Persepolis Blog #2

7. "Every Situation Has An Opportunity For Laughs." (P. 97) Give Some Examples Of How The Ordinary Citizens Of Iran Enjoyed Life Despite The Oppressive Regime. What Made You laugh? How Does Satrapi Add Comic Relief? How Are Theses Scenes Relevant To The Story As A Whole?

The Ordinary Citizens Enjoyed Their Life Despite The Oppressive Regime B/c In The Chapter Titled "The Wine," They Drunk Alcohol, Or Wine In Secret, While Hosting, Or Attending House Parties. Every One Danced And Laugh, And Joked Around W/ Other People. Even Though There Was An Oppressive Regime At The Moment, That Did Not Stop The Citizens From Enjoying Their Day-To-Day Lives. They Still Had Fun W/ Other People And Did Regular Things. What Made Me Laugh Was How Marji And Her Grandmother Flushed Away All Of Marji's Father's Wine Down The Toilet, Even Though Marji's Father Convince The Police, Soldier, Dude-Guy To Not Come Into Their Home And Search It. He Paid The Man, Bribery, And He Left. Marji's Father Came Into The Room And Asked If There Were Any Wine Left, But Unfortunately, It Was All Flushed Down The Toilet Already. So, It Was Funny How Marji's Father Asked About It. Satrapi Adds Comic Relief In Situations Where It Has Some Thing To Do W/ The Revolution, I Think. She Talks About The Revolution, But Then, Some Times, She Makes A Joke About It. For Example, When Her Father Has Conversations W/ Other People About It, She Adds In Some Thing Too, And It Becomes Funny. Or Some Thing Like That.

8. What Kinds Of Captiviy And Freedom Does The Author Explore In Persepolis? What Stifles Or Prevents People from Being Completely Free? Hod Do They Circumvent And Defy The Rules Imposed On Them and Attempt To Live Ordinary Lives Despite Revolution And War? Give Some Examples Of Their Small Acts Of Rebellion?

When It Comes To Captivity, The Veil Is One, Along With The Mustache Rule Thing, And The Clothing Rules Too. Females, And Males Can Only Wear Certain Types Of Clothing, And Some Times In A Particular Way Too. This Can Cause Individuals To React In A Negative Way B/c I Am Pretty Sure That People Do Not Like To Be Told What To Wear, And How To Wear It. And If A Mistake Is Made Then, They Would Be Punished. This Clearly Holds People Captive. When It Comes To Freedom, I'm Not So Sure. I Cannot Really Identify Any Freedom In The Book Off The Top Of My Head. I Want To Say That From How Marji And Her Family Are Living, It Shows That They Know How To Use Their Rights, And That Allows Them With Some Liberty. What Stifles People From Being Completely Free? Other People. People Keep People From Being Completely Free. There Will Always Be Some One Who Will Stand Or Intersect In Another Person's Path Towards Their Goal. In Persepolis, Marji And Her Family Are Ordinary Citizens, They Do Not Possess Much Power. Those On A Much Higher Level Compared To Them, Have More Power. And More Power Means More Authority. Or Those W/ A Certain Satus. So, Other People Whom Have More Power Than Marji And Her Family, And Other Local People, Basically Have Control Over Them. And Those In The Lower Classes Can't Really Rebel. So, It's Just People That Holds Other People Back From Their Own Freedom. The Ordinary Citizens Are Still People, They Have Thier Own Minds And Thoughts. They Are Rebellious, But They Don't Show It To Outside Of Their Homes. Where, Presumably, They Are Safe. I think That They Don't Follow The Minor Rules, But When It Comes To The More Important, Or Crucial Rules, Then They Might Be More Hesitant To Rebel. Some Examples Of Their Same Acts Of Rebellion Are There Occassional House Parties, W/ Music And Wine, Etc. Another Example Was When That One Man Was Hiding "Neda" In His Basement, B/c She Was A Communist, And They Were Looking For Her.

