Name: _________________________ Period: ___

Persepolis​ Unit Packet

Lit Analysis & Composition I

MON WED THURS FRI

12/2 12/4 12/5 12/6

Introduction to Introduction to Part I: “The Veil” Part II: “Persepolis”

Persepolis Persepolis “The Bicycle” “The Letter”
“The Water Cell” “The Party”

12/9 12/11 12/12 12/13

​ ocab Quiz
Persepolis V Part III: “The Heroes” Part IV: “The Trip” Part V: “The Key”
“Moscow” “The F-14s” “The Wine”
“The Sheep” “The Jewels” “The Cigarette”

12/16 12/18 12/19 12/20

Part VI: “The Passport” In-Class Work Day for Persepolis ​Movie Persepolis ​Movie
“Kim Wilde” Graphic Novel
“The Shabbat” Final Project In-Class Work Day for Packet Due Today
“The Dowry” Graphic Novel Final
Project Graphic Novel Final
Project Due Today
For our last unit of the semester, we are going to be reading Marjane Satrapi’s
Persepolis​, an autobiographical graphic novel. As a graphic novel, this story will be
discussed and analyzed through the medium of its presentation: the use of space,
graphic weight, and its effect upon the story of Satrapi’s childhood.

We will read the novel together in the following segments. We will follow the reading
schedule below. I invite you to preview each section prior to class and we will have
some time allocated to in-class reading as well (10-15 minutes).

PART I – 12/5 PART II – 12/6 PART III – 12/11

“The Veil” “Persepolis” “The Heroes”
“The Bicycle” “The Letter” “Moscow”
“The Water Cell” “The Party” “The Sheep”
PART IV – 12/12 PART V – 12/13 PART VI – 12/16
“The Passport”
“The Trip” “The Key”
“Kim Wilde”
“The F-14s” “The Wine”
“The Shabbat”
“The Jewels” “The Cigarette”
“The Dowry”

Each segment will have an associated task to which you will be required to respond.

In addition, you will be required to describe the characterization of Marji as a child

(Parts I-III) and Marji as a teenager (Parts IV-VI). The details of their characterization
must come from four different stories (so you cannot fully characterize Marji just by
looking at just one story).

On the following pages, you will find a list of vocabulary words and graphic novel
terms. Please learn these words for your ​vocabulary quiz on 12/9​ (Process grade).

This packet will be ​due by 12/13​ (Process grade).

The graphic novel project is ​due by 12/13​ (Culminating grade).

 VOCABULARY
​ ersepolis​. Study and learn the definitions of
The following list of words is curated from a selection of words found in P
the words listed to better understand our novel and prepare yourself for the vocab quiz on Monday, 12/9.

WORD DEFINITION

obligatory (adj) required by a legal, moral, or other rule; compulsory

moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or

decadence (n)
luxury

celestial (adj) belonging or relating to heaven

revolution (n) a ​forcible overthrow of a government or social order in favor of a new system

a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme
fanatic (n)
religious or political cause

secular (adj) denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis

degenerate (n) an immoral or corrupt person

frivolous (adj) not having any serious purpose or value

cadaver (n) a corpse

sentiment (n) a view of or attitude toward a situation or event; an opinion

subversive (adj) seeking or intended to subvert an established system or institution

dialectic (adj) the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions

indignant (adj) feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment

regime (n) a government, especially an authoritarian one

rebellious (adj) showing a desire to resist authority, control, or convention

carnage (n) the killing of a large number of people

vintner (n) a wine merchant or wine maker

melancholy (n) a feeling of pensive sadness, typically with no obvious cause

belligerent (adj) hostile and aggressive

systematic (adj) done or acting according to a fixed plan; methodical

veritable (adj) used as an intensifier, often to qualify a metaphor

the protection granted by a nation to someone who has left their native country as a
asylum (n)
political refugee

euphoria (n) a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness

 GRAPHIC NOVEL TERMS
The following list of words are used to analyze graphic novels. Study and learn the definitions of the words listed to
better understand how to discuss Persepolis and prepare yourself for the vocabulary quiz on Monday, 12/9.

