Starter questions:• How does life in Iran change at the start of the

novel?

• How does Marjane change as a result?

Persepolis, the story of a childhood

Lesson 1: contradictions

L.O. understanding the confusing world of Marjane’s childhood (pp1-47)

Contradictions:• Marjane’s family gives her contradictory

messages during the period right after the Shah’s overthrow. On the one hand, they are clearly filled with anger at the atrocities he has perpetrated. On the other hand, as parents they want to raise their daughter to become a humane and loving person. This contradiction does not go unnoticed by their perceptive daughter.

YOUR TASK IS TO FIND MORE EXAMPLES OF CONTRADICTIONS IN MARJANE’S LIFE (like this one:)

• Her parents give her books about Marx who believed in a classless society.

• BUT they also have an expensive car and a maid who doesn’t eat with them…

The structure of this part of the text• Satrapi uses flashbacks and story telling to

make us understand what (her) life was like in Iran until 1979 when the Islamic Revolution took place.

• Through the use of images (in splashes especially) she can show us much of Iran’s history and her own life in just a few pages.

Marjane’s childhood:

Historic events in splashes

Plenary• Discuss in pairs:• How does Marjane Satrapi set the scene &

characterise herself and her family on the first pages of the novel?