9. "Inspite Of Everything, Kids Were Trying To Look HIp, Even Under Risk Of Arrest." (P.112) How Did They Do This? What Do You Think You Would Have Done Had You Been A Child In this Environment? What Acts of Rebellion Did You Do As A Teen? In What Ways is Satrapi Just A Normal Kid?

How Do Kids Try To Look Hip? They Try To Get The Latest Nike Shoes, And Jean Jackets, And Posters Of Kim Wilde, And Buttons Of Micheal Jackson, Etc. If I Were A Kid At This Time, Considering The Type Of Person I Am As Of Now, I Would Not Have Been, Or Done The Things Marji Did. Especially In That Environment, I Would Probably Be Scared. Just Imagining If It Were Me Whom The Guardians Of Revolution Arrested For Wearing Punk Shoes, And Whatnot, I Would Be Pretty Freaked Out. If A Revolution And War Was Occuring, I Would Not Care About Which Shoes I Wore, Or What Clothing I Owned. It's Really Stupid To Worry About My Appearance At A Time Like That. I Barely Care About My Looks Now, So I Would Not Care About It At All, Probably, If There Was A War And Revolution Going On. It's Really Stupid, And Senseless. There's No Point To It. What Rebellious Things Did I Do As A Teen, Well...I Am Still A Teen, Present Tense, You Know. So, I Do Not Think It Would Be A Good Thing It I Told My English Student Teacher What Rebellious Things I Have Done, Or Plan To Do. Satrapi Is A Normal Kid In Many Ways Though. She's Stubborn, And Is A Brat, For One Thing. And When She Ditched Class W/ The 14 Year Olds. That Was Super Stupid Of A 12 Year Old. So, Stupid. That Just Shows How Easily She Can Be Influenced By Others. And How She Was Competing W/ The Other Kids About The Adults In Her Life, And How Much More Cool The Her Relatives Were Compared To The Other Kids Peoples In Their Lives. The Stupid Thing Was That She Was Really Competing W/ Herself, Or By Herself. That Was Stupid. She's Just Childish In Many Ways, Many Stupid Ways.

Persepolis Blog #1

4. How is Persepolis organized and structured? What has Satrapi chosen to emphasize in her childhood? How is the passage of time presented? Describe Satrapi's drawings. How do the drawings add to the narrative of the story?

• Persepolis is organized as a graphic novel. Marji is the narrator. The large panels or splashes represented a big event to the narrator, or something that she finds important, or a crisis. She talks about the revolution and the changes that it brought. She talks a lot about other people and their lives, and how it's affected by the revolution. Or what they did about it. Or, more like she spends a lot of time with different people throughout the story and gets to know them. For example, she spoke of her maid, whom was in love with a boy, whom was their neighbor. He thought that she was one of the daughters, instead of a maid. And so, when he found out that she was a maid, he did not want to be with her anymore, due to social class. Marji was upset about this. She also spoke about her uncle Anoosh. She met him, and got to know him. She became really close with him. She learned of his life during prison and other things too. The passage of time is presented as...Hm, well it goes by pretty quickly, I guess. Yeah, time passes by quickly in the book. From chapter to chapter or even panel to panel. The drawings are black and white. Sometimes there's more white than black, and vice versa. Therefore, I think that it is symbolic in some way, but I'm not sure how though. The drawings of the people and props or setting are fairly simple. There are not a lot of details. The drawings help interpret the text of the story. It gives the reader a visual of the characters, along with their facial expression, and body language. The drawings also make the words of the characters stronger, because there is a picture to go with the words, instead of just the word itself. You can see the expression of the person who is speaking, or thinking. Which makes their words or thoughts more powerful because you can see their feelings with what they have to say?

5. Describe the writer's voice. Is it appealing? Which aspects of Marji's character do you identify with or like the most, the least? Did your reaction to the little girl affect your reading experience?

