Jared M. Lawandales

Fullsail University English Composition Assignment: Persepolis Excerpt Discussion

The words and images in this graphic novel work together to provide the reader with a negative impression of Satrapi’s situation. The use of black and white imagery speaks of the time frame and probable resources available to a poor family during this revolution. It also helps to provide the basis for this negative impression, as the predominantly black images create a gloomy undertone. While the words in the narrative may have broken sentence structure and not include great detail, the images help to portray these missing descriptions.

The perspective of a child is commonly considered innocent and unbiased. The use of a child’s perspective gives the piece a more genuine and authentic feel. I believe that it puts the reader into the same mindset as the child, therefore eliminating any preconceived political bias. Had the story been told from the perspective of an adult, it may have included some of Satrapi’s grown political views, and therefore incited the reader to compare these to their own political views. This could convolute the meaning of the narrative by distracting from its purpose, which I believe is that at the time this revolution was contagious.

Her choice of subtle yet powerful imagery added to the level of seriousness in this narrative. I think that telling the story from the perspective of a child, as well as the decision to write it as a graphic novel, allows the reader to adopt a simpler point of view while reading the piece. She explains these important and stressful times from this innocent, questioning perspective of a young child. You will also notice that she remains the embodiment of optimism throughout this excerpt.

In the writing from Sedaris there was an obvious aggressor, the teacher, directly in conflict with the author. While in the excerpt from Persepolis, the Shah, was not in direct conflict with the author, but her mother and grandmother. Another contrast between these two readings is, in Satrapi’s excerpt the difficulties were caused by a political situation, whereas the difficulties were caused by a language barrier and in a school setting for Sedaris.

A graphic novel of my life, I don’t think it could be done. I am a very poor artist and am by no means a visual learner. My best drawling of a stick figure is mediocre at best. While I admit that I would likely need a proofreader and an editor, my capabilities with the written word are significantly more powerful than my capabilities with images. The honest truth is that I couldn’t name three different art styles if my life depended on it. This piece was extremely difficult to read, as well as understand and I had to read it numerous times in an effort to write this response. Ask anyone who knows, I am not at all interested in art, nor art philosophy. While I am a partner in a web design and marketing firm, my business partner will happily attest to the fact that he is the graphic designer and I stay as far away from the design aspect of my company as humanly possible.

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