" (Satrapi, 95) they just did because everyone else did.

*Such as hair sticking out of the veil, their noses, eye shapes and lips

This image also linked to one of our workshops in the Cypress Student Summit Conference. In Day 2, Culture Clash, we experienced a simulation of a change in culture without knowing what or why we were doing what we did. We were initially sent into a dark room lit by candle light. The men got to sit in chairs with their shoes on and the women were forced to take their shoes off and sit on the ground. The men were then fed grapes and the women had to hold their hands out to get the grapes.

The simulation was supposed to achieve an experience that is completely different form our own culture. We perceived the fact that men got chairs, got to keep their shoes and were fed grapes, as a good thing; however, the reality of the situation was that the women were valued higher than the men. The fact that women got to give birth, they were physically connected to earth and got to extend life. Women got to sit on the floor to be fully connected to the earth, they got to take their shoes off to feel the earth beneath their feet and got to feel the food that they were eating, to touch the product that came from earth.

That total change in culture, changed my outlook on this image as well. Although we see the image as a negative forcing action that appears to emphasize the degrading of women in Iran, it may be totally opposite. The way we perceive and interpret their traditional customs may be completely different from the way they justify their customs. It shifted my perspective and it was interesting to see, and would be interesting to know, Are the Iranian women really being degraded or by doing this religious action are they being more respected and essentially valued higher?

Geneva

Kevin Week 2 Category 4: Snipets

This picture is from page 218, when Marji and Ingrid were doing Yoga. i thought this this picture is funny. It showed a kind of emotion that we can't do in real life. i think what Marji was trying do is to express an uncomfortness that she was having after she found out that her first boyfriend, Enrique, is homosexual. In page 214, " It was inconceivable. First my eight housemates and now my boyfriend [is homosexual]".

Geneva Week 2 Category 3: Literary Feature Hunt

On page 114, I noticed that the seventh and eighth panels were connected.

Marjane's Pointed finger, when stating "But our governmetn was against it" (Satrapi, 114) and continuing to the following panel "They declared" (Satrapi, 114). These two uses of text are an example of a Scene to Scene connection. The introduction of the next scene and also the re-occuring image of a pointed finger. At first, the finger is Marjane's, but then it changes to a black sleeve, and becomes the main voice of the public. Meanwhile, Marji's hand is in the same position as the darker sleeve, its is just that the hand is flipped over and pointing towards the public. This is interesting because teh public islooking up and they are mesmerized by their 'leader'. This could, in fact, lead us to believe that the leader is her. Because the all male public reaction to their leader appears shocked and they are looking up, because she is part of the "they" whom she mentions in her text. Without putting a face to the commands, Satrapi really opens up the interpretation that could follow. The single hand could reflect Satrapi's common use of identifying with the characters and matching images to her graphic symbols.

On page 115, the final image of "inject[ed] blood into the veins of society" (Satrapi, 115) the image is so vague that the blood could be flowing either way. It is almost as if the blood is not going into society, its is like the blood is going into the veins of the martyr. Only, the martyr is not dead, but going through torture. I found this blend of politics, morals and even the motif of hair, to be an interesting panel.

The fact that the martyr lacks hair is another sign of his pain. Hair is seen as a veil to the women, and even the men, because he has no hair, he is stripped of his individuality and the difference between his inner self and his outer self. This can also connect to 1984, where Winston is going through torture with O'Brien and he is forced to go through physical and mental grief. This character apears to be going through the same situation as Winston. However, he endures more struggle than Winston because of a thicker web of emotional and religious ties.

• This character has a possible family, so does Winston
• This character is fighting for the freedom, Winston is fighting for the freedom
• This character is fighting for his beliefs, Winston fights for his beliefs

Clearly the two story-lines are similar with what the fighters go through and their suffering.

It is interesting to question why Marjane Satrapi chooses this image specifically. Especially when the text states "to inject" rather than "to spurt" or "to ooze". The typical image that comes to mind with injections are needles. It is interesting to see other interpretations of this image, without the text acompanying.

