The TIME magazine covers all use stereotypical and cultural figures as a character that is portrayed in a western perspective. Specifically, the magazine 'Arafat' in the 1968 Time magazine portrays Arafat as the main subject in the foreground, a close-up portrait however with shades and the traditional headwear of the middle east. And in the background behind him where we can identify another Arabian figure however with a firearm and a hidden identity by his scarf around his head. This composition by the TIME magazine authors potentially suggest their biased views of Arabs as a "dangerous and violent" individuals that are a major threat to a modern society, and even more such as the background is designed to be in a sand-like gradient rather than developed cities further enhances and establishes the ideology of not only the people, but the society where Arabians reside are in lack of modern development. This suggests that magazine authors create the sense of othering by drawing a line where 'modern society' based on their own beliefs, in this case, the west contrasts with the "violent and underdeveloped" middle east, further develops the Western Gaze in its own ideology.

Another example of where stereotypical views of political issues arise in the TIME Magazine "Facing the Fury" written in 15th of October 2011, shortly after the disaster '911'.

Here specifically, the TIME Magazine uses San - serif emboldened text to address the title and the subtitles, labelling as George Bush carries out a ' successful strategy', specifically two front war of military actions and humanitarian aids can solve the legacy political instability by bin Laden, where as it "further inflaming[ames] the Muslim world". Here, since the time magazine authors are mainly based on western views of the world, naturally overlooks the strategic proficiency of George Bush since he is the leader of the USA at this time period, and blindly suggests that the “Inflamed Muslim World” needs justification and military actions in order to reestablish peace. This typically represents the western gaze of the Middle East once again as it is represented as the “inflamed Muslim World in this scenario …

The intended audience is mainly the American public, especially calling for parents to identify unsafety and even lawmakers, who are positioned to question the beliefs of the concept of ‘threat’ of chocolate treats or firearms. This calls their values of priorities that shape U.S. safety laws. The meaning behind the advertisement creates an ironic comparison: a harmless Kinder Egg is outlawed, while a lethal firearm is normalized. This symbolism is used to expose cultural contradictions and spark an emotional response of shock and outrage. The purpose of the ad is not only to raise awareness but also to encourage action in favour of gun control reforms. By drawing on the visual codes of contrast and irony, the campaign positions the viewer to see American gun culture as the ‘true threat’ and to support values that prioritize the protection of children.

Show you understand this theory by:

ACT NOW: Analyse the NLCS (Singapore) school logo using semiotic theory. What signs and symbols are present, and how do they convey meaning about the school’s identity, values, and culture? How might a viewer from a different cultural or social context interpret the logo differently? Comment below.

TIME magazine’s covers from the 1970s presents Iran’s shifting cultural and political climate. Through the manipulation of graphological features such as colour, layout, and typography, alongside the careful use of symbols and images, TIME offered Western readers insight into both the grandeur of the Shah’s regime and the turbulence that followed the Iranian Revolution.

In terms of context, the 1970s were a decade of dramatic change in Iran. Early covers, such as the 1974 issue titled “Oil, Grandeur and a Challenge to the West”, employ rich colours and a regal portrayal of the Shah. His upright posture, dignified clothing, and solemn facial expression act as symbols of power and modernisation, reflecting Iran’s growing wealth from oil exports. By contrast, later covers (1978–79) shift focus to Ayatollah Khomeini. The visual features changes noticeably, such as darker tones, sharper contrasts, and more austere imagery convey religious authority and revolutionary fervour, reflecting the collapse of the monarchy and the rise of a theocratic state. These visual choices highlight how international media constructed a binary opposition between Western-aligned modernity and traditionalist revolution.

For the audience, TIME targeted a predominantly Western readership concerned with geopolitics and energy security. The use of powerful symbols, such as oil, religious iconography, or stern portraiture, was designed to make complex Iranian politics immediately legible to American and European readers. Typography—particularly bold, declarative titles like “Oil and the West” or “Khomeini’s Iran”—directed audience interpretation, reinforcing the sense of urgency and global consequence.

In terms of meaning, these covers offered more than simple reportage. They constructed Iran as both a site of immense wealth and looming instability. The Shah’s visual representation as elegant yet isolated in earlier issues contrasts with the later depiction of Khomeini as a commanding, almost prophetic figure. Such visual dichotomies communicate the ideological shift from monarchy to revolution, embedding Iran’s struggles within wider Cold War narratives about East versus West, modernity versus tradition.

Finally, the purpose of these covers was not only to inform but also to frame global perceptions. TIME presented Iran as a key arena in which cultural identity, political power, and Western interests intersected. By emphasising grandeur, tension, and religious symbolism, the magazine mediated Western understanding of the Middle East, influencing how readers viewed both Iran’s domestic upheaval and its role in international politics.

• 1979 Iranian Revolution -- Out goes the Shah, in comes the Ayatollah

• Repressive Iranian Measures - The Islamic Republic founded

• 1980 - 1988 -- The Iran/Iraq War

  • Iraq greatly supported by powerful nations

  • West heavily involved

• Born 1878 (Alasht, Iran); died 1944 (Johannesburg, South Africa).

• Former army officer; rose through ranks, known for discipline and leadership.

• Coup of 1921: Led 1,200 men into Tehran, became Minister of War; later Prime Minister (1923).

• Became Shah (1925): Majles deposed Ahmad Shah; founded Pahlavi dynasty.

• Key Reforms:

  • Broke tribal power and disarmed them.

  • Ended unequal treaties with foreign powers.

  • Built Trans-Iranian Railway and infrastructure.

  • Emancipated women, banned veils (1935).

  • Opened first university (1934).

  • Centralized finances and communications.

• Abdicated in 1941 after British–Soviet occupation; exiled to South Africa.

Iranian Revolution:

• UK and Russia influenced Iran heavily; U.S. and UK coup in 1953 ousted Prime Minister Mosaddegh, strengthening the Shah.

• White Revolution: Land reform, women’s rights, modernization; disrupted rural life and reduced clerical power.

• Economic growth uneven; inflation and discontent in the 1970s.

• Political repression: censorship, arrests, torture, minimal participation allowed.

Summary:

Reza Shah Pahlavi modernized and centralized Iran but relied on authoritarian methods; his son continued modernization, but inequality, repression, and foreign influence led to widespread unrest. The Iranian Revolution, united diverse groups, toppled the monarchy, and established an Islamic republic.

Keywords:

Reza Shah Pahlavi, Coup of 1921, Pahlavi dynasty, Trans-Iranian Railway, White Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, Black Friday, Iranian Revolution 1979

• Explains key events of the Iranian Revolution and Iran–Iraq War to Western audiences.

• Shows everyday effects of regime change, propaganda, and war on ordinary citizens.

• Highlights hypocrisy of government officials versus the suffering of the public.

Reception & Impact

• International bestseller; translated into dozens of languages.

• Praised for making Iran’s modern history accessible to Western readers.

• Used in schools to teach about the Middle East, revolution, and graphic memoirs.

• Some controversy/bans in U.S. schools due to depictions of violence and religion.

Satrapi uses Persepolis to narrate her own life under and after Iran’s Revolution, blending stark visuals with personal experience to show identity, repression, and exile.

Keywords:

Well done Jay. Your analysis is academic in style, and you are effectively using precise references.

In the comments below, explore further what you mean by “Satrapi summarises the Iranian revolutionary history…”

If her intent is to ‘summarise’ why then, does she utilise a creative medium like a graphic novel to achieve this purpose? Or perhaps the purpose is more nuanced?

Make reference to the introduction - quote it, and to the opening page of the Veil chapter.

In the comments below, create a glossary that lists all of the critical vocabulary you will need to effectively analyse ‘Persepolis’ considering what we have studied thus far.

Make reference to:

Semiotics theory

Visual design / Graphic novel form

Amplification through simplification

Iranian context

In your glossary include:

The word —> Definition in your own words —-> Example sentence (grammatically —accurate) —> Antonym or Synonym

EXAMPLE:

Panel

A single framed picture or drawing in a comic or graphic novel

The hero leapt across the rooftops in the next panel.

Frame (synonym)

EBI: To make more references more towards the example given to dive in deeper to details such as graphic weight and dialogue languages.

• Graphic Narrative

• Textual Narrative

• Visual Narrative

• Comic Panels

• Gutter

• Bleed

• Speech Bubbles

• Captions

Notes

• Graphic Narrative: Storytelling that mixes words and images. Pictures don’t just decorate—they can reinforce or even replace text. Graphic novels often use both textual and visual narrative together, sometimes in juxtaposition (side-by-side) to show contrasts.