• Hm, is the writer's voice appealing? Well...to me, NO. Her voice, it's a demanding voice. It is shows authority, and confidence. There's also stubbornness in her voice too. I think the only aspect of Marji that I like would be her bravery, and how she wants to help. She's only a child, but she's involved with society and she knows about the revolution. She is an individual when it comes to politics. And she wants to help, and she is not afraid to help. But, overall, I do not like her at all. A side from how she's brave and all that, considering her age, I don't like her. She's really annoying and stupid in a way. She's really stubborn and I don't know I just don't like her. Did my reaction to her affect my reading? Probably, because I don't like her. So, that makes me not want to read, because every time she says something, I kind of want to kill her or the book. Her characteristics make the book annoying. So, I don't want to read it that much.

12. What is the role of women in the story? Compare and contrast the various women: Marji, her mother, her grandmother, her school teachers, the maid, the neighbors, the guardians of the revolution.

• Hm, I think the role of women in this story is pretty much the same, no matter the age, or occupation. They all have to be obedient to society. They all have certain things that they have to do, and things that they cannot do. Like the veil. They have to wear that, at all times, pretty much. And if strands of their hair are showing then it shows that they are rebelling or it shows their resistance.

FEED: Final Project Reflection

What Does Your FEED Contain, And Why?
My Feed Contains What Ever An Individual Wants. What Ever The Individual Wants In Their FEED, Is What They Will Get. They Have The Ability To Create What They Want In Their FEED, That Is Why The Poster Is So Blank And Plain, Or Black And Whtie. B/c Depending On What An Individual Wants, Or How Their Mind, Or Brain Works, Then Their FEED Will Be Based Upon Their Likings...Or Some Thing Like That. And Like Most Things In The World, The FEED Has Its Pros And Cons. Which Is Why Half Of It Is Black W/ The Jaged Edge, Representing The Cons. And The Other Is White W/ Straight Edges, Representing The Pros.

What Does This Say About And How Does This Define American Culture And Identity?
With Today's Technology, There Are Actually People Out Their Whom Can Get Just About Any Thing They Want. Advance Technology Does Not Just Suddenly Appear, People Create It. New Things Are Invented All The Time. Why? B/c People Want To. They Want An Easier Way(s) To Do Things. B/c Americans Are Lazy. Therefore, In A Way, It Is Making Americans Stupid. In FEED, The FEED Did Basically Every Thing For Them, They Didn't Do Much. That Is Why They Weren't That Smart, At All. For Instance, They Were Cutting Down Trees To Create Land To Build A Factory To Produce Air. And Trees Create Air. Violet And Titus' Father Had An Arguement About This. And Titus' Father Just Couldn't Get The Fact That Trees Already Produce Air By Itself. Also, The Teenagers, Or Titus' Group Of Friends Could Not, Or Did Not Know How To Think For Themselves. This Shows How Limited Their Brain Is, B/c They Do Not Have Any Thoughts Or Opinions About Any Thing, Unless It Comes From The FEED.

How Does Media, Consumerism, Reliance On Technology, And/Or Popular Culture Personally Affect You? Do They Mold Us, Or Us Them?
When It Comes To The Media And Consumerism, They Do Not Affect Me That Much. The Media Is Just Doing Its Job. I See And Hear It Just About Every Day. If I Always Believed The Television Commercials And Advertisements In Magazines Or On Bill Boards, Then Who Knows What I Would Be Doing Right Now, And Where I Would Be. I Don't Even Pay Attention To It Really. It's Not Necessary, And It's Not Important To Me. So, It Does Not Affect Me Directly. When It Comes To The Reliance On Technology, It Is Hard For Me As An Individual To Not Rely On It. On May 15, This Past Friday, We Went On A College Visit To The U Of M. During The Closing Ceremony, A Man Name Ezra Hyland Gave A Speech. He Said That Your Generation May Know How To Use Crack, "But, My Generation Created Crack." Afterwards, He Mentioned Bill Gates, And His Computer Technology Stuff. Which Brings Me To My Point. The Older Generations Created Technology, The Younger Generations Were Born Into That Technology. Therefore, I Was Born Into A World Of Advance Technology. It Would Be Hard For Me To Not Rely On Technology, B/c I've Known It Just About All My Life. So, It's Like The Younger Generation Was Supposed To Be Born Into A World Where They Have To Rely On Technology, B/c It Is Always Surrounding Them. When It Comes To Them Molding Us, Or Us Them, It Really Depends On The Individual, If They Let It Take Over Them, Or If They Resist.

