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You have some exceptionally solid writing here, ready to be developed into an essay. You've drawn very pointedly on the graphic novel, and are able to make convincing points in a small space. That's excellent, but I do identify a weakness. In time for next fortnight's class, I'd like you to go back into every paragraph. You don't have to flesh them out anymore, adding more information or re-drafting what you've said - beyond the first three sentences. What I'd like you to do is check that the first three sentences of every paragraph follow this model: 1) state the literary technique deployed by the author; 2) explain the effect of the technique (only that effect that will be important for making your argument); and 3) explain how that effect works to explore the central conflict. This is the ideal structure of a paragraph opening in an essay. So rearrange what you have and edit your openings until they look like that model, and we'll read through them next time I see you.

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How does Marjane Satrapi explore the conflict betweenher family's social class and their political views in Persepolis? 

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How does Marjane Satrapi explore the conflict betweenher family's social class and their political views in Persepolis? 

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Preposition: Satrapi explores the conflict between her family’s social class and their political views by employing 1) a child’s perspective, 2) juxtaposing opposites, 3) employing both interior monologues and direct speech, and 4) constructing a parallelism between her family conflict and the civil conflict.

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[parallelism, microcosm, war, political conflicts]

The book Persepolis itself is a representation of the real world, thus a microcosm of the realities of the war and political conflicts. The setting of this book is during the Iranian Revolution and the notorious Iran and Iraq War. Violence is frequently depicted in the book through illustrations. During the revolution, there are several scenes of the demonstrations, the readers can see the angry facial expressions of the demonstrators and the many deaths that occur during that time. In page 15, panel 2, it shows a depiction of dead souls when "they burned down the Rex Cinema". This depiction of violence tell the readers about the difficulties and chaos the Iranians went through. The scenes of torture on page 51 also depict the extreme violence that took place during that time. These events that occur on a daily basis evidently has impact on little Marji. She sees and directly experiences these violence and her uncle tells her stories about how he himself got tortured for not following social rules. However, Marji considers as a heroic aspect and is proud to call him her uncle. Parallelism can be seen in between Marji's family and the social conflict in Iran. Margi's parents and the Iranian society show contradictions in

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[Use of interior monologues and direct speech]

As the text is written in first person narrative, Marji has an advantage in that she can divulge her own inner thoughts and defend her points of view through the use of voice over in the graphic novel. YES!!! THIS IS THE PERFECT OPENER! IT VERY SUCCINCTLY STATES WHAT THE LITERARY TECHNIQUE IS, WHAT THE EFFECT OF IT. (OF COURSE, THERE ARE LOTS OF EFFECTS THIS TECHNIQUE HAS, BUT WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT THIS OPENING SENTENCE IS THAT YOU STATE ONLY THE EFFECT THAT IS RELEVANT TO THE ARGUMENT YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE). THE NEXT SENTENCE SHOULD RELATE DIRECTLY TO THE PREPOSITION, IE THIS EFFECT IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT ALLOWS THE AUTHOR TO EXPLORE THE CONFLICT BY DOING 'X'. Only speech bubbles which indicate direct speech in the book can be used to reveal thoughts and values of other characters. The narrator frequently uses voice over to tell the readers what she has in mind at the time. For example, she doesn't say this out loud but she says to the readers that she has "finally understood the reasons for the revolution, [she] made a decision", and her decision is to demonstrate. Her interior monologues are also used to show the extremes of the society -the religious group and the political group. EXCELLENT POINT. This is shown through humour in her interior monologues. She says that "every situation offered an opportunity for laughs" and mocks the religious fanatics and the martyrs. The use of direct speech

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[Things/people that influenced Marji in her political/social/religious views]