• Panels, Gutters, Bleeds: Panels frame the action and may be bordered or not (e.g., past vs. present). Gutters are the spaces between panels where the reader fills in the missing action. Bleeds let images run off the page for dramatic effect.

• Speech bubbles show direct speech, while captions provide indirect narration or background info. The mix of the two makes the story more engaging than plain text.

• Stylistic Devices & Transitions:

  • Transitions: Action-to-action (step-by-step), moment-to-moment (tiny time shifts), scene-to-scene (big jumps in time/place), subject-to-subject (switching focus within a scene).

  • Framing: Angles and perspective show power or viewpoint; depth of field separates foreground and background; graphic weight highlights importance through light and dark.

• Expressive Effects: Motion lines show speed, emanata (symbols like sweat drops) show emotion, caricature exaggerates features, onomatopoeia creates sound effects, and synecdoche uses a part (like hands or eyes) to stand for the whole.

Summary:

Graphic narratives combine visual and textual storytelling. Through panels, transitions, framing, and effects like motion lines or speech bubbles, they show time, movement, and emotion in ways text alone cannot. This makes the reader more active in interpreting the story.

Shows imagination of the girls - acting as rebellious characters, and mimicking demonstrations, reference of 'bicycle' as a simile to revolution; shows image of crowded bicycle -> Unbalanced, fragile, 'revolution in my country' implies the revolution as something unstable

In The Veil, Satrapi first introduces the regime's enforcers through the obligatory act of veiling—a symbol that includes ideological domination and suppression of self. The first glimpse of teenage girls standing in line form in identical black veils establishes the regime's visual dominance: their tiny, expressionless faces dissolve into a sea of conformity. The sudden contrast of black and white strengthens this dismantling of self, shrinking each child into a faceless figure inside a system that demands conformity. Satrapi's child protagonist remarks in ironic innocence, "We didn't really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn't understand why we had to." This remark emphasizes the ludicrousness of adults putting political ideology on kids. The juxtaposition of innocence and repression exposes how authoritarian power disguises control as moral righteousness. The veil thus becomes more than a religious garment—it is a visual embodiment of silenced voices and suppressed identities. Satrapi’s minimalistic art amplifies the emptiness of such control: the lack of background detail mirrors the vacuum of personal freedom under the regime. Readers are invited to feel both empathy for the children and indignation toward the faceless authorities who weaponize faith as a means of domination.

Later in the text, Satrapi’s depiction of the female Guardians of the Revolution stands as one of her most striking critiques of the regime’s hypocrisy. Tasked with enforcing “moral conduct,” these women become extensions of the patriarchal system that subjugates them. Satrapi’s exaggerated illustrations—sharp noses, furrowed brows, hollow eyes—render them almost monstrous, consumed by the very ideology they uphold. Their heavy black chadors merge with the background, suggesting that they have lost both individuality and humanity. Linguistically, their dialogue—commands such as “Cover yourself properly! ” or “Lower your head! ”—mimics the regime’s authoritarian tone within daily life. The aggressive, angular lettering of their speech stands in relief against Marjane's small, curved text, a visual metaphor for the inequality of power that marks Iranian society.

But Satrapi also introduces irony: underlying their bluster are hints of fear and doubt, and a sense that these women, too, are trapped in the ideological machinery they enforce. Out of this contradiction, Satrapi leads readers to think through the ways in which fear makes ordinary individuals agents of oppression. Through the first few chapters, Satrapi effectively portrays enforcers of the fundamentalist state as symbols of control, hypocrisy, and dehumanization. She develops a robust critique of authority that hides cruelty behind religion in her game of visual symbolism and ironic narrative. By presenting these events through the perspective of a child, Satrapi evokes outrage and sorrow—highlighting the way innocence and individuality get lost under totalitarian regimes. Lastly, Persepolis reveals that true resistance begins not in violence but in the courage to challenge power itself.

This photograph, taken by Kaveh Rostamkhan portrays the public funeral of IRGC Major General Qassim Suleimani of Iraq. Here, since his reason of death remains un-given through the context provided, but we can confirm in this form of 'celebration' among patriotism fervors of honoring and mourning the death of the important military figure of their country. This picture captures the vast crowds attending the funeral procession of IRGC Major General Qassem Suleimani following his assassination by a US drone strike in Iraq. The image powerfully illustrates how martyrdom occupies a sacred and unifying place within Iranian culture. The truck also elevates the coffin into a higher position that anything apart from buildings portrayed in this photograph, providing insights on not only how important Suleimanni is as an individual and amplifying the pride of the individual, but also potraying that in Iranian culture, the sense of sacrifice is more honorable than any other position, especially in the status as a military general. The portrait of Suleimani displayed in the background amplifies him as both martyr and symbol, merging his physical death with the idea of eternity. Through its composition and photographical focus, the photograph reveals how Iran’s revolutionary identity relies on the ritualization of martyrdom: turning loss into unity, and violence into a reaffirmation of divine and national endurance.

However, as a photograph with the purpose of portraying reality, while it does somewhat depicts scenes through a realistic method, but it also offers only a fraction due to the framing, depth of field and simultaneous aspects of the truth, due to the limitations of photography, as it only focuses on the photographers claim, potentially taking only a fracture of the truth

• Close up angle, portrait with negative spaces

• high angles balancing the importance

• Marketing place

• Idol on t-shirts -> individuality decreasing for citizens (Idolized & Commodity)

• Many -> reduction of value

• Anonymous Marytyrs,

• Decorative Nature -> Objectification, as symbolism

• 
  

• neglected

• rellic of war -> conducts the closure of conducts _> imagining rest of

• Machinery of war, reality of war

Depiction:

• Natural environment growing over artificial modernity -> submersing machinery of war

  • Suggesting subjective presentation of society -> neglecting majority over the

• Superficiality of tools only needed in wars, short-lived

• Men gathering corpse -> masculine nature of martyrdom in Iraq

• Dark theme -> chaotic

• revered by the people -> appreciation of sacrifice -> more appreciation of people currently fighting for the country (vs post humously

  • Taking advantage of people of the dead

  • exploitation of status, honor

• Lower/ working class -> recognition isn't as wide spreading,

• 1980: New Islamic regime forces girls to wear the veil; students confused because it was sudden and unexplained.

• Girls don’t understand the religious meaning of the veil and treat it as a toy — jumping rope with it, pretending to be monsters.

• Schools become segregated (boys/girls separated), reflecting the ideological shift toward religious conservatism.

• Marji introduces herself as a girl who deeply wanted to become a prophet, showing early tension between innocence and political awakening.

• Her desire to be a prophet is misunderstood; classmates mock her because religion is now politicized, not spiritual.

• Panels show contrast between Marji’s personal faith (private, imaginative) and the regime’s imposed religious rules (public, rigid).

• Marji’s parents are modern, liberal, and secular — establishing conflict between her upbringing and imposed ideology.

• The veil symbolizes loss of freedom, forced identity, and division among children who previously lived more freely.

• First chapter sets the tone of identity conflict, religious hypocrisy, and the child’s perspective on revolution.

  
  

In the chapter The Veil, Marjane uses the lens of her childhood in revolutionary Iran, where as a bright, idealistic girl she grapples with her deep faith, her admiration for revolutionaries, and her longing to become a prophet, all while witnessing the 1979 Islamic Revolution uproot her secular schooling, force the wearing of the veil.

2. Chapter 2(The Bicycle):

• Marji describes the revolution metaphorically: “The revolution is like a bicycle. When the wheels don’t turn, it falls.”

• Introduces revolutionary ideology through Marji’s reading of comic books and stories of heroes who fought tyranny.

• Learns about Marxism, dialectical materialism, and revolutionary leaders (Che Guevara, Fidel, and Trotsky) in simplified, childlike interpretations.

• God appears as a comforting figure who encourages her to become a prophet — showing her innocence and desire to help people.

• Her relationship with God begins to weaken as politics becomes more violent and confusing.

• Cinema Rex fire: 400 people die after the theater is locked and burned; the Shah’s regime blames “terrorists,” but people know it was the secret police (Savak).

• Mass protests erupt; Marji wants to join, but her parents insist she is too young.

• Panels show Marji’s frustration at being excluded from “real revolution,” emphasizing her longing for purpose and involvement.

• The chapter contrasts idealistic revolution (Marji’s imagination) with real bloodshed happening in the streets.

In The Bicycle, Marjane compares the revolution to a stopped bicycle, as it is extremely unbalanced and overloaded, which then reflects on her growing awareness of Iran’s past revolutions and injustices, her admiration for revolutionaries like Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, and her realization that true change requires both sacrifice and collective movement in this society.

