https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk Made with whimsy en-us 2020-03-25 15:44:25 UTC 2025-12-03 02:11:50 UTC hello@padlet.com 9959015 https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/474839109 Peter Kruger's graphic novel interpretation was extremely accessible. The first time I read HOD, I had no idea what was happening, even after annotations. Even though now I do have context for what actually occurred in the novel. I like how by reading I understood what was going on, but the form contributed to its meaning so that way I feel like I still walked away with the same overall message. I think because my generation is so used to videos and multitudes of images every day, people can connect with HOD in this generation. As discussed last unit, reading the novel in the context of 2020 reveals all of the racism, and hard to read language. Luckily, this day and age does not hold these colonial ideals. Like it or not, the world now is more digitized and moves away from the printed word. Therefore, the elaborate images Kruger made I think are preferential to Conrad's. (Hot take alert!) This was best shown in illustration number four. Here, as Marlow leaves, you can see the ghosts of Kurtz haunting him. The saying a picture is worth a thousand words holds true here, where you can see the demons that will live with him for the rest of his life. This had way more impact than Conrad's where he has an internal dilemma where I just felt more lost about his words than the content they possessed. ]]> 2020-03-25 15:48:21 UTC https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/474839109 9959015 https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/475674461 Extract located on pages 14 and 15, but most analysis on page 15 panel 2. Just by glancing at this layout of pages, every panel contains extreme violence, which demonstrates just how crazy the situation was in Iran at this time, making it seem like a double page spread, even though it was not, just action to action panels. On my chosen panel, it was one of very few half page panels we have encountered thus far in the novel. It is the visual representation of the people who died from the burning cinema. I love the darkness that overwhelms the page. The ghosts in this panel remind me of Peter Kruger's drawings where the faces of the ghosts look like they are straight out of the movie Scream. (Yes, people think this is a reference to the painting, but that is a common misconception. The director found the mask on site, and originally used it just as a placeholder, and had already named the movie without looking at the painting, so this is a valid comparison). It elicits the fear that is felt at this time in Iran because of all of the deaths that are literally going up in smoke. ]]> 2020-03-26 02:35:26 UTC https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/475674461 9959015 https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/481059650 What struck me the most was how revolution can happen at any time. The following post will sound extremely egocentric, and I apologize for that. On page 87 panels six and eight. This is where our protagonist and her mother go to the store and all of the shelves are empty. This reminds me of today, with the panic that corona has created at grocery stores. All of the speech bubbles and mass amount of text contribute to the anxiety of the situation Satrapi has illustrated. On a personal note, on panel eight, when her mother say they will go to the store to buy more food, this reminds me of my own mother. I feel like she is always bringing home lots of food. I feel like a young Satrapi confused as to why this chaos is occurring, and feel like we are on the verge of disaster. ]]> 2020-03-29 22:41:44 UTC https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/481059650 9959015 https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/485594920 My extract can be found on page 140 panel 4. As cliche as the saying is a picture is worth a thousand words. This panel just made me feel warm inside, and almost protected. This is because in the previous panels darkness overwhelmed the pages as Marijane had no idea if her parents were living. This hug is one of the last times that she is truly shielded from the world, and it just felt like one of the last moments of her childhood, and that she is holding on her mother for the confirmation that she will be safe in this ever changing climate. I can connect to her, mainly because of the fresh kicks, but also because she is clinging on the last little bit of normalcy that she has left in her life. I feel like this hug is how my relationship works with my parents; I pretend that I am grown and independent, but really I am an infant craving my parents affection.  I think that this is the whole point as to why she ended it at this point. The uncertainty is scary, and to end a whole portion of the graphic novel like this, it shows the scariness that Marijane felt at the time leaving everything that she knows. ]]> 2020-04-01 00:18:35 UTC https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/485594920 9959015 https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/490072163 When I tell you I audibly gasped at page 214 panel 3, I am not lying. I know that it may not be the most rich in form, but the very fact that Marjane is hearing from her very first boyfriend that because of her, he thinks that he is gay. Talk about living a tough life. However, on the 7th panel she confesses that it is easier this way because it was not her fault, or because she was ugly, but because it was something that he could not change. This is very on the nose, but I am obsessed with Billie Eillish, and she has a song called wish you were gay. She says that she wants a boyfriend to be gay because like Marjane it would ease the blow. It is easier to say that you are perfect, but a person can not control themselves and can not help not liking you. This is key to Marjane's development because it is yet another let down in her life, and leads to her descent into drugs and the wrong path. A first boyfriend can carry a lot of weight, and this is just a disappointing turn of events for her, because even though it is comforting, at the same time is so scary because it places a seed of doubt that it would be your fault. In the following pages, she does seem overcome by this doubt and grief, and seems like this moment is key to her development. ]]> 2020-04-02 23:30:05 UTC https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/490072163 9959015 https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/500802538 My extract can be found on page 256, the whole page panel. The graphic weight of black is overwhelming, and the only white that is used is for the outlines of the people and their faces. This is when Marjane's father is describing all of the executions of people who the state decided to eliminate because of their revolutionary ideas. This extract is very similar to the boys who died in the bomb blasts. This is because their faces are not visible, showing that they are just one of thousands of casualties from the war. The people in this extract are indistinguishable from each other, yet the horror and weight of the situation is communicated through their mouths open in disgust. This snaps Marjane back to reality, and brings her back to the reality of her home. This is to show that whatever issues Marjane has been going through in Austria, it is better than what could have happened to her. She has to deal with her consequences and how she gave up such a good opportunity by choosing drugs and going down the wrong path. ]]> 2020-04-09 15:43:12 UTC https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/500802538 9959015 https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/503253127 My extract can be found on page 303, panel 4. In terms of content, this is when Marjane's classmates find out that she is taking birth control, and ostracize her for not following her country's stance of abstinence. In this panel, there is lots of emphasis on the ohh's, and this exclamation feels very middle school, when kids get called down to the principal's office. This places unnecessary emphasis on Marjane's choice to have sex with her boyfriend. I also really enjoyed the over exaggeration of the eyes, almost as if her classmates eyes are popping out of their heads. This is important because it shows the divide between Marjane and Iranians, because  she has more advanced ideas. This is continued because her parents caution her against staying in Iran because she is a woman with forward thinking ideas. This foreshadows her eventual departure from the country, and why is was necessary for Marjane to leave. 
As for my overall thoughts on Persepolis, I would have to say that I love graphic novels. I really enjoy how it is multi layer for analysis, that we can look at the text as well as the picture. Also, the concept behind the novel I really enjoyed how she was able to blend history and a coming of age novel, all while incorporating humor was really well done. I think this novel is something that I could see myself reading outside of class, which is very exciting. ]]> 2020-04-12 03:01:22 UTC https://padlet.com/9959015/mqzn90u10utk/wish/503253127