boxes containing a variety of text

captions (n) elements like scene-setting, description,
etc.

the lines and borders that contain the

frame (n)
panels

This page features 5 frames.

describes the way some images draw the

eye more than others, creating a definite
graphic weight (n) focus using light and dark shades,
dark-toned images, high-constrast
images, or a pattern

gutter (n) the space between panels

a distinct segment of the comic,

panel (n) containing a combination of image and
text

dialogue from a specific speaker; can be

speech bubble (n) between people or internal dialogue (aka
“thought bubble”)

a kind of panel that spans the width of

splash (n) the page; known as a “bleed” if it runs off
the page entirely
 PART I & II RESPONSE
In this section, identify a panel of strong ​graphic weight​ from this part of P
​ ersepolis​. List the page that this example
comes from, summarize the story, and explain how the graphic weight impacts the audience. Summary and
explanation should be at least three complete sentences.

STORY NAME: PG. #:

DESCRIPTION

EXPLANATION

STORY NAME: PG. #:

DESCRIPTION

EXPLANATION
 PART III & IV RESPONSE
In this section, identify a panel of strong ​graphic weight​ from this part of P
​ ersepolis​. List the page that this example
comes from, summarize the story, and explain how the graphic weight impacts the audience. Summary and explanation
should be at least three complete sentences.

STORY: PG. #:

SUMMARY OF STORY

EXPLANATION

STORY: PG. #:

DESCRIPTION

EXPLANATION
 PART V & VI RESPONSE
In this section, identity a panel of strong ​graphic weight​ from this part of ​Persepolis​. List the page that this example
comes from, summarize the story, and explain how the graphic weight impacts the audience. Summary and
explanation should be at least three complete sentences.

STORY NAME: PG. #:

DESCRIPTION

EXPLANATION

STORY NAME: PG. #:

DESCRIPTION

EXPLANATION
 MARJI (CHILD)
In this section, fill out the following characterization chart for each part of SEAL (Speech, Effect, Action, Looks) by citing
a page and describing the piece of characterization (minimum two complete sentences). Each part of SEAL requires one
piece of evidence. Evidence must come from different stories. For this section, look through PART I to PART III.

SPEECH

STORY NAME: PG. #:

CONTEXT & EVIDENCE:

EFFECT

STORY NAME: PG. #:

CONTEXT & EVIDENCE:

ACTION

STORY NAME: PG. #:

CONTEXT & EVIDENCE:

LOOKS

STORY NAME: PG. #:

CONTEXT & EVIDENCE:

 MARJI (TEENAGER)
In this section, fill out the following characterization chart for each part of SEAL (Speech, Effect, Action, Looks) by citing
a page and describing the piece of characterization (minimum two complete sentences). Each part of SEAL requires one
piece of evidence. Evidence must come from different stories. For this section, look through PART IV to PART VI.

SPEECH

STORY NAME: PG. #:

CONTEXT & EVIDENCE:

EFFECT

STORY NAME: PG. #:

CONTEXT & EVIDENCE:

ACTION

STORY: PG. #:

CONTEXT & EVIDENCE:

LOOKS

STORY: PG. #:

CONTEXT & EVIDENCE:

 RICK STEVES’ IRAN​ VIEWING GUIDE
1. Where is Iran located and which countries surround it?

2. How is Tehran similar to other major cities in the Western world?

3. What does Rick Steves say about Iran’s primary ethnicity and language?

4. Why is the year 1953 important to Iran?

5. What type of government does Iran have? What are the names of the two top positions in
Iran?

6. Secular means “non-religious”. How is Tehran more secular than other Muslim countries
around it?
7. What did the lady at the university express about Iranian-U.S. relations?