The conflict between her family's social class and their political views arouses from the sources that influence Marji in different ways. Her parents and family have a major influence on Marji because they always tell her political anecdotes, and they always show Marji that they are going to the demonstrations, which makes Marji curious and interested in the demonstrations. Their influences are shown where she "demonstrated in the garden of [her] house" by herself, mimicking her parents' actions at a young age. FANTASTIC, GREAT EXAMPLE. Her parents are her main source of confusion because of their contrasting thoughts and real actions. Her uncle Anoosh also plays a role in shaping Marji's values. Anoosh is considered a "hero" in this book by Marji because he has been to prison, for being against the government. He always argues that the "proletariat will rule" one day and Marji comes to believe and support this notion as well. Not only people, but books also influence Marji. Her favourite book was a "comic book entitled 'Dialectic Materialism'". She mentions that she "had never read much as [she] did during that period. The book that has a great impact on her is a book that Ali Ashraf Darvishian wrote, which as about everyone working at a young age. After reading this book, she realises "why [she] felt ashamed to sit in [her] father's cadillac, and clarifies to herself that "the reason for her shame" is "the difference between social classes". GREAT! Like the examples listed, books enlighten her and help her shape her own standards and values, slightly different from her parents. Religion also plays a main role in shaping her identity. She believes in God, who perhaps she thinks that is the one who pursues equality, because she depicts him as "similar" to Marx. All these influences help shape Marji and her political views. THIS IS A GREAT DELINEATION OF ALL THE INFLUENCES ON MARJI, AND YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE WHY SHE WOULD BE CONFUSED GIVEN ALL THE EXAMPLES SHE GIVES OF CONTRADICTORY ADVICE AND BEHAVIOUR SHE IS EXPOSED TO. I GUESS THE ONE THING MISING HRE IS THE CLEAR STATEMENT OF THE LITERARY DEVICE THAT SATRAPI IS USING. YOU COULD BEGIN BY SAYING THAT SATRAPI JUXTAPOSES CONTRADICTORY INFLUENCES IN MARJI'S LIFE IN ORDER TO EXPLORE THE CONFLICT AT THE HEART OF HER FAMILY (AND MAYBE ALSO HER SOCIETY). ONCE YOU'VE SAID THAT, IT MAKES SENSE TO LIST ALL THE JUXTAPOSITIONS, JUST AS YOU HAVE DONE HERE.

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[Marji's child perspective/ first person perspective of Marxism]

Perspolis, by Marjane Satrapi is an autobiographic graphic novel which is written in the first person perspective of Marji, who is a child. BRILLIANT SUMMATION IN THIS FIRST SENTENCE! This is "the story of a childhood", thus showing the growth and the bildungsroman of the character throughout the book. BILDUNGSROMAN IS THE NAME FOR A KIND OF WORK, SO THIS SENTENCE IS A BIT TAUTOLOGICAL. YOU COULD JUST SAY 'THIS IS A BILDUNGSROMAN THAT EXPLORES THEMES... ETC', BUILDING IN THE NEXT SENTENCE. The book explores themes of political issues and social classes, and this is done through Marji's point of view. Marji is a character that is exposed to politics since a young age, because of her family's political activism, and due to her ancestors being part of the royal family. She is a child but she holds strong Marxist views in the text. She claims she wants to be a prophet and pursues equality among everyone disregarding their social classes and age groups. She reads books about these political concepts in order to enlighten herself and then learns to feel "ashamed" due to "the difference between social classes" that she is part of the higher class in the Iranian society. She is continuously confused regarding which values she should have because her parents' thought and actions contradict each other. Her confusion is juxtaposed where she says "Deep down I was very religious but as a family we were very modern and avant-garde." This is depicted in the graphic novel through a split in the middle of the panel which shows contradiction between the modern and the religious. THIS SEEMS TO BE HEADING TOWARDS BEING AN APPROPRIATE EXAMPLE, BUT IT NEEDS SOME CLEAR FRAMING. EG, YOU COULD START BY EXPLAINING THAT SATRAPI USES A CHILD CHARACTER SO THAT SHE CAN TAKE THE GENERAL SOCIAL CONFUSION OF BELIEFS VERSUS ACTIONS AND PLACE THAT CONFUSION IN THE EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE OF A CHARACTER. AN ADULT CHARACTER WOULD NOT REFLECT THAT SOCIAL CONFUSION VERY WELL BECAUSE ADULTS ARE MORE JADED, MORE ACCUSTOMED TO THE SAD CONTRADICTIONS OF SOCIETY. THEN, YOU CAN BRING IN EXAMPLES LIKE THIS ONE OF MARJI'S CONSTANT SENSE OF CONFUSION, IN WICH SHE IS BALANCING WHAT SHE SEES AGAINST WHAT SHE IS TAUGHT. THE EXAMPLES (THIS ONE AND THE NEXT ONE YOU GIVE) ARE INSTANTLY CLEARER WHEN YOU START OUT WITH A STRONG STATEMENT THAT LINKS YOUR ARGUMENT TO YOUR OVERALL PREPOSITION. Her non-acceptance of her parents' actions is also depicted when Mehri, her maid is not allowed to date a man from a different social class. Marji doesn't understand this and asks her dad "But is it her fault that she was born where she was born? Dad, are you for or against social classes?", after her dad tells her that "in this country, you must stay within your own social class", which is contradicting the reason he is protesting for everyday. The fact that this story is narrated in a child's perspective YES, THT'S GREAT THAT YOU STARTED TO SAY HERE YOUR MAIN ARGUMENT. IF YOU HAD MORE TIME, YOU WOULD DEVELOP WHAT YOU WERE ABOUT TO SAY AND THEN - IMPORTANTLY - MOVE THIS TO THE TOP OF THE PARAGRAPH