3. Chapter 3(The Water Cell):

• Marji romanticizes her family’s history, imagining a noble lineage, until her parents tell her the harsh truth about Iran’s monarchy.

• Learns that the Shah was not chosen by God but installed by British intervention for oil interests.

• First exposure to political propaganda: what she learns in school contradicts reality.

• Her father explains that Marji’s grandfather was a prince whose wealth was taken when his father (the old emperor) was overthrown.

• Her grandfather became a communist, imprisoned and tortured by being locked in a water-filled cell daily.

• Marji imagines the torture literally — highlighting a child’s inability to process suffering abstractly.

• Begins to understand the brutality behind political power and the trauma within her own family.

• Recognizes that even those who fought for justice suffered severe consequences under the Shah’s dictatorship.

• Breaks down emotionally after hearing her grandfather’s story, marking her first personal confrontation with political violence.

• God appears less frequently — she starts to feel the weight of human suffering over divine comfort.

• Theme: disillusionment — Marji begins realizing the world is not morally simple or divinely guided.

In the third chapter of Persepolis, Marjane particularly presents the demonstration that her parents were involved in, which then shows that Iran’s political history is filled with lies, oppression, and foreign interference. These truths exposes Marji to the truth of the Iranian government: dictatorship, class upheaval, and state violence.

Themes: Nationalism, Heroism and Martyrdom, Modernity vs Tradition, Oppression vs Freedom, Contradictions, Gender Inequality, Identity,

• Marjane's Family -> Contradictory messages of Shahs overthrow

  • Anger to the atrocities and perpetration

  • raise her daughters humane and loving

Chapter 5:" The Letter":

Satrapi shows the theme of contradiction through the portrayal of Ebi Satrapi in the chapter "the letter" as someone who embraces traditional social class mindset while demonstrating for equality as a portrayal of Marxism against inequality of social class.

How: "Dad are you for or against social classes" exclamatory speech bubble -> emotional, confusion , directly addresses the contradiction between their parents' beliefs and the mindset of traditional social classes, as the doctrine they are fighting for.

The contradiction shows that the Satrapi family has somewhat double standards for Marxism, as they demonstrate for equity between the social classes, while they stand amongst the upper class, and on the other hand further inheriting the traditional mindsets of social class specific towards Merhi's relationship.

Why: This .... contradicts the idea of himself of being a member of a secular family which intends to oppose traditional Iranian values.

-> authorial choice -> ironic | Theme of Martyrdom

-> Effect: Citizens are claiming involvement in the revolutionary efforts when they were bystanders - reducing the significance of the sacrifice the real martyrs made?

Contextual Link:

• How does Marjane Satrapi present heroes and why are they significant to Marji?

• How does Marjane Satrapi present Uncle Anoosh and why is he significant to Marji?

Chapters 7 & 8: Heroes and Uncle Anoosh

Iran: And Islamic Republic

Theocratic Republic: Constitution denotes the ruler of the state is best qualified to interpret Islam and ensure people of the state strictly adhere to the principles of the Shia Islamic Religious Practices

Martyr:

A person who is killed or suffers greatly for a belief/ causes.

e.g Civil rights leader was a martyr for the cause of equality

Traditionally, Martyrdom is considered to apply to those who die in battle -- Holy Jihad

Q: Why a

Satrapi first introduces the regime’s enforcements through the introduction of veils to women and forcibly takes away the agency of identity. In the first chapter “the Veil”, Satrapi introduces readers to her younger self in the very first page: “10 years old” i and “in the 1980s”, where as the close up in the single panel of her wearing the veil which later pans to a row of young Iranian girls introduced by Satrapis as her friends – however, all wearing veils. This movement of focus from an individual to a collective perspective makes the reader's perspective change from the focus of an individual wearing the veil to a majority of individuals wearing the veil. The veil here is representing the oppressive product of the Iranian Revolution as it strips away individuality and creates uniformity among individuals (women, here in specific). This message is further amplified by the transition showing that the takeaway of agency has not only affected an individual, but the collective group of Iranian women in the society, showing the wide range of impact on how women in the Iranian society lose their individuality, in which veils isn’t only just a piece of clothing, but a crucial tool used by the ‘revolutionary’ culture to gain total control over citizens’ identity represented by the young girls in this scenario. Furthermore, When Marjane says, “We didn’t really like to wear the veil, especially since we didn’t understand why we had to,” Satrapi’s childlike narration contrasts innocence with irrational authority. The teacher’s command to separate the girls and boys at school, combined with the visual separation of panels, reinforces the fragmentation of society under ideological control. Satrapi highlights how even female enforcers perpetuate their own oppression, enforcing the veil not out of belief but submission. This potentially makes readers recognize that control operates through ordinary citizens, making the regime’s influence deeply personal and inescapable.This reflects Satrapi’s thesis that the fundamentalist regime dehumanises people through fear and religious distortion—turning everyday citizens into figures of repression, especially against women.

In “The Bicycle,” Satrapi broadens her critique of ideological enforcement by portraying teachers and revolutionary figures as instruments of indoctrination who manipulate youthful idealism. Through symbolic imagery, irony, and childlike narration, she reveals how education and religion are weaponised to produce obedience rather than understanding. When Marjane’s teacher instructs the class to demonstrate loyalty to the revolution, the students chant, “The King of Kings was chosen by God,” then later denounce him using the same rhythmic structure. In the same chapter, Marjane’s fascination with figures like Che Guevara and Fidel Castro—whom she calls her “prophets”—is shown through comic panels depicting her imaginary conversations with God and revolutionary leaders. Satrapi employs repetition and parallel phrasing as a comic device to underscore how slogans replace independent thought. The identical sentence structures of the children’s chants, despite opposite meanings, satirise how indoctrination teaches obedience to sound, not substance. The panels’ visual symmetry of the rows of children speaking in unison within confined frames further symbolises regimentation. The exaggerated uniformity of their faces, all drawn with blank eyes and identical expressions, highlights the loss of individuality.Satrapi’s tone remains gently humorous yet sharply critical. The humour arises from the absurdity of young children reciting complex political rhetoric they cannot possibly understand. This dramatic irony as the reader recognises the manipulation while Marjane innocently participates creates both empathy and discomfort. By filtering these events through a child’s perspective, Satrapi exposes how innocence becomes the target of ideological conditioning. The parallel scene of Marjane conversing with God and her imaginary revolutionaries uses allegorical visualisation to illustrate her internal struggle: faith and rebellion blend into one, showing how propaganda confuses spiritual conviction with political zeal. The black-and-white contrast in these frames where Marjane is drawn in pure white surrounded by dark abstract backgrounds symbolises her purity of intention clashing with the ideological darkness consuming her world. The humour and irony in “The Bicycle” therefore serve not to entertain but to expose the tragedy of indoctrination: a society where faith, knowledge, and identity are all rewritten to preserve obedience, perfectly aligning with Satrapi’s thesis that the regime’s enforcers embody moral corruption and the distortion of truth.

Across the first three chapters of Persepolis“The Veil,” “The Bicycle,” and “The Water Cell”, Satrapi constructs a layered portrayal of the fundamentalist regime’s enforcers as symbols of fear, hypocrisy, and dehumanisation. In “The Veil,” ordinary women and teachers become instruments of control, enforcing religious conformity on others while losing their individuality. In “The Bicycle,” the repetition of political chants and the ironic depiction of Marjane’s childish enthusiasm expose how education and faith are manipulated to indoctrinate the young. Finally, “The Water Cell” connects these personal experiences to a broader historical cycle of violence, revealing that repression persists regardless of who holds power. 

Meaning: Bram (author of the article) argues that America's pro national movement isn't focused on solving demographic decline, however more about restoring traditional power around superiorities of race, wealth, gender, and ideology. He hopes readers can understand the warning he gives out as political and technological efforts to control reproduction echoing past eugenic qualities of society

Audience: the readers of the Economist, specifically those whom are concerned or follows the development of the country, especially those who value rational argument and are aware of the Pro-national movements that the US government has taken into action

Purpose: To expose the contradictions and latent dangers of the pro-natalist agenda while maintaining a façade of detached reportage, encouraging readers to reflect critically on the political manipulation of demographic anxiety.

Style/ Structure:

Structure: Alternates between anecdotal narrative (Tim, the Collins family) and political commentary, mirroring the tension between individual stories and collective ideology.

Tone: Ironically detached, subtly mocking, yet increasingly cautionary

Stylistic Devices:
Irony and understatement -> “breeding at scale” and “fertilization president” parody the absurd grandiosity of MAGA figures.