How Does It Impact You? Define You? What Does It Say About Your Personal Habits, Your Individuality?

Hrm, I'm Not Exactly Sure What "It" Means In This Case. I'm Thinking, It's Talking About the FEED, But Then, Maybe It's The Whole Media And Consumerism Thing. So, I'll Just Say "It" And Try To Act Like I Know What I'm Talking About. I Don't Think It Has A Big Impact On Me. B/c I Consider Myself Pretty Independent From Others, Even Close Friends Of Family.

Hm, I Guess B/c It Doesn't Really Impact Me That Much, It Would Define The Opposite Of Me? B/c If It Does Not Affect Me, The It Would Not Have Any Thing To Do W/ Me. Therefore, The Only Way That It Could Possibly Describe Me Is In The Way That It Is The Opposite Of What I Am. What Does It Say About My Personal Habits, Well..I Don't Really Know What My Personal Habits Are. Well, I Don't Think I Do. So, I Don't Know. How Does It Impact My Individuality? Not Much Really. I Still Have My Own Thoughts, Opinions, And Points Of Views On Things. It Doesn't Effect How I Think. Not Really.

Are People Any Thing W/o The FEED, In The World Of The Story?

Hm, Not Necessarily. Violet's Parents Didn't Have The FEED, And They Were Still Living. So, People Are Still People, Or Some Thing, W/o The FEED. So, That Really Only Shows That If You Do Not Have The FEED, Then You Actually Are Some Thing. B/c The People W/ The FEED, Can't Do Any Thing On Their Own. They Can't Think For Them Selves.

Blog Number Three: Visual Essay [Feed]

Technology: The Branch Of Knowledge That Deals W/ The Creation And Use Of Technical Means And Their Interrelation W/ Life, Society, And The Environment, Drawing Upon Such Subjects As Industrial Arts, Engineering, Applied Science, And Pure Science.

STILL UPDATING.

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Reflection:

->How Do The Images Tell A Story, Represent Your Theme?

• There Are 10 Images In Total, Not Including The First One [The One That Says "Technology"]. Each Image Is Paired W/ Another One, It Goes Down In Order. The First Image Of Each Pair Is The "Now" Image, [Image On The Left] And The Second Image Of Each Pair Is The Possible "Later" [Image On The Right]. Some Of Them May Not Be As Accurate Or Easy To Interpret But That Is Why I Am About To Type Down Some Explanations. As You Can Clearly See, My Theme Is Technology. It Shows The Technology That We Have Now, In The Present, And What The Possible Outcome[s] Of The Specific Product CAN BE, Or What The Outcome IS.
• So, The Story Of My Images Is: Advance In Technology Will Lead To Nothing In The Future.

->What's Your Message? What Do The Pictures Say?

