Persepolis

 Context:  Iranian  History  Timeline  

 
Age:   Time:    
High  School   60  minutes  
 
Objective:     Key  Points:  
   
IB  Language  and  Literature  Learning   • Historical  context  influences  the  
Objective:  Students  learn  about  context   production  and  reception  of  
and  how  it  affects  the  production  and   literature.  
reception  of  literature.   • Readers  of  different  backgrounds  
will  react  differently  to  the  same  
text.  
 
Agenda  
 
Introduction  of  New  Material:  
Show  students  a  short  but  comprehensive  video  on  Iranian  history,  such  as  John  
Green’s  “Iran’s  Revolutions:  Crash  Course  World  History  226.”  Have  them  take  notes  
which  they  can  use  during  Guided  Practice.  
 
Guided  Practice:  
Divide  students  into  partners  or  groups  of  three  students.  Each  group  gets  an  
envelope  with  Appendix  I,  cut  and  mixed.  Students  must  paste  the  dates,  events,  
questions,  and  a  picture  of  their  choice  in  the  correct  order  to  create  a  poster  with  
the  Iranian  timeline.  Before  pasting  the  work  on  the  poster,  they  must  check  with  
you  to  ensure  they  are  correct.  
After  completing  their  posters,  have  students  read  through  and  discuss  the  
questions  in  groups  or  as  a  full  class.    
 
Independent  Practice:  
Students  choose  one  of  the  questions  to  answer  in  single  paragraph  form.  They  must  
provide  evidence  both  from  history  and  from  the  text  itself.    
 
Assessment:  
Students’  paragraphs  can  be  assessed  by  a  simple  checklist,  adapted  from  the  IB  
rubric  (Appendix  II).  They  can  be  checked  by  the  teacher  or  they  can  switch  work  
with  each  other  to  be  assessed  by  their  peers.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  1  
 Appendix  I  
 

Year     Historical  Event     Context  Question  

1501     Safavid  Dynasty     How  did  the  Muslim  background  

declares  Shia  Islam  the   of  Iran  influence  Satrapi’s  writing  
state  religion   of  Persepolis?    

1804-­‐ The  Russo-­‐Persian   How  might  Iran’s  past  wars  have  

1813   War—the  Russians   affected  Iranian  pride  and  
annex  Iranian  territory   nationalism?  
and  Iran  loses  the  
Caucasus  

1890   Tobacco  Protest:   How  might  Westerns  feel  when  

Tehranian  merchants   reading  Persepolis,  versus  
and  clergy  protest   Iranians?  
against  the  Shah’s  
tobacco  trade  
agreement  with  Britain  

1935   Iran  becomes  the   Why  does  it  matter  what  people  
official  internationally   call  a  country?  How  might  it  affect  
name  of  the  country,   the  perspective  of  both  citizens  
previously  called   and  foreigners  towards  that  
Persia  by  other   country?      
countries  even  though  
Iranians  called  their  
country  a  name  closer  
to  “Iran”  
 
 
 

  2  
1941     Anglo-­‐Russian  invasion     How  might  an  older  reader  
of  Iran   interpret  Persepolis,  compared  to  
one  who  is  to  young  to  remember  
Iran  as  an  occupied  country?  

1951   Parliament   How  does  class  and  economy  play  

nationalizes  the  oil   a  role  in  Marji’s  identity  growth  in  
industry   Persepolis?  

1963   White  Revolution:   How  is  the  struggle  between  

Shah’s  campaign  to   modernizing  Iran  and  respecting  
modernize  Iran   its  traditions  shown  in  Persepolis?    

1979   Shah  exiled;  seeks   What  kind  of  relationship  is  shown  
January   sanctuary  in  the  U.S.   between  America  and  Iran  in  
Persepolis?  

1979   52  American  hostages   How  might  an  American  reader  

November   taken  by  Iranians   interpret  Persepolis?    
inside  US  embassy  in  
Tehran  

1979  April   Ayatollah  Khomeini   What  perspective  does  Satrapi  

declares  the  Islamic   offer  of  the  religious  changes  
Republic  of  Iran   brought  about  by  declaration  of  
the  Islamic  Republic?    

1980-­‐ Iran-­‐Iraq  War     What  might  a  non-­‐Persian  Arab  

1988   think  of  Persepolis?  How  are  they  
portrayed  in  the  book?  
 

  3  
2005       Ahmadinejad  becomes     If  Satrapi  had  published  Persepolis  
President  of  Iran  and   during  Ahmadinejad’s  presidency,  
begins  enhancing   how  might  the  book  have  
Iran’s  nuclear  program,   changed?      
drawing  international  
criticism  

2013   Rouhani  became   How  might  contemporary  

President  of  Iran,   international  readers  relate  to  
changing  national   Pesepolis  as  Iran  begins  a  less  
policies  to  become   aggressive  attitude  towards  the  
more  moderate,   West?  
encouraging  personal  
freedom  and  women’s  
rights  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Appendix  II:  Rubric  Checklist  
 
Points  out  of  4  
 
Response  to  the   Did  the  paragraph  provide  a  nuanced  and  specific    
Question   response  to  the  question?  
Knowledge  &   Did  the  paragraph  include  accurate  historical    
Understanding   information  and  accurate  information  from  the  
text?      
Organization   Did  the  paragraph  have  a  topic  sentence,    
followed  by  supporting  evidence  and  
explanation,  and  a  last  sentence  summing  up  
the  point?  
Language   Was  the  language  of  the  paragraph  clear,  with    
correct  grammar  and  vocabulary  and  varied  
sentence  structure?    

  4  
 Appendix  III:  Teacher  Answer  Guide  
 
 
1. 1501  Safavid  Dynasty:  Shah  Ismail  I  becomes  ruler  and  Shia  Islam  declared  
state  religion  
2. 1804-­‐1813  The  Russo-­‐Persian  War—the  Russians  annex  Iranian  territory  
and  Iran  loses  the  Caucasus    
3.  1890  Tobacco  Protest:  Tehranian  merchants  and  clergy  protest  against  the  
Shah’s  tobacco  trade  agreement  with  Britain  
4. 1935  Iran  becomes  the  official  name  of  the  country,  previously  Persia  
5. 1941  Anglo-­‐Russian  invasion  of  Iran  
6. 1951  Parliament  nationalizes  the  oil  industry  
7. 1963  White  Revolution:  Shah’s  campaign  to  modernize  Iran  
8. 1979  January  Shah  exiled  &  takes  sanctuary  in  the  US  
9. 1979  November  52  American  hostages  taken  by  Iranians  inside  US  embassy  
in  Tehran  
10. 1979  April  Ayatollah  Khomeini  declares  the  Islamic  Republic  of  Iran  
11. 1980  Iran-­‐Iraq  War  begins  
12. 2005  Ahmadinejad  becomes  President  of  Iran  and  begins  enhancing  Iran’s  
nuclear  program  
13. 2013  Rouhani  became  President  of  Iran,  changing  national  policies  to  
become  more  moderate,  encouraging  personal  freedom  and  women’s  rights  
 

  5