Juxtaposition -> contrasts religious piety with corporate opportunism.
Characterization -> humanizes extremists to expose their contradictions.
Allusion -> to The Handmaid’s Tale, evoking dystopian gender control.
Imagery -> yellow wristbands, milkmaid bonnets, and buzzing conference halls evoke both comedy and unease.

Section 2: Meaning and Interpretation:

Bram wants readers to see through the pro-natalist movement’s façade of moral urgency and recognise it as a projection of fear and control. Although the article never explicitly mocks its subjects, his tone invites readers to feel a blend of amusement, disbelief, and discomfort, prompting reflection on how easily radical ideas can be normalised under the guise of intellectual or religious virtue.

His ironic detachment allows the movement’s contradictions to speak for themselves, and the more absurd the events become, the less he needs to intervene as a narrator. By portraying figures like Tim Adkinson and the Collins family with a mixture of empathy and irony, Bram constructs an atmosphere where sincerity and extremism blur together. Readers are thus positioned to question the moral seriousness of those who equate declining birth rates with the collapse of civilisation.

He achieves this effect through careful orchestration of tone and structure. His reporting style is studiedly neutral, stating things like "breeding at scale" and "fertilisation president" without comment. The result is deadpan irony undercutting the inflated rhetoric of the MAGA politics and Silicon Valley ambition. Its structure works in anecdote versus analysis, moving seamlessly from the personal into the political-an echo of the tension between conviction at the level of the individual and collective ideology. The journalist's restraint works as quiet satire: instead of condemning his subjects, he lets their language reveal the irrationality and moral inconsistency that underlies their positions. His calm, observational diction, typical for The Economist, heightens the contrast between his rational voice and the fervor of those he describes, reinforcing intellectual authority and exposing self-delusion at the heart of this movement.

Bram’s authority rests on this composure. He builds credibility through precision, balance, and the strategic inclusion of experts—economists, demographers, and policy analysts—whose perspectives provide a counterweight to the conference’s ideological fervour. Yet this authority is not used to dominate the narrative but to frame the extremism with quiet irony. The rational tone itself becomes a tool of critique: by speaking with the calm of reason, Bram emphasises the irrationalism of the MAGA pro-natalist alliance. His journalistic voice, measured but edged with disbelief, allows readers to draw their own conclusions while sensing his skepticism beneath the surface. Beneath this tonal subtlety lies a clear ideological stance. Bram’s writing is anchored in a liberal humanist worldview that upholds individual freedom, diversity, and scientific integrity. He implicitly critiques any ideology—religious, technological, or nationalist—that seeks to dictate reproduction as a means of preserving cultural or racial dominance. Through understated satire, he exposes how the rhetoric of “civilization” and “family values” often masks nostalgia for social hierarchies of the past. His moral centre lies in sceptisizm toward certainty, urging readers to resist movements that disguise control as moral revival. The cumulative tone of irony, restraint, and quiet alarm positions Bram not only as a reporter but as a moral observer, warning of how fear and ideology can distort even the most human of acts—bringing life into the world.

In the economic article "Make America procreate again: among the MAGA fertility fanatics" published by The Economist article, Bram adopts a tone of ironic and understandible language to construct easily understandable satire to critique America's Pro-Nationalist movements, and portrays it as a fusion of ideology and unrealistic approach towards modern society. Bram exposes this through examples given out initially in the article, along with a controlled, neutrally absurd language, he further exposes how the alliance between MAGA conservatives and Silicon Valley technocrats weaponizes the demographic fear of realizing visions of race, gender, and civiliaztion

ACT:

Catch up on your Cornell Notes.

By now you have completed responses to:

Chapters 10! Up unti The Trip chapter.

resignation(n): Acceptance of something difficult or unpleasant without protest.

initiation(n): A ceremony or process that marks someone’s entry into a group, stage, or new phase of life.

console(v): To comfort someone who is upset or distressed.

bearable(adj): Tolerable; able to be endured.

What type of person does the Iranian government target for recruitment into the military? Why?

They target poor, uneducated boys from lower-income neighborhoods. The government knows these boys are vulnerable and more easily manipulated, convincing them with religious promises (heaven, keys to paradise) and material incentives (plastic keys, propaganda, gifts). They are seen as more willing to sacrifice themselves in war.

What is “Kansas”?

“Kansas” is the nickname for a Western-style, American-influenced burger restaurant that Marji and her friends love. It’s known for symbolizing a small escape into Western culture in an otherwise heavily restricted society.

What self-destructive action does Marji commit in the basement?

She smokes a cigarette that she steals from her uncle. This act is symbolic—she says she wants to “kiss childhood goodbye” and prove that she is now “a grownup.” It’s a personal rebellion against the constraints around her.

Repression:

• Synonym: 'suppression'

  • Suppression in Identity, Impact on Freedom

• Religious Repression

  • Following a religion that you don't believe in

  • Resulting in hiding beliefs

Contradiction -- Change in belief/ religious suppression:

• Family Dependence

  • Diminishes roles of parental authority

• Potential Conflict

  -> parent's model rebellious behavior, as a catalyst

• Parents -> setting role models of 'rebellion'

• internalizing the idea of rebelling expectations

P117 irony:

• She says smoking marks her transition into adulthood, but she coughs, chokes, and clearly hates it. This shows she’s still a child.

• She performs the act to feel powerful, but in reality she is completely powerless against the war, the regime, and her own emotions.

• She believes the cigarette makes her independent, yet the act is actually driven by peer pressure and copying others.

• She smokes to rebel against oppression, but the cigarette itself becomes a symbol of how she is still trying to escape her environment.

• She says she is “kissing childhood goodbye,” but the panel shows her doing it in a secret corner like a mischievous kid.

Marji’s cigarette is meant to be her first adult act, but its immaturity, secrecy, and physical discomfort make the moment the exact opposite, which is what creates the irony.

Tyshea Holden • 8:41 AM

The symbolism of the cigarette - an individual's resistance is ultimately insignificant against the repressive powers! 
It does not have the power to alter the Islamic fundamentalist laws.


However, if there is a collective resistance - it reduces the power of the laws. 

It takes an individual to initiate a collective act!! 

As a result of feeling repressed, this act of smoking the cigarette serves as an act of individuality, maturation (no longer innocent), and perhaps even self-preservation - her freedom, and her family values are restricted by the regime. 

Ironically, her freedom is also restricted by her family - labels her mother a "dictator" - use of the language of oppression. Repression occurs at both a personal and political level!!  Yet it is ironically (visually) presented in that Marji's own posture/gestures mirrors that of a dictator! 

The Islamic fundamentalist's repressive regimes has intensified by this point in the text -  far more theocratic now than at the beginning - the repression plays out through the media/ the public scrutiny - "the guardians of the regime". The family having to conceal their values/shrouding their culture/values in darkness (hidden behind the cultures). 

An alternative interpretation... as Marji matures, and comes of age, she bears witness to the society around her, and becomes more aware of the insititutiions that affect this change!

• Western Products

  • Clothing

  • Shoes

  • Jackets

• Western Music

  • Iron Maiden

  • Kim Wilde

  • Michael Jackson

With out note and materials(only 10 bullet points)

Picking A Problem: What it is -> what impacts does it have on people -> how is it shown in the extract.

Explain how the global issues supported and explained by your extract.

Only chose the literary work that you studied

Q&A sessions from your teacher-prompt to be helpful in developing your Criteria A&B

All four criteria worth 40 points.(C&D is fixed before the Q&A, A and B= presentation and Q&A)

Intro-1min

Extract1-2min

Wider work-2min-show engagement with Whole text

Extract2-2min

Wider Bow-2min

Closing-1min

The regime intensifies its strategy of strict social control: more morality patrols, more arrests for “improper” clothing, and harsher enforcement of Islamic rules. Marji jokes that Iranians “have no sense of direction,” meaning the country swings from one extreme (Western modernity) to the opposite (fundamentalism). She portrays her father as clever and calm, able to talk his way out of danger when the Guardians stop their car, while her mother is anxious but fiercely protective always trying to shield Marji from the regime’s punishments and from emotional harm.

What did the sirens signify? What does Marji realize for the first time? What does this show?

The sirens warn of incoming Iraqi missile attacks. When Marji hears them, she realizes for the first time that the war is not abstract as it is happening directly to her city and could destroy her home at any moment. This marks a shift from fear in theory to fear in lived experience, showing how the war forces Marji to confront mortality and instability far earlier than a child should.

How does the picture at the top of page 137 reflect the mood? Where does Marji’s only hope lie?