• The First Pair Of Images Shows That People We Were Not Happy W/ What They Had In The Past To Their Disposal, And That Til This Day, There Are Still Many Individuals Who Are Not Happy About What They Have Available To Them. Therefore, It Portrays Human Beings As Large Technology Consumers. We Will Always Want More. We Always Have To Have The BEST Of Every Thing. No Matter How Advanced, Or How Much Technology We Have Available To Us, IT WILL NEVER SUFFICE.
• The Second Pair Of Images Shows Cell Phones. In The "Now" Photo, People Are Holding Their Cell Phones. Which Shows That They Are Still Some What Satisfied W/ It, For The Moment Anyways. Their Cellular Phones Are Still Of Use To Them. But, Eventually, People Will Throw Them Away, And Purchase A New One. Cell Phone, After Cell Phone, After Cell Phone..IT'S A NEVER ENDING CYCLE.
• The Third Pair Of Images Shows The Uselessness Of Books. These Two Images Remind Me Of FEED. Due To Their FEED, They Do Not Know How To Read. Therefore, Books Are Useless To Them. The FEED Does All Their Reading For Them. That Is Why I Chose The Image Of The Burning Page. In Reality Though, It Is Not True..Yet? Technology Is Advancing Quickly, But I Do Not Think That There Will Be A Day When Reading, And Books Will Become Useless To People, At Least Not Today. On The Contrary, It Is Actually Quite A Big Deal Right Now.
• The Fourth Pair Of Images Shows Windows Live Messenger's Logo. The "Now" Image Of It Is The Regular, Or The New Original Logo. It Shows That NOW, There Is Instant Messaging. But Perhaps, Just Like In FEED, There Will Be Such A Thing As M-Chat Some Day, Due To Advances In Technology? The Second Image Can Be Kind Of Confusing, [Sorry, I Tried] But Basically, It's Supposed To Portray The Two People's [Or The Green MSN Person And The Blue MSN Person] Conversation But In Each Others' Head. Or Some Thing Like That.
• The Fifth Pair Of Images Shows A Heart Constructed From A Variety Of Different Colored iPods, And Robots, From The Movie iRobot. I Chose To Pair These Two Images Together B/c NowADays, iPods Are Huge, Right? Every One, Or A Large Quantity Of Individuals, Own an iPod[s]. We Just All Love iPods. Which Is Why The iPods Form A Heart. Now, In FEED Though, No Such Thing As An iPod Exist, B/c Every Thing Is In Their Heads, Including Music. So, If Technology Advances In Such A Way, Then, iPods Would Become Useless To Us, B/c Every Thing Would Already Be In Our Heads. We Would Not Need Much Really, Especially If There Was A Transmitter In Our Brain. We Would Just Be Like Robots, Right?

->Why Did You Choose The Images You Did, What Are Their Importance, Implications And Influence?

• I Chose The Images About B/c When I Googled Search Technology, Those Images Stood Out To Me. They Made Me Think. I Thought They Were Important B/c People Will Be Able To Relate To The Images. For Example, The MSN Photos. You Could Take One Glance At It And Know Exactly What It Is. Some People Would Even Be Able To Name What Kind Of Cell Phones Are Being Present In The "Now" Image. The Images Imply That Technology Is Changing, And Therefore, Life In General, Is Changing Too.

->What Are The Applications Or Use Of, Understandings And Values Of Some Combination Of The Text Themes That You Have Developed And/Or Experienced Over Your Lifetime?

• Well, I'm Not So Sure, To Be Honest. I Don't Necessarily Think About This Specifc Topic. But, I Would Say That, The Media Does Not Have Much Effect On Me. Just B/c It's Just The Media. I See And Hear It Every Day, It's Natural. I Just Ignore It All, I Guess? There's TOO Much Of It To Always Pay Attention To. Most Of It Are Pretty Useless Anyways, So I Don't Care Much Of It. And When It Comes To Conformity In Contrast W/ Individuality, I'm Pretty Sure That I Am My Own Person. I'm Kind Of Strange And Odd. Which, I'm Totally Fine W/. I Don't Like To Blend Into Crowds, Or Be Categorized As A Specific Group Of People. I Only Choose To Do Things, If I Want To, It Has Nothing To Do W/ Any One Else Really. And When It Comes To Consuming, I Don't Know..I Don't Spend A Lot Of Money, But To Be Fair, I Don't Necessarily Have Any To Spend. So, I'm Not Sure About That. But, I Don't Know. Like I Said, I Don't Think About This Kind Of Stuff. But, I Guess, B/c I Know How To Think For Myself, Then If I Tried, And Really Wanted To, Then I Could?

