Persepolis QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Bank PDF

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Key questions and answers for Persepolis to broaden your knowledge about the book....

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Persepolis QUESTIONS Intro 1. That Iran’s image in public should not based on fundamentalism or terrorism. She wants to portray that not all Iranians are extremist and agree with the act of terrorism. 2. Iran’s image should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremists. She also wished the martyrs who lost their lives and suffered are not forgotten. The veil 1. The education system was affected as boys and girls were segregated, and girls had to wear the veil which they did not agree with nor understand. The bilingual schools were targeted because they are symbols of capitalism of ‘descendants’. Or ‘Capatalism’. 2. The veil represents followings of the Islamic religion. Women had mixed reactions to the veil, ‘there was demonstration for and against the veil’. 3. Marjane’s mother got published on newspaper due to her demonstrations in Iran. Her mother dyed her hair to protect her privacy and cover her face after this incidence. 4. Marjane is conflicted by thoughts, this results with Marji’s mixed feelings towards the veil, she doesn’t know how to think of the veil, this also indicates that she is a little child, and does not know better herself. 5. Because her maid cannot eat with her, her father has a Cadillac, and her grandmothers knees ached.

The bicycle 1. The revolution is like a bicycle. When the wheels don’t turn, it tumbles and falls. She believes that if the revolution keeps going, it won’t fail. And, the revolution did not fail – so she was wise, as she was right. 2. She becomes almost obsessed and begins to worship a different type of god, the revolution. 3. The Rex cinema was burnt down and the police prohibited people to rescue those locked inside the cinema. The Shah said, “that a group of religious fanatics perpetrated the massacre” However, everyone knows it was the Shah’s wrongdoing. The water cell 1. He was the PM; however, he began to see what could happen under capitalism, he saw an opportunity to become a capitalist. 2. Marjane’s takes a long bath to know how it felt to be her grandfather. God appeared at this time because she needed him. Persepolis 1. He wanted to reform and modernise the country. 2. He took pictures of the demonstrations. It could be forbidden so that the images were not leaked / sent to the media. This would depict and unfavourable impression that the society feels with the new changes.

The letter 1. Marjane feels ashamed to be in her father’s Cadillac because of the difference between social classes, she felt that she has more than everyone else. She also thinks that the revolution was caused by the difference in the social classes. 2. Marji helps her maid by writing letter for her, to her boyfriend. Mehri and her love could not be allowed to date, because of the difference social class – and she did not want the boy to know that she is from a different social class, as he may feel ashamed or embarrassed by this. 3. Mehri and Marjane demonstrate to show that they rebuke the revolution. They demonstrated on the very day they shouldn’t have - on black Friday. The party 1. The Shah tried to maintain a democracy, however, he failed, because all the people wanted was his ‘depictive’. 2. They speak of the devil ‘has left’. The heroes 1. They were political prisoners. 2. Marjane realizes violence in its most extreme, and explicit way. 3. Marjane is conflicted between getting what everyone deserves and forgiving. (Justice, wrath of god and love). Moscow 1. Marjane looked up to him, she ‘loved him immediately’. 2. Fereydoon was Anoosh’s uncle. His goal was to bring justice. 3. Anoosh gifts Marji a Swan (made in in prison out of bread). The bread swan indicates the redeeming quality of art, and suggests that Marjane’s book functions in a similar sense of redemption after all the trauma and suffering she experiences. 4. They are not in fact heroes, but victims to injustice. The sheep 1. The sheep analogy is used because people ‘crossed the border hidden among a flock of sheep’. This portrays the hardships that the Iranians face. 2. Marji’s parents don’t leave as they don’t want to sacrifice all they built. They believe that everyone who left will come back, and that they are afraid of change. But they did end up sending Marji overseas, to Austria – as seen in Persepolis 2. 3. God appears to Marji after Anoosh’s death. She is furious and orders him to ‘get out’ as she does not trust God again. The trip 1. The universities are used because what students will learn is ‘decadent’ and will ‘educate future imperialism, upholders of Islam’. Marji is disappointed because she, ‘wanted to be an educated woman’. 2. Marjane is scared form the explicit scene of seeing the woman get stabbed, which she witnessed firsthand, and is not as light-hearted with the consequences. The F-14s

1. Marjane’s father does not intend to fight in the war because he believes the invasion came from their own government. This challenges Marji as she believes that everyone, who participates is heroic. 2. Paradisses report was about ‘a letter to her father in which she promised to take care of her mother and little brother’. Marji tells her that her father acted like a ‘geniune hero’ she responds, ‘I wish he were alive and in jail rather than dead and a hero’. This opens Marji’s eyes and mind about the consequences. The Jewels 1. The supermarkets were empty. 2. Marji’s mother criticises the ‘civilised people’ and they probably ‘eat each other’. She suggests going to the ‘store across the street’ to get more rice. The Key 1. To compare how many more ‘potential soldiers’ they had. 2. The endless blackness and the students lined up next to each other look extremely similar. Their face is void of any emotion. 3. Marji’s generation stopped taking the torture sessions seriously and lashed out. She blames the parents with how they educate their children. 4. The government recruits boys to serve on the front line of war. They persuade them that ‘in paradise there will be plenty of food, women and houses.’ The Wine 1. Masking tape is to protect against flying glass during a bombing and the black curtains are to protect us from our neighbours. 2. Her parents kept partying because ‘without them it wouldn’t be psychologically bearable’. The cigarette 1. 2. 3. 4.

The survival of the regime, ‘depended on the war’. This means many people will die. Those who opposed the regime were ‘systemically arrested and executed together’. She smokes the cigarette she stolen from. She reacted badly to the smoke. She smokes a cigarette, skips religion class and goes out on Black Friday.

The passport 1. The internal war, anyone showing the slightest resistance to the regime was persecuted. 2. She says, ‘up to a certain age, you need your parents, and they need.’. It is false, parents and children each there, until once is no longer living. 3. She recognises him as her window washer. 4. They travel the borders for treatment. If they are so sick, how can they travel? Almost destined for death? Kim Wilde 1. It is strictly forbidden to travel in occupied Palestine with this document. 2. To arrest women who were improperly veiled. They say they’ve going to take her to the committee. She responds by creating a story about her stepmother and lies. 3. She is expected to go because of the way she has dressed. She avoids it by lying. She The Shabbat

1. They are going to use ballistic missiles against them. She characterises the mother and father as optimistic. Other Iranians believe what the government says. 2. They had 3 minutes to know if the end had come Marji realises she doesn’t want to die. 3. They all died. She tried to conceal this form Marjane by trying to change the subject and pulling her away. 4. Emptiness. The Dowry 1. Marji became rebellious and fearless. Her behaviour reflects this, and even hits the principle. 2. They say they no longer have political prisoners. Marji speaks out and says there are 300,000 under the regime. 3. Her father is proud of his daughter. 4. She tells her that she should always keep her dignity and be true to herself. 5. She sees her mother fainting, her father carrying her....