The drawing shows dark, jagged shapes of explosions and buildings under attack. The heavy black ink and chaotic lines convey a feeling of suffocation, fear, and chaos. Despite this, Marji’s only hope lies in small pleasures like music and Western culture as symbolized by her Kim Wilde and Iron Maiden tapes, which give her a sense of freedom that the outside world denies her.

What motivated the Baba-Levy family to stay in Iran? Why is this unusual? What was Neda’s dream? What ultimately happens to her and her family?

The Baba-Levys stay because they believe danger exists everywhere and because Iran is the only home they’ve ever known even though as a Jewish family, they face additional risks. Neda dreams of becoming an artist and living a creative life, but this dream ends tragically when their home is bombed. Marji finds Neda’s turquoise bracelet still attached to her arm in the rubble showing how the war destroys not only bodies but futures and dreams.

What happened to Iran’s economy during the war? Is this unusual?

The economy collapses under the war: inflation rises, shortages increase, and goods become expensive or unavailable. This is not unusual in wartime, as resources are redirected to the military and daily life becomes dominated by scarcity. People must stand in long lines for food and basic supplies, showing how deeply the war affects even ordinary routines.

How does Marji’s mother attempt to protect her daughter? How does Marji discover the truth? What does the final frame on page 142 reflect?

Marji’s mother hides the true horror of the missile strike and Neda’s death to protect Marji emotionally. However, Marji sees the destroyed house with her own eyes and finds Neda’s bracelet, forcing her to confront the reality of the war. The final frame shows Marji standing in shock, her eyes wide and empty symbolizing a loss of innocence and the moment she fully understands the brutality of the world around her.

In this extract from Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi reveals the traumatic effects of war on ordinary civilians, particularly children, by depicting the aftermath of a bombing.

This panel powerfully illustrates how political conflict between nations inflicts deep emotional damage on individuals who are not involved in the violence, reflecting the broader global issue of how war devastates civilian lives on both sides.

Context of the Panel:

• This extract shows Marji discovering Neda’s turquoise bracelet in the rubble after a bombing

• Satrapi uses this moment to expose how war destroys innocent civilian lives and childhood safety

Literary Features

• First-person narration:

  • Makes the trauma personal and intimate.

• Symbolism – the turquoise bracelet:

  • Represents Neda’s identity, innocence, and childhood.

  • War is shown not as abstract destruction but the loss of individual lives.

• Use of Ellipsis:

  • “The bracelet was still attached to… I don’t know what…”

  • The unsaid reveals the horror; trauma becomes indescribable.

• Understatement:

  • “No scream in the world…” conveys extreme emotional paralysis.

Graphic Features

• Rubble imagery:

  • Shows the physical destruction of civilian homes by political violence.

• Negative space:

  • Characters appear small -> symbolises powerlessness in war.

• Final black panel:

  • Represents emotional blackout, grief, and the psychological void left by trauma.

  • One of the most powerful visual symbols of loss in the memoir.

Connection to Global Issue

• Satrapi uses one child’s death to expose the broader, global reality:

  • civilians are the primary victims of political conflict;

  • children lose safety, innocence, and emotional security;

  • war turns personal lives into silent tragedies.

• Significant wide and large scale

• Transnational (Felt in many countries)

• Impact in local contexts

e.g.

Authoritarian Regimes -> Impact on Children -> Trauma as a result

Thesis Statement:

My global issue is ..... :the traumatic effect growing up in an authoritarian regime on innocent children

In the airport farewell extract from The Dowry, Satrapi presents displacement as a direct consequence of an oppressive political system, showing how the regime's control forces individuals into flee for survival. Marji’s departure is not a voluntary migration but a forced separation between what she called home, which is driven by the regime’s punishment of intellectual freedom. This moment captures the physical displacement, while at the same time revealing the emotional and psychological breakdown experienced by both Marji and her family.

Satrapi conveys the message of physical displacement through visuals and narrative techniques. In the scene where Marji's family's final moment before the departure of Iran, Marji is visually positioned

• Western Education

  • Expelled from a Fundamentalist Schools

• Non-Conformists

Displacement:

• Forced to flee from home Country

  • Status Change: Civilian -> Refugee/ Migrant

  • Identity

• BBC: a British public service broadcaster, majorly read by for educated British audience: Educated middle-class audience, readily available online

• Not behind subscription, free for everyone -> lower quality

• Digital Format: Online readers that shows interest towards Middle Eastern situations .

• Shorter News Body Structure: Recent, sensational news report -> short analytical political updates -> lower quality

Purpose:

• Written and Edited by Roja Assadiand Sarah Namjoo

• Central Purpose: Presents the ultimate fracturing of security in Iran and the severeness of protests across the country.

• Provides Context for audience on the war zone and conflict, through direct reported speeches reflects the brutal reality of what protests and violence looks like within the conflicts, giving beyond official statements

• Raising awareness of specific conflicts. By reporting about the relentlessness of the conflicts and first hand reactions, the BBC implements this as pathos in subjective senses of zooming in

Meaning :

• Literal Meaning:

  • The article mainly revolves around direct inter views and report views and the civilians reaction towards the ongoing violence through interviews

  • Presents the 'realistic' first hand reactions with people impacted directly by the violence of conflict and protests

• Wider Message:

  • Show the inability of government and country in maintaining safety of civilians

  • Invites audience to criticize unethical conflicts that put civilians lives in danger

Style:

• Language:

  • Repeated Usages of 'kill'

  • Generally plain and simple choices of words

  • Vague language usage

  • frequent reference of quotes from civilians

• Tone:

  • Seriousness

  • Controlled objectiveness however uses specific evidence to lean towards opposing violence and criticism towards the conflict.

    • Narrative sections -> neutral, report-like

    • Eyewitness quotes -> emotional, urgent, personal

• Stylistic Devices:

(language/ tone / stylistics devices)

Context

it was written during the 2012 siege of Homs, amid the early stages of the Syrian Civil War, when government forces were systematically shelling rebel-held civilian areas such as Baba Amr. It was produced under extreme conditions where medical infrastructure had collapsed and foreign journalists were largely banned. The article documents events as they occur, heightening its immediacy and reliability as eyewitness reporting. Its publication in The Sunday Times situates it within Western international journalism aimed at exposing humanitarian crises abroad.

- “There is no doctor to treat them.” - Highlights the total breakdown of civilian infrastructure. The blunt declarative sentence emphasizes absence and abandonment, reinforcing the severity of the context

- “Relentless bombardment.” - the adjective “relentless” suggests continuity and inevitability, framing the siege as sustained and inescapable rather than sporadic.

Audience

The intended audience is a Western, middle-class readership with limited direct exposure to war. These readers are likely accustomed to distant, political summaries of conflict rather than intimate human accounts. The article is tailored to readers who value credibility and empathy, using personal stories to bridge emotional and geographical distance between Syria and the West.

- “Wounded civilians arriving at a makeshift clinic.” - the phrase “makeshift clinic” contrasts sharply with Western expectations of healthcare, helping the audience visualize deprivation.

- “In the sitting room of a house.” - domestic imagery personalizes the conflict and allows readers to imagine war invading ordinary, familiar spaces

Meaning

The central meaning is that war devastates civilian life beyond the battlefield, forcing ordinary people into unimaginable roles and conditions. The image of a veterinarian acting as the only medical professional highlights the complete breakdown of civil society. Civilians are shown as helpless victims of indiscriminate violence, suffering injuries normally associated with combatants. The article emphasizes that survival, not ideology, defines daily life in Homs

- “Relying on a vet to save their lives.” - The verb “relying” underscores desperation, while the profession “vet” symbolizes societal breakdown.

- “Life-threatening wounds.” Medical diction emphasizes severity and realism, reinforcing the idea that civilians suffer injuries equivalent to soldiers.

Purpose

Colvin’s purpose is to humanize the Syrian conflict and expose its humanitarian cost. By naming individuals and detailing their suffering, she transforms abstract war into personal tragedy.

- “Mohammed Mohammed, a 32-year-old mobile phone repairman.”

- “Terror filled Mohammed’s eyes.” - Emotional lexis shifts focus from physical injury to psychological trauma, deepening reader empathy

Style

The style is restrained, factual, and compassionate, combining clinical detail with emotional impact. Colvin avoids sensationalism while still confronting readers with brutality.

“Inserted a tube into his chest to siphon off blood.” - clinical precision enhances credibility and realism, making the suffering undeniable.

“Sniper fire” / “shell fire.” - repeated violent lexis reinforces the omnipresence of danger without exaggeration

Bombs Fell Like Rain. You Could Only Pray

Context

This article is also set during the 2012 siege of Homs, but focuses more intensely on the psychological and emotional toll of sustained bombardment. Written during escalating violence and increasing civilian deaths, it captures a moment of collective fear and paralysis. The circumstances of production include constant shelling, mass casualties, and limited access to verified information, reinforcing the danger and urgency surrounding the report.

