Using Graphic Novels in the Classroom: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

            Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel and memoir of a young girl who grew up in Iran amidst the Islamic Revolution and war with Iraq. The graphic novel provides insight into Iranian culture and provides a means for students to examine issues of global conflict in a way that they can relate to the character through both words and illustrations. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood is a graphic novel that would be worth teaching in the classroom because it is allows students the opportunity to peer into the life a young person living in a different time, place, and culture, and the graphic novel offers a unique structure that both excites and challenges students.

            I would use Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood in my classroom because it provides a unique medium for reading that might encourage reluctant readers to get on board with a book that is complex and examines some tough topics. While some readers may look at a graphic novel and dismiss its illustrations as juvenile, graphic novels are unique in the sense that "the illustrations enrich and extend the text" (Bucher & Hinton 337). For example, as readers read the words on the page and look at the images depicted with those words, they may get a different understanding of the meaning than if they had simply read the words. Satrapi does this in her graphic novel as she writes,"After a long sleep of 2,500 years, the revolution has finally awakened the people," yet the illustration below the text shows people who appear to be dead rather than sleeping and lying in the streets (44). Furthermore, Bucher and Hinton say that "readers must not only decode the words and the illustrations but must also identify what is happening between the visual sequences" (337). Therefore, graphic novels present a challenge to readers as they must make some predictions and interact with the story as it jumps from scene to scene. Furthermore, graphic novels are visual, which will appeal to visual learners and learners who may be intimidated by reading a wordy novel. The genre overall would be useful in the classroom.

            I would also use Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood as a multicultural work that would serve as a window for students to see a lifestyle that is different than their own. In general, multicultural literature allows readers to better understand other cultures and connect with people who are different than them; reading books about different parts of the world also helps eliminate stereotypes about different cultures (Bucher & Hinton 36-7). In their book about using young adult literature in the classroom, Bucher and Hinton suggest using Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood as a way "to provide insight into global conflicts and power struggles" (344). With this in mind, the book could be taught along with a social studies lesson about global conflict or the history of Iran. I think it would be an interesting topic for students to explore because they are bombarded with images of the Middle East that represent war, terrorism, enemies, and religious fanaticism. While the story does deal with these types of topics, I think it would be beneficial to students to learn about a character who is not so different from themselves who is in the Middle East and possibly expel some of their preconceived notions that they may associate with people who live in the Middle East. Marji deals with feeling lost, losing loved ones, rebelling, and dealing with fear, which are all universal struggles that students will be able to connect with their own lives (Satrapi 71, 65, 117, 140).

            Overall, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a book that would be beneficial to students to read and explore in the classroom because it presents a different kind of novel that I think students would enjoy reading, and it also presents a character who lives in a different part of the world and has a unique perspective. The genre of the graphic novel is not widely used in classrooms; however, the genre has a great deal of potential for reluctant readers and lower level readers. There is value in utilizing different forms of literature and exposing students to a variety of genres. Perhaps a student who would not enjoy reading about the conflict in Iran in a history book would be interested in reading a graphic novel about the same topic.

Works Cited

Bucher, Katherine, and KaaVonia Hinton. Young Adult Literature: Exploration, Evaluation, and      Appreciation. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014. Print.

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. Paris: Pantheon, 2003. Print.