Geneva

Geneva Week 2 Category 2: Feedback

On March 4th, 2009 the In-Class discussion definitely brought up an eclectic collection of ideas from a lot of people. We mainly discussed three crucial panels (Satrapi 102, 71 and 116). We were introduced to a new (to us anyway) and complicated theory called Existentialism*. Our group also got a bunch of great feedback pertaining to our ideas (the ones that were right on tone and the ones that were way out there). This Week I will specifically discuss the feedback and conversation ideas that we created, based on page 102.

*People creating their own meaning and purpose. For Example= Franz Kafka

On page 102, the child soldiers die with "keys to paradise" (Satrapi, 102) hanging from their necks during a brutal explosion, with seemingly courageous deaths. The explosion looks like the explosions are coming out of them, almost as if they were committing suicide, and allowed this to happen to themselves. But the intentional emphasis on the keys, symbolizes a greater meaning than suicide for their country.
Their deaths represent a side that can be grasped through an empathetic perspective. The children may have explosions coming from them, because they are dying for their country. Instead of suicide victims, they are considered martyrs to their people. So it is plausible that these children are not killing themselves, but their country (which is a sum of their part*) is killing itself by killing its people and passing this off by honoring those who died and calling them martyrs. This theory may be supported by the author, where Marjane Satrapi does not identify any faces to the children or any background to the explosion.
The purpose of leaving the faces blank is a true statement stated by Marjane herself, in an interview at the New York Film Festival. This clip can be found at:

http://stratfordhallmcguigan.blogspot.com/ under 'Satrapi Interview' in the second film clip 'Marjane Satrapi: A pro-iranian humanist tale.'

The idea of faceless recognition and having an open interpretative identity for these child soldiers was initially brought to our attention by Mr. McGuigan on the day that we were going through all of these snippets and getting his feedback. The day we learned about Satrapi's true perspective was a day after hearing Mr. McGuigan's initial interpretation. His interpretation began by a discussion of the following panel on page 102. The children and Marjane partying versus the child soldiers exploding were a juxtaposition of similar actions. This idea was led by Mr. McGuigan but the literary feature was brought up by Richard (I believe?) or Evan.
The similar actions between the two contrasting and paradoxical panels were an interesting use of a Scene to Scene transition. Our class discussion led us to believe that the similar spacings, setup and time were meant for us to identify with a character.
My identity was initially leaning towards Marjane and her friends partying while a war was going on in her own 'backyard'; however, there was a specific reason for leaving the faces blank, and Mr. McGuigan pointed out that the blank faces required an identity. This means that those child soldiers could be you. Although that point is a plausible explanation for the situation and what is 'meant to be' (what the author is trying to tell us), I could not help but thinking that, realistically, I would relate more to Marji and her friends, rather than the child soldiers. While reading the text and dissecting the pictures, I can relate to the children and empathize for their loss, effort and desire to 'change the world' (which I can literally relate to), and while i wear a key necklace myself (sometimes), I could not relate to them whole heartedly (Nor could I picture myself in the panel). But when looking at the following scene, I could relate. I could feel the ignorant, helpless, censored and innocent tone that arose from the image. Her bugged eyes are almost a forced happiness, and the fact that she is facing us, makes the panel appear to be at the back of her mind, just like the thought of the war and other soldiers was always at the back of her mind.
There is another contrast represented through symbolism. Marjane's necklace in the second panel was made of "chains and nails" (Satrapi, 102) and the key necklaces hanging from the child soldiers in the first panel. Keys usually have a positive and hopeful connotation, with a sense of a secrecy and faith; whereas, nails and chains tend to have a negative and violent connotation. This second juxtaposition is almost another yin-yang balance* where the negative symbol is within the happier and ignorant scene, and the positive symbol is in the negative and violent scene. As if the scenes and symbols were switched to leave a shred of memory of the situation that they experience.
*Reference to IB questioning discussion Number 4: "We are more than the sum of our parts." Explain this statement in relation to Persepolis.
*Also mentioned in another snippet on page 6


Geneva

Geneva Week 2 Category 1: Class Act

The Literary Jigsaw

+ =The Literary Jigsaw




In class, Mr.McGuigan assigned us five questions that were mixed with a series of IB diploma exam questions. Each one was supposed to relate to Persepolis. We answered this in groups and divided it up by table and had mini-discussions of each question (one person per question per table) after we clarified our answers to our original questions (most of us took notes).





