During this unit, we read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. It is an intriguing story that depicts her childhood as well as parts of her adulthood and how she lived through the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Because it is a story that is told from the author’s own perspectives, there are a lot of connections to be made. While I was reading the story, I had connections with being in a foreign country, it is daunting as a kid to move to a new place and meet new environments as well as interact with people that are totally different. I also had connections of examples where identities were being judged. On a daily basis, we meet differences and it might be difficult to accept or compensate for them. Especially, when they violate your own identity. For example, one from a religious restricted country may feel very abnormal being in a new country that does not have a restriction on religion.

Also, through the analyses during this unit, I found out the difficulties to accept differences and changes. They are definitely not easy, however, things change all the time and it’s a matter of fact of how we adapt to situations and bring ourselves back on track. I’ve realized that my personality is not one that does well or compensates quickly with change. It takes me a bit of time to get myself back on track once I am knocked out of my path.

Below are two reading journals that I’ve completed for the second part of the book Persepolis. It focuses on parts of her adult life and how her experience has changed over time as she moves away from her family. She went from one who was all for the country’s religious regimes to having to move out because the country was too unfit for her to stay. It must’ve been a tough period of time to go through this transition for Satrapi. So in these reading journals, I took a look at points that may contribute to her bildungsroman, where her character and her identities are changed after a specific event that could even be a minor event like an unfriendly exchange with another.

A global issue that I’ve picked out from this story is the injustice that always exists in our society. Especially in our modern society, social injustice will always be present due to the scale of diversity and the countless amounts of differences in many different societies. It could be very difficult to learn to be a team player, but people could seek to compensate or understand other cultural backgrounds.