- “More than 200 lives.” - quantification establishes scale and urgency, grounding emotion in fact.

- “A night of terror.”

t

Audience

The article targets a Western readership seeking to understand not just what is happening in Syria, but what it feels like to live through it. It is aimed at readers who may intellectually understand war but lack emotional proximity to it.Language is adapted to make the experience accessible and emotionally resonant for those far removed from the conflict

-“You could only pray.” - directly positions the reader inside the experience and intensifying engagement.

- “Residents described.”- reliance on civilian testimony, reinforcing authenticity and human focus.

Meaning

The article conveys that war creates a state of total helplessness, where civilians lose agency, safety, and certainty. The recurring imagery of bombardment and fear emphasizes that violence is inescapable and random.

Civilians are portrayed as psychologically trapped, reduced to praying rather than acting. The article suggests that fear itself becomes a permanent condition of life under siege

- “Bombs fell like rain.” - The simile naturalizes violence, suggesting it is constant, uncontrollable, and unavoidable.

- “Did not know where they would fall.” - emphasizes randomness and unpredictability, reinforcing civilian vulnerability.

Purpose

Colvin’s purpose is to convey the psychological terror of modern warfare, not merely its physical destruction. By emphasizing fear, chaos, and emotional exhaustion, she seeks to deepen reader understanding of war’s long-term human impact. The article also functions as a warning against the normalization of civilian suffering in conflict reporting

Style

The style is intense, emotive, and immersive. Colvin uses figurative language, such as the simile “bombs fell like rain,” to convey overwhelming and continuous violence. Short sentences and vivid imagery increase urgency and tension. The tone is bleak and powerless, reflecting the emotional state of civilians. First-hand accounts and sensory details strengthen authenticity and emotional impact.

Criterion A:

- You initially present an interesting idea about physical and emotional separation.

- To strengthen this, you need to make explicit how this separation directly links back to your stated global issue, rather than leaving the connection implied.

- Ensure that each point you make clearly reinforces how Satrapi is exploring the global issue through this idea.

Criterion B:

- You need to identify and name the specific visual methods Satrapi uses to convey visual isolation, rather than discussing this in broad terms.

- For example, you should explicitly refer to techniques such as heavy graphic weight, the use of negative space, and framing, and explain how each method shapes meaning and impacts the reader. At present, these techniques are described generally but not clearly identified or analysed.

Meaning: Bram (author of the article) argues that America's pro national movement isn't focused on solving demographic decline, however more about restoring traditional power around superiorities of race, wealth, gender, and ideology. He hopes readers can understand the warning he gives out as political and technological efforts to control reproduction echoing past eugenic qualities of society

Audience: the readers of the Economist, specifically those whom are concerned or follows the development of the country, especially those who value rational argument and are aware of the Pro-national movements that the US government has taken into action

Purpose: To expose the contradictions and latent dangers of the pro-natalist agenda while maintaining a façade of detached reportage, encouraging readers to reflect critically on the political manipulation of demographic anxiety.

Style/ Structure:

Structure: Alternates between anecdotal narrative (Tim, the Collins family) and political commentary, mirroring the tension between individual stories and collective ideology.

Tone: Ironically detached, subtly mocking, yet increasingly cautionary

Stylistic Devices:
Irony and understatement -> “breeding at scale” and “fertilization president” parody the absurd grandiosity of MAGA figures.

Juxtaposition -> contrasts religious piety with corporate opportunism.
Characterization -> humanizes extremists to expose their contradictions.
Allusion -> to The Handmaid’s Tale, evoking dystopian gender control.
Imagery -> yellow wristbands, milkmaid bonnets, and buzzing conference halls evoke both comedy and unease.

Section 2: Meaning and Interpretation:

Bram wants readers to see through the pro-natalist movement’s façade of moral urgency and recognise it as a projection of fear and control. Although the article never explicitly mocks its subjects, his tone invites readers to feel a blend of amusement, disbelief, and discomfort, prompting reflection on how easily radical ideas can be normalised under the guise of intellectual or religious virtue.

His ironic detachment allows the movement’s contradictions to speak for themselves, and the more absurd the events become, the less he needs to intervene as a narrator. By portraying figures like Tim Adkinson and the Collins family with a mixture of empathy and irony, Bram constructs an atmosphere where sincerity and extremism blur together. Readers are thus positioned to question the moral seriousness of those who equate declining birth rates with the collapse of civilisation.

He achieves this effect through careful orchestration of tone and structure. His reporting style is studiedly neutral, stating things like "breeding at scale" and "fertilisation president" without comment. The result is deadpan irony undercutting the inflated rhetoric of the MAGA politics and Silicon Valley ambition. Its structure works in anecdote versus analysis, moving seamlessly from the personal into the political-an echo of the tension between conviction at the level of the individual and collective ideology. The journalist's restraint works as quiet satire: instead of condemning his subjects, he lets their language reveal the irrationality and moral inconsistency that underlies their positions. His calm, observational diction, typical for The Economist, heightens the contrast between his rational voice and the fervor of those he describes, reinforcing intellectual authority and exposing self-delusion at the heart of this movement.

Bram’s authority rests on this composure. He builds credibility through precision, balance, and the strategic inclusion of experts—economists, demographers, and policy analysts—whose perspectives provide a counterweight to the conference’s ideological fervour. Yet this authority is not used to dominate the narrative but to frame the extremism with quiet irony. The rational tone itself becomes a tool of critique: by speaking with the calm of reason, Bram emphasises the irrationalism of the MAGA pro-natalist alliance. His journalistic voice, measured but edged with disbelief, allows readers to draw their own conclusions while sensing his skepticism beneath the surface. Beneath this tonal subtlety lies a clear ideological stance. Bram’s writing is anchored in a liberal humanist worldview that upholds individual freedom, diversity, and scientific integrity. He implicitly critiques any ideology—religious, technological, or nationalist—that seeks to dictate reproduction as a means of preserving cultural or racial dominance. Through understated satire, he exposes how the rhetoric of “civilization” and “family values” often masks nostalgia for social hierarchies of the past. His moral centre lies in sceptisizm toward certainty, urging readers to resist movements that disguise control as moral revival. The cumulative tone of irony, restraint, and quiet alarm positions Bram not only as a reporter but as a moral observer, warning of how fear and ideology can distort even the most human of acts—bringing life into the world.

In the economic article "Make America procreate again: among the MAGA fertility fanatics" published by The Economist article, Bram adopts a tone of ironic and understandible language to construct easily understandable satire to critique America's Pro-Nationalist movements, and portrays it as a fusion of ideology and unrealistic approach towards modern society. Bram exposes this through examples given out initially in the article, along with a controlled, neutrally absurd language, he further exposes how the alliance between MAGA conservatives and Silicon Valley technocrats weaponizes the demographic fear of realizing visions of race, gender, and civiliaztion

ACT NOW:

• Prioritizing temporary sensation

• Exaggeration in Language

• Emotional Manipulative

• Neglected

Specific Devices:

• Large headlines

• Rhetoric Questions

• Emotive Language

• Graphical Impacting

• Colorful

Rhetoric appeals: Pathos, Logos, Ethos

Exaggeration: caricature and hyperboles

Ultimate Purpose of War Reporting(Colvin's):

Focus:

• What is her purpose of the articles?

• What effect does her diction make?

• What type of tone does she use?

  • Describing citizens?

  • Describing the government?

• Sensationalism?

• In what type of perspective is her report in?

• What are some descriptive elements she uses to achieve her purpose

• What context is she situated in?

• What types of details does she tend to focus on to achieve her effect?

• How does she use the title to achieve a certain purpose

Evidence:

• Declarative Titles

• Subject she tends to zoom in on

• Her Testimony: creating narrative

• Use of Figurative language: Symbolism

• Sensationalist Reporting

  • Pathos

    • Depiction of violence

    • suffering

  • Choice of Evidence

    • interviews on civilians

    • Descriptive in Suffering

    • Quotes

• Critical Tone in commenting upon governments

  • Creates contrast

Literal: The article reports from inside Baba Amr, a besieged district in Homs, Syria, during the uprising against President Assad. Civilians are trapped under relentless shelling by Syrian government forces.