My question was Question #2.) How does Satrapi approach the art of storytelling?


Table Partners: Rushil, Manny and David



Satrapi uses different mediums to connect to a range of people. Persepolis is a universal graphic novel because it depicts relatable aspects of life for people of different ages. For example, Page 77, uses Aladdin's Magic Carpet to highlight the text's meaning and the representation of the common childhood tale signifies the fact that Marjane is still a kid in that chapter, although she may think as if she were an adult. With all her grand ideas Marji is a dream chaser. Marjane looking back on her life in this auto-biographic graphic novel looks at the different places she goes by using her childhood stories (Aladdin) and her personal adventures with her "parents [whom] abruptly planned a vacation" (Satrapi, 77).






She makes her story universal and relatable, this makes it easier to connect to as a first person story. Satrapi allows others to connect to he message of hardships portrayed in the graphic novel. This is done by emphasizing her minority status (as a child, as a woman, as an Iranian, as a common citizen, as a rebel). Page 20 describes the historical relationship between Iran and Britain. This historical reference connects to the Iranian and British foreign policies. Both serving as relative historical interpretation of universal common knowledge.






Based upon what Persepolis explains about Marjane Satrapi's life, she allows the audience to read into the 'truth' that she has created or lived. Every event is mandated as fact, but it is difficult to determine if the situations in Persepolis are fact or fiction...Clearly, this is a limitation. Not only was the original Persepolis written in French, this graphic novel is Marjane Satrapi's adaptation and abbreviation of the occurrences in Marjane Satrapi's life. This serves as support that the information put in may not be entirely true, but it is also not the entire happening of the situation.






Through a blend of dialogue and text, Satrapi tells her story by:

1. Connecting to a wide range of people (Universal)



2. Symbolism and photos re-affirm her text and vice versa



3. She tells the truth (from what we can tell) about her life



4. Makes Marji a likable protagonist (similar to 1984)



5. Her story is circular



6. Looks back on her life



7. Censors what she wants people to know and what she knows occurred



8. Both text and art tell a story, but are both linked in idea



9. There is a purpose



10. The text is accessible

Geneva

Kevin Week 1 Category 4: Snippets

while reading Persepolis, i found a interesting panel from page 31 when a widow's husband died of cancer, but the people who were caring the cadaver in the demonstrate said the "young man [was] killed by the army" nobody cared what the widow said and a man said "no problem, he's a hero." so "the widow started demonstrating with them" i think it is a weird but funny and ironic panel because the widow knows that her husband died of cancer, but for some reason, the influence of the demonstrate made her believe that her husband was killed by the army.

Kevin

Geneva Week 1 Category 3: Literary Feature Hunt

Throughout the entire novel, Marjane Satrapi writes in the limited omncient perspective and also as a protagonist (because this graphic novel is also an auto-biography of Marjane Satrapi's life)
On page 43, th dragon framing the second to the last panel is an exact demonstration of symbolism. The use of this different panel frame is like a graphic artists version of pointing arrows and signs and smothering them in neon highlighter, at a siginificant part of the book--by drawing an interesting picture that does not fit with the original formality of the book.
This dragon can represent "the devil [that was supposed to] le[ave]" (Satrapi, 43), but instead remained. Only Marjane is able to see the dragon (representing the devil) in the window pane, and both her parents are "blinded" (Mr.McGuigan, February 25) which is why their eyes are closed in the image.
The text and imagery can portray a message that cannot be transfered to the human brain through a classic novel. The story explained by content of the text and form of writing and imagery are explained by the words used and enhanced by the photographs provided. So the images are like Shakespeare's play as if there were stage direction and a clearer image of the play's physical aciton.
It is also interesting to note that the face of the "devil" bares similar features to the former Shah Reza of Iran.

