Persepolis Blog 1

4. How is Persepolis organized and structured? What as Satrapi chosen to emphasize in her childhood? How is the passage of time presented? Describe Satrapi's drawings.How do the drawings add to the narrative of the story?


Persepolis by Mariane Satrapi is organized and structured by the fact that it is read from top to bottom and left to right like any other novel books. But the great part is that instead of just words it is structured like comic book. Some readers prefer images because of their imagination. In Satrapi childhood she chose to emphasize her life living through the 1979 revolution that was called "The Islamic Revolution". At school the student along with their teacher had to wear veil. Satrapi character who is mainly this cute little girl that had to suffer through her life and even thought about wanting to become a prophet. She wanted to be justice, wrath and god all in one. The passage of time presented, I am guessing mostly relate to history because it speak much about the location of Iran. The discovery of oil, Alexander the Great, Arab neighbors to the west, conquerors from Mongolian and Turkish etc. It is about the connection of fundamentalism, fanaticism, and terrorism. Satrapi drawings are in black and white. Though it is only in black and white in which in modern day we would call it "original" it tells a lot behind in panel. Her drawing show emotion which is really wonderful to see face expression. Face expression says a lot when they say something in their own bubble. Satrapi also added narrative that summarized what is happening in the picture. She also used different facial for different character so it is easier to tell apart who is whom.



5. Describe the writer's voice. Is it appealing? Which aspects of Marji's character do you identify with or like the most, the least? Did your reaction to the little girl affect your reading experience?


The writer voice show emotion along with facial expression. For example, the way Satrapi drawn her character it have expression on it and it give you a way of imagining how that character will say what he/she need to say along with the facial expression that is given. On page 33, the fifth panel would be a good example. If there was no word you could tell that the guy in the car is yelling in a anger voice or a "get out of here damn you" voice. The aspect of Marji's character I like most is that is is always confident in herself. She believe in herself and her grandmother also believed in her. The least that I like about Marji's character is that she doesn't understand anything as well as when she was first told. Well, it wouldn't be a big issue because she is still young. But I don't like how goes against things in having a attitude ways. My reading to the reaction of the little girl did not affect my reading experience. I must admit this book was very difficult to keep track of because it jump from character to character along with Marji's in it. But overall it is a really interesting book along with the facts that was given.


2. Written as memoir, is Persepolis more powerful than if Satrapi had fictionalized the story? Why or why not? Compare this book to other memoirs you have read. What are the benefits and drawbacks of memoirs?

I think that as memoir it is much more powerful than a fictionalized story because when you have a story that you have experience you can tell it from your own perspective. Instead of making things up as it was to pop out of your imagination, a memoir says more and show more emotion. It actually make the reader go "awe" when they are reading a memoir book rather than a fiction book because they know that it is a fiction book. I have read many memoirs book and I can tell the difference if it is fiction or not because when you read a book it takes away your imagination in picturing what is really happening and therefore it will make more sense if it is real or not. For example if wrote something like, "I ate a white bear" it would be more like, "oh really? You did?". The benefits in writing a memoir book, is that you do not have to make things up a long the way into making a novel. The drawbacks is that the part that are being put into the novel comes from your life itself. It will need details and have to be based on your own surrounding.