Key literal realities:

• Homes destroyed by rockets and mortar shells

• Civilians hiding in basements (“widows’ basement”)

• Lack of food (sugar, water), electricity, telephones

• Snipers targeting civilians

• Hospitals overwhelmed, no anaesthetic

• Civilians begging the world to intervene

Depiction of:

• State-led military violence against civilians

• Collapse of infrastructure

• Psychological trauma

• International inaction

Primary Audience:

• British middle-class newspaper readers (Sunday Times readership)

• Western public with limited first-hand exposure to the Syrian conflict

• International policymakers

• Human rights activists

• Readers are geographically distant from the conflict

• Readers need emotional engagement to care

• Readers may influence political pressure through awareness

Purpose:

1. To expose the humanitarian catastrophe inside Baba Amhr.

2. To humanize the victims of war.

3. To critique international inaction.

4. To generate moral urgency.

5. To apply indirect pressure on Assad’s regime.

“Please tell the world to help us. Just stop the bombing.” -> directly constructs the article as a moral appeal.

Stylistic Devices:

1. Symbolism

• “Widows’ basement” → Symbol of collective female suffering and abandonment.

• Basement → darkness, entrapment, lack of escape.

• Collapsed buildings → collapse of state and order.

2. Lexical Field of Death & Injury

• “mortar shell”

• “bloody chunks”

• “amputated”

• “collapsed”

• “massacre”

• “snipers”

• “shelling”

creates scenes of violence, death and destruction

"Examine the ways in which the global issue of your choice is presented through the content and form of one of the [literary] works and one of the [non-literary] works that you have studied"

"The Second Coming"

• ‘The Second Coming’ was written in Europe in 1919 by William Butler Yeats. Yeats wrote as a response to the atmosphere of post-war Europe, a time of great instability. 
  

• In the poem, the speaker imagines a future affected by war. Yeats may have been expressing his and others’ fear of their world ‘spinning out of control,’ as the poem describes.

Part 1:

• Main character: Okwonko, winning wrestling match and earned reputation in being tough

• Contrast in Father (Musician, in debt of the entire village/clan)

• Guardian of Ikemefuna (Okwonkos Foster Son -> as a compensation of murder in the neighboring clan)

• Nwoye (biggest son of Okwonko) ->

• Okwonko wants to kill ikemefuna

• Uzudu (old age death) -> ceremony of his death: Okwonko accidentally kills U Ezeudu's son -> 7 years of exile

Part 2:

• Given cursed land -> however much of

• Arrival missionaries: White men village Umbanta -> engaging in construction of churches because

  
  

Part 3:

• Missionary expands from a small group, establishes more property

• Tortured Okwonko in missioner jails -> members of the Klan are imprisoned: Egwugu process have been disturbed, Missionaries break the ritural by taking their mask off, klan members retaliate

• (3->District Commisioner: Comissioner takes over narrative perspective, leaning in tradition of narration of travels in the victorian period) Okwonko: Hangs himself because the guardians of the klan doesn't fight back -> buried in the forest same as his father [dramatic irony]

• “He was a loafer” (pg. 5) - lacks a work ethic / lazy / leisurely / lack of contribution to wider society 

• “Unoeka was poor and his wife and children had barely enough to eat.” (pg. 5)  - Unable to feed or provide for his family.  (patriarchal masculinity) 

• “He was a debtor” (pg. 4) - the extent to which he owes money is wide ranging (the whole society) - untrustworthy / does not keep his word - as a result is not respected. - in turn, his reputation as a failure is felt across the whole society (personal level)

• “He was in fact a coward” → “he could not bear the sight of blood” (pg. 6) 

• Flute - travelling band - music/language? 

• Associated with proverbs / partake in the art of conversation 

• “Tall” 

• “Very thin”

• “Slight stoop” 

• “Blessedness and peace” 

  
  

Okonkwo’s Characteristics:

→“Okonkwo was a wealthy farmer and had two barns full of yams, and had just married his third wife.”  - Okonkwo as the PROVIDER (patriarchal masculinity) pg. 8 

→ Okonkwo’s fame - which is felt widely across the society (“the nine villages”) 

→ “one of the greatest men of his time…” (pg. 8) / “he had shown incredible prowess in two inter-tribal wars.” (pg. 8) 

“He had a slight stammer” / “whenever he was angry…could not get his words out… he would use his fists.” 

“He had a slight stammer” / “whenever he was angry…could not get his words out… he would use his fists.” 

• Flaw  

• “Tall” 

• “Huge”

• “Severe” 

• Perhaps Achebe employs [literary element] to convey his critique of..."

• Perhaps through the depiction of [character/event], Achebe aims to highlight..."

• By illustrating [scenario], Achebe seeks to expose..."

To Explore Effects on the Reader:

• The portrayal of [character/scene] evokes a sense of… in the reader…

• By presenting [element], Achebe elicits feelings of..."

Additional notes on Setting of a Novel:

• Historical:

  • 1875 - 1904

  • Umuofia: People of the forest (rural way of life)

  • NOT romanticizing the lifestyle -> writing against misrepresentation & Cultural memory

  • sustaining oneself by agricultural labor that

  • Riturals around food

  • Since YAM is difficult: masculinity comes encoded with agricultural ability (settings shaping values)

• Geographical:

  • Rural village

  • Igboland

Persepolis

The Physical Location?

• Macro: Tehran, Iran (located in the Middle East).

• Micro: The setting oscillates between the highly politicized public spaces (the streets, the newly segregated and strictly governed schools) and the private sphere of Marji’s home. The home acts as a sanctuary for Western, Marxist, and intellectual thought, contrasting sharply with the oppressive reality outside its walls.

The Time? What are the particular details of that time?

• Originally published in France in 2000.

• The narrative formally begins in 1980, one year after the 1979 Islamic Revolution

• Time in Persepolis is measured by political upheavals, regime changes, and acts of rebellion. The era is characterized by rapid transitions. Sepcifically the forced closure of bilingual/co-ed schools, the mandatory wearing of the veil, and the violent suppression of protests

The Social Milieu? The social world?

• An urban, modernized society undergoing a brutal shift into a strict Islamic theocracy.

• Marji’s immediate family represents the avant-garde, intellectual, and Marxist middle-to-upper class. They value education, political activism, and Western literature.

• The Social Tension: There is a massive, dangerous schism between private identity and public compliance. The new society is aggressively patriarchal and religiously fundamentalist, forcing progressive citizens to live double lives. Marji herself is caught between two worlds: her deep, childhood spirituality (conversations with God) and her parents' secular, revolutionary politics.

Change - has it changed between the chapters we’ve focused on? (Chapters 1-4)

• Temporal Shifts: Yes, the narrative structure is highly non-linear in these opening chapters. Satrapi uses the exposition to immediately shock the reader with the result of the revolution, before digging into the causes.

  • Chapter 1 ("The Veil") starts in 1980, establishing the current oppressive reality and the loss of childhood innocence.

  • Chapters 2, 3, and 4 then aggressively flash backward—first to 1979 to show the revolutionary fervor ("The Bicycle"), then decades further back to the origins of the Shah's regime and the British intervention ("The Water Cell"), and into her family's specific trauma regarding her grandfather's imprisonment ("Persepolis").

• Purpose of the Shifts: Just as Achebe uses shifts to establish Okonkwo’s trauma regarding his father, Satrapi shifts time to establish Iran's generational trauma and Marji's rich, rebellious lineage.

• Shifting temporal setting -> UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT: It perfectly sets up Marji’s internal conflict (wanting to be a prophet vs. wanting to be a revolutionary like her heroes/family) and the overarching external conflict of citizens battling a cyclical history of oppressive regimes.

Achebe implements the themes in order to depict the igbo culture in order to present the impact of society on peoples' perspectives. For example, in initially introducing the readers to the Igbo society, the author tends depict an agricultural based society, rooting deeply within the expectations of men: strong, masculine, and a strong ability in providing for their own family. Here the introduction of the theme of masculinity is further contrasted with Okonkwo's foil character -- Unoka, Okowonko's father. With all him being a 'loafer', meaning that he lacks ability in producing crops and being called an 'agbla',

“Rot away”

“Cast into” 

“Left”

Umuofians are excluded to the Evil Forest - an inevitable fate? You cannot escape if you are fated to be left there

Quotes:

- "The Evil Forest was where the clan threw all those who died of the swelling sickness... To die of the swelling was an abomination to the earth, and so the victim was not buried in her holy soil. He was left to rot above ground in the Evil Forest"

Significance:

• Setting

• It is represented as a liminal space - a boundary between (good/evil - human/spirit world)

• Supernatural quality to the Evil Forest

• Associated with a COLLECTIVE SHAME and FEAR  

• Associated with death 

• Transcends TIME - everpresent in the Igbo culture - associates it with TRADITION (why Achebe has used a SETTING rather than an individual character to represent this aspect of the Igbo tradition/religion/culture).  