More Later... <3

Geneva

Geneva Week 1 Category 2: Feedback

On February 25th in class, I got a lot of feedback from Mr. McGuigan and the class (example: Megan, Fion and Gabe) about the final panel of page 10. This also connects to the literary feature hunt as an example of simile, relating both the text and the image.

The window pane of the revolution's people explains the simile used in the panel beforehand, this is when Marjane explains that "the revolution is like a bicycle. When the wheels don't turn, it falls." (Satrapi, 10) Only the following image shows people (possible patriots, soldiers, matyrs) from the revolution, and obvious disfunction (as a result of all the dead). The wheels are also drawn in a way that it is not 3D nor 2D, but that the bike is laying down. This can represent the wheels not turning properly, as a result of image perception of preportion. The spokes connecting the quintupcycle also look vaguely like hands. These hands represent how the people are holding 'society' during the revolution together.

My feedback included a discussion instigated by Mr. McGuigan about the dimensions of flatness. This led to the inclusion of an outside text as refrence to dimensions of flatness.

Pablo Picasso's Guernica:

was brought up because of Pablo Picasso's use of 3D dimensions on a 2D canvas, with images almost sticking out on a flat surface.

This also connected to our in class discussion with Ms. Brownwrigg. She brought to our attention the concept of Panel Transitions. When we learned bout 'Aspect to Aspect' transitions, the idea of looking at one image from different angles brought up this painting again.

Megan actually was the one who brought to my attention the text that refered to the bicycle in the first place. Actually, when I was scanning the pages for more snippets, I was just technically interested in the photo rather than the text, and didn't even notice the text reference until after she pointed it out.

It will be interesting to see the other snippets that come to class next week...

:D

More Later...<3

Geneva

In Class with Ms.Brownrigg

Book Recommendations:

*Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud came out in 1993

Non fiction informational text in comics.

*The Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass (synesthetic example book)

*Plane Janes

Photo connections:

Geneva Week 1 Category 4: Snippets

While underlining all the characters from page 1-50 (Moscow), I noticed on page 28, that the army men were for the shah were different than the following panel. The second panel's armies actually look identical to the large man (statue?) underground. The large army in the second panel maintains the same face. Identiy is a large part in the army (any detail could reveal a secret which could be used for and against you) and possibly reflects upon the strict and rigid sense of Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
Another interesting part of that panel is that the man underneath the ground (possibly "Cyrus the Great"[Satrapi, 28]) is awake, yet the drawing of the Shah wants Cyrus to "rest in peace, [because he is] looking after Persia" (Satrapi, 28). Cyrus also looks angry and is staring at the large tombstone above him.
The first panel states that "Cyrus the great, ruled over the ancient world" (Satrapi, 28), which is assumingly under-ground and facing downwards towards the Earth's core. Yet, Cyrus is facing upwards, which is the heavens and is not aimed towards the ancient world.
This panel also refers to Iran as Persia, which is its previous name and the main body of people. It also discusses the child partake on the information. Followed by "I'm hungry!" (Satrapi, 28) by Marjane while her father educates her on the history of Iran and the Shah.

More later... <3

Geneva

Geneva Week 1 Category 1: Class Act

In class, there were many points and snippets contributed (even for the first day). Throughout the entire discussion, the conversation tended to veer towards religion many times. Also, discussion into society and history came up a lot as well.
Especially pertaining to our discussion, on page 6.

The idea was initially led by Fion, discussing the importance of panel 3 and Marjane's resemblance to the sun.

The sun symbolized the similar importance between the sun and a prophet. Like the sun, prophets hold a high place in society. Suns play a literal high place in the world and are seen by all and utilized by all on Earth.

Our discussion then led to a conversation about the veil and the use of yin-yang style comparison. This was brought up by Gabe, where the discussion started to debate perspectives. I think this discussion revealed a lot about personal opinion, bias and perception of the art and text used by Marjane Satrapi.

There are so many connections pertaining to 1984. The connections between the Iranian government and Big Brother are immense, as are the results of rebellion by the protagonists.

Geneva

Kevin and Geneva Week 1

Hello World.

This is Kevin and Geneva's Blog on Persepolis.

It will continue to be fantastic.

Goodbye