8. How is the late Ayatollah Khomeini seen by his populace?

9. The Qur’an forbids images in mosques. What do they have instead for decoration?

10. Write down two interesting points about prayer in an Iranian mosque.

11. What is said about Shiite and Sunni differences? What is the Iraq-Iran War compared to in the
West?

12. Write at least one question you have about Iran, its people, or their culture.
 GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT
For this assignment, you will demonstrate your understanding of the medium of graphic novel by creating one similar to ​Persepolis ​about an event in
your life.

​ nd your understanding of the graphic novel structure, create your

Utilizing your notes on ​Persepolis a
own black-and-white graphic novel around an important event in your life. Your graphic novel will be
graded using the following rubric:

Excellent (100) Good (80) Okay (60) Poor (40)

● At least eight panels in
varied sizes, no more
than twelve total ● Short or long by one
panels. panel; panels not varied ● Short or long by two
● Short or long by three or
● Character(s) in size. panels.
more panels.
consistently drawn; ● Character(s) drawn with ● Character(s) drawn, but
● Character(s) not drawn
characters have varied full body and some may not have a full body
often or non-existent;
expressions and full expressions. or have a distinct lack of
and/or stick figures.
body. ● Only two panels with expressions.
● No panels with speech
● At least three panels speech bubbles or more ● Only one panel with
Content with speech bubbles than five panels with speech bubbles; and/or
bubbles; and/or speech
50% bubbles add little to
(no more than five); speech bubbles; and/or speech bubbles add
nothing in terms of story
speech bubbles speech bubbles build some depth to the story.
development.
effectively and story. ● Only one panel with
● No panels with captions;
creatively build story. ● Only two panels with captions; and/or
and/or captions detract
● At least three panels captions or more than captions add little to
from understanding of the
with captions (no five panels with nothing in terms of story
story.
more than five); captions; and/or development.
captions effectively captions build story.
and creatively build
story.

● Title prominently displayed ● Title displayed at the top ● No title; and/or space not
● Title included; and/or
at the top of the page with of the page; and/or used well; and/or no
Organization space used ineffectively;
creative name; space is space used effectively; gutter; and/or more than
/ Language used very effectively; and/or 1-2 errors in
and/or 3-5 errors in
five errors in spelling,
spelling, grammar,
25% flawless spelling, grammar, spelling, grammar,
and/or punctuation.
grammar, and/or
and punctuation. and/or punctuation. punctuation.

● No panels with strong

● At least three panels with graphic weight; and/or
● Two panels with strong ● One panel with strong
strong graphic weight; has colors besides black or
graphic weight; and/or graphic weight; and/or
Aesthetics an excellent balance
has a good balance has a poor balance of too
white used; and/or not
25% between the use of white hand-drawn or done on
between use of white much white or too much
and black; creatively solid color background;
and black. black.
composed. and/or visually
unappealing.

This will be a grade in the ​Culminating ​category. The final draft of your graphic novel is ​due on
Friday (12/13)​.
 GRAPHIC NOVEL PROJECT PLANNER
​ nd your understanding of the graphic novel structure, create your
Utilizing your notes on ​Persepolis a
own black-and-white graphic novel around an important event in your life. Please use the template
below to start planning your project. ​NOTE: You must have 8-12 panels. You are not required to use
the frame sizes below.

Title: ________________________

Graphic Novel Project Guidelines:

❏ At least eight panels in varied sizes, no more than twelve total panels.
❏ Character(s) consistently drawn; characters have varied expressions and full body.
❏ At least three panels with speech bubbles (no more than five); speech bubbles effectively and creatively build
story.
❏ At least three panels with captions (no more than five); captions effectively and creatively build story.
❏ Title prominently displayed at the top of the page with creative name; space is used very effectively; flawless
spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
❏ At least three panels with strong graphic weight; has an excellent balance between the use of white and black;
creatively composed.