• Physically it is a ‘forest’ - connotations of a forest include: danger/mystery/forces of natural/ominious presence 

• Connotations of “Evil” - supernatural forces/ natural forces - inability to control / inability to fully comprehend 

• Link to theme: FATE  “such was Unoka’s fate” 

Focalisation on Ikemefuna →

Heightens the emotional impact on the reader & Reverts back to state of child-like innocence

Fear of: - perception of weakness -

A fear driven by societal expectations - that valorizes masculinity

• Moderate Masculinity (Warrior)

• Flexible

• Loyal

• Rational

• Considerate

• Trustworthy - Supportive

• Conscientious

Role: Foil Character of Okwonko: Okownko is an extreme mirror of Obierika, and his fate manifests the impacts and aftermath of societal expectation of gender and masculinity.

Narrative: CH13

Focalization on Obierika, used as a focalizer -> interiority

Presentation: Obierika is reflecting on the morality of notions of ‘crime’ and ‘punishment’ within Umuofian culture due to Okonkwo’s accident; questioning/ philosophising the clan’s belief systems and cultural customs - attempting to make sense of it despite it causing suffering

• Ethos vs Logos: Logic wins -> Logical demonstration between customs of what is morally correct and suffering of tradition 'ethos'

• Rational/Thoughtful individual → Succession of rhetorical questions, which leads to a proverb. 

• The structure of the passage resembles a kind of logical argument → can the traditions be ‘justified’ → provision of both sides of the argument → use of persuasive devices to almost convince

• Proverb: Conclusion to Okwonko's exile as a tradition, manifests that despite that thinking on both sides, Obierika still attains the tradition upon, internal conflict among himself -> but still isn't progressive enough to oppose klan rules.

CH15:

Obierika narrates the story of the destruction and annihilation of the tribe Abame. It is narrative-like in its structure, utilising a time sequence.

• Obierika Delivering the news

• Obierika’s narration → Neutral Manner

• Obierika’s establishes ETHOS early on in his narrative so that his account is believed.

• His Actions -> Punctuate the narrative - sipping wine,

• Okonkwo repeatedly fills Obierika’s “horn” - elevates his position in this moment to a sage-like figure - heightened again, through the use of FORESHADOWING 

• Initially the conolial encourter is framed as an encouter with. singular "albino"

  • Part two chapter 15 when Obierika nartaates the story od the destruction of Abame

    • "A white man had appeared in their clan." (pg 130)

      • "A" in the article: indocates powerlessness, and unknown, indicates that they have gained power, established

      • "their" - distant establishing mythic quality and far away

      • Appeared -> Suddent Arrival -> came out of nowhere/no origin

        • Effect: Not belonging here

        • Alienation, othering

    • "An Albino/ He was not an albino. He was quite different." -> two simple sentences that are declarative, - certain that the white man isn't an albino - they are aware the white man exist among the people locally, where it emphasizes the threat of the mystical status

2. How does the way the missionaries are presented change by Chapter 17?

They are presented more as specific individuals that can withstand the curses, specifically meaning that they are more represented as an mythical figure, but still as an alienated group. The transformation from being unknown to a more specific, mythical figure is presented specifically when the clansmen refer to glasses as a portal "to communicate with the evil spirits", along with their undying of the evil spirits arrival.

3. How is this portrayal similar to or different from how missionaries are shown in non-fiction texts?

Violence - Types throughout the Novel

• acts of physical aggression

• economics warfare

• psychological violence

• pedagogical(act of teaching and learning) violence

  • building churches

  • claiming 'Chi''s invalidity

First Encounter:

• Relegated to a space outside the village

• Villagers attempt to preserve their power by alienation of colonists

• Reversing colonial stereo type -> reverse exclusion, villagers defying their own

Mr Brown of liberal idea of British Imperialism (soft power), contrasting with other colonial projects:

insidious: soft power: church, hospital, school -> gradual takeover and threat of the culture, becomes dangerous because they are deeply engraved and hard to remove

Violent and repressive colonial rule, colonial power and knowledge

• Imperialist: binary logic, understanding things through dichotomy: civilized vs primitive; black and white; light and darkness

  
  

• When writing reduces a full culture into a paragraph, it becomes a form of violence

• Cultural

  • Allusions

  • symbols

  • Characters

  • Fracture of System (Church)

• 
  

The Courthouse

• Symbolic Meaning

  • The courthouse's purpose is a place where it's a building that houses the judicial courts of a governing body, which in other words is a place where the judgement of justice takes place

  • The fact that it is from the colonizers:

    • Justice in the western perspective

    • Disintegration: it serve as a catalyst of disintegration since it judges actions based on the western values

    • the repetition of reference of the "queen" represents the colonizers set of values that they embrace especially when

      
      

• The Significance in Plot

  • An Escalating Threat: The courthouse introduces a new, aggressive phase of colonialism. It moves the conflict from religious conversion to total political control.

  • The Climax Trigger: The District Commissioner uses the courthouse to trick, arrest, and humiliate six Umuofia leaders, including Okonkwo.

  • The Breaking Point: The court messengers, or kotma, physically abuse the leaders while they are jailed. This abuse breaks the spirit of the village

Big Idea: 

Example: The Church as a Symbol of Defiance to further explore the Theme of Religious Conflict

Theme: The Court House is a Symbol of Defiance to further present theme of insidious colonizing values and power

Narrative perspective 

1. Tone: Ironic tone w

2. Irony: The protagonist of the entire novel now is reducted into being written and generalized within "a reasonable paragraph".

3. colonial attitudes:

4. reduction of Okonkwo’s life (THINK: STRUCTURALLY) 

5. the title of the Commissioner’s book

Quote: "The Pacification of the Primitive"

Pacification:  

• To bring peace 

• To end conflict 

• To secure a kind of surrender  

• To tame

(the antithesis of the reality - they bring VIOLENCE not pacification) 

Primitive 

• Uncivilized

• Original state 

(further solidifies the skewed view of the coloniser - reduction and dehumanization of a once functioning tribe to something more animalistic)   

Tone:

• Objectification of the tone to become more

• 
  

Questions:

1. What does the District Commissioner think Okonkwo’s story is worth?

   At most "a reasonable paragraph": the downward revision from "a whole chapter" to a paragraph performs the erasure visibly. For the Commissioner, Okonkwo is useful data: a case study in native resistance that will illustrate a point in his administrative manual

2. Why is the title The Pacification of the Primitive Tribes of the Lower Niger significant?

   The downgrade of the entire Igbo culture into a case study. "Pacification" emphasizes violent colonial suppression as the giving of peace. "Primitive" erases the sophisticated Igbo civilization Achebe has spent the novel constructing. "Tribes" denies political complexity.

   • objectification

   • One way interaction - setting the Igbo into a flattened object,

3. How does Achebe make the Commissioner seem arrogant or ignorant?

   Through free indirect discourse as he introduces his reasoning without authorial distance, exposing its logic from the inside. His concern is image but not morality. He reduces a man's tragedy to "material" and "interesting reading" with only in a paragraph.

4. Why might Achebe end the novel through the Commissioner’s perspective rather than Okonkwo’s or Obierika’s?

   By shifting to the Commissioner's viewpoint at the novel's close, Achebe enacts the colonial erasure he has been critiquing. The reader, who has lived inside Igbo complexity, now sees it through eyes that cannot perceive it.

5. What is the effect of reducing Okonkwo’s whole life to “a reasonable paragraph”?

   It is ironic about the colonizers perspective in reducing the Igbo Culture, or a tribe hero into a distant, as it ironizes the western perspective of the Igbo culture as somethings that is way more insignificant.

   Secondly, it creates the reader's grief at Okonkwo's tragedy which is intensified by the Commissioner's total indifference to it, creating a gap between what the reader experiences with the value in which the colonizers regard the Igbo culture as.

• Characterized by length

• Rhythm and Rhyme Scheme

• Contains a Number of syllables that are characterized by patterns on stress

• Free Verse (Possible)

  • No specific rhyme scheme or rhythmic pattern

  • Condensed

  • Split into stanzas

• How it's Broken Up

Line:

• words

• syntax

• length

• relationship to the line

• punctuation

  • cesura

  • enjambment

Context of Little Red-Cap

Original usage of the storyline as little red riding hood, here she has taken revenge against the wolf.

Literary Illusion: Big eyes, big ears ...

Reinventing the fairy tell for feminism: changing role of the role of the character, instead she has agency and more nuanced, being able to reclaim her revenge and choice.

Singing alone, independence of women

Despite being nuanced, the changes of little