->How Have You Developed These? [Where, How, Who Help/Influenced You?]

• Uhh--I Just Developed Them A Moment Ago, When I Was Thinking About It, I Guess. But, I Guess I Developed Them Throughout My Lifetime, So Far. They're Based On My Experiences, The Good And Bad. And I Guess, On How Much I Attention I Pay To The World Of Technology, I Guess?

->What Are Your Feelings About?

• Hm, My Feelings? I Don't Know. I'm Fine W/ It I Guess. I'll Come Back Later To Finish This Part.

Blog Number Two [Feed]

-->Respond To Titus' Reaction To His Parents Buying Him An Upcar (p.96-97).
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-->In The Chapter Called Boring, Why Does Titus Think The Boat Picture Is Boring? What Does This Say About Titus?
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-->The Feed Is Described As Knowing What You Need Before You Do-Is This Really What The Feed Is Doing?
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Titus' Was Really Excited About His Parents Buying Him An Upcar. And For Some Reason, The Thought Of Having His Own Upcar Made Him Feel Less Stupid, Which Is Kind Of Strange, B/c It's Just A Car, And How Could A Car Make Some One Feel Smarter? Right? It Shows That Titus' Mind Is...Easily Fulfilled? I Think That's The Word. Certain Feelings Or Thoughts Of His Can Be Replaced Or Amended, Or Fixed? If He Is Given Some Thing, Even If The Some Thing Has Nothing To Do W/ It. Being W/ Violet Made Titus Feel Less Smart, Or Some Thing Of That Sort, It Almost Seem As If He Was Sad, Or Depressed About It. But Suddenly, When His Parents Told Him That He Would Be Getting An Upcar, He Felt Less Stupid. What Does A Car Have To Do W/ An Individual's Intelligence?
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Titus Thought That The Painting Of The Boat Was Boring B/c He Said, "There Was Nothing That Was About To Happen Or Had Just Happened" (pg. 45). Therefore, I Would Assume That The Painting Is Quite Empty And That There Is Not Much To It But The Boat In The Lake, Or Pond. B/c Titus Thought That It Was A Boring Picture, B/c Nothing Was Happening, Or B/c Nothing Was Going To Happen, It Shows That He Really Does Not Have A Mind Of His Own, Or That He Has No Imagination. Thus, It Shows That He Does Not Know HOW To Think For Himself, Not Even When It Comes To A Simple Painting Of A Boat. This Shows How Much The FEED Has Corrupted His Mind, Or Taken Over?
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No, This Is Not What The Feed Is Really Doing. Instead, It Is Choosing For You. The FEED Tells Some One What They Want, Or Need. It Does Not Know Before You Know. That's Not Possible. Or At Least It Does Not Seem Possible To Me. Some One, Or Some Thing Cannot Tell Some One What They Want Before They Want It, B/c It's Not Even That Person's Thoughts Yet. How Can You Predict Or Foretell Some Thing That Is Not There, Especially If It Is Not Tangible. Some One's Thought's Can Not Be Touched. The FEED Tells Them What They Want And Need. It Tells Them What IT Wants Them To Want And Need. And At The Same Time, It Makes Them Believe That It Is Only Telling Them What They Want Before They Want It.
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I Chose This Song To Go W/ This Blog B/c It Is Questioning What We Are. If We Are Humans, Or If We Are Some Thing Else. It Reminded Me Of FEED B/c Since When Did We Question Ourselves, As To What We Are, If We Are Humans Or Not. And When It Comes To The FEED, It Is Like, Are We Still Humans, Even If We Have This Transmitter Implanted Directly To Our Brain? Or Are We Not B/c Of It?
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