🗣️ Activity 1 : Debate – Is Rebellion the Right Path?
🗣️ Activity 1 : Debate – Is Rebellion the Right Path?
🎯 Goal: Evaluate the costs and benefits of rebellion through the lens of Persepolis and personal values.
⏱️ Time: 15–20 minutes
📘 Cross-Curricular Link: Citizenship / Ethics / Speaking Skills
💬 Debate Motion:
"In times of political oppression, rebellion is the most effective path to change."
🧠 What You’ll Do:
👥 Step 1: Split into Two Teams
Team A – Argues for the motion: Rebellion brings awareness and necessary change, even if it’s risky.
Team B – Argues against the motion: Rebellion causes harm or backfires. There are safer, smarter ways to resist.
🧾 Step 2: Prepare Arguments (5 min)
Each team should prepare 2–3 strong points using:
Examples from Persepolis
Real-life events or modern examples (e.g., protests, whistleblowers)
Emotional or logical appeals
✅ Step 3: Class Vote
After both sides present, students vote anonymously: (Mentimeter):
Which team was more convincing? Why?
💭 Class Debrief (3–5 min)
What made an argument strong: emotion, logic, or personal connection?
Would you have made the same choices as Marji or her family?
Is silence ever a form of resistance?
🖌️ Activity 2: Graphic Novel Panel Quest – Identity, Oppression, Resistance & Freedom
🎯 Goal: Work in groups to visually interpret and present four major themes from Persepolis in a creative, comic-style format: Identity, Resistance, Freedom, and Oppression.
⏱️ Time: 35–45 minutes
📘 Cross-Curricular Link: Art / Creative Writing / Media Literacy
In this group challenge, you’ll become graphic novelists and explore how Marjane Satrapi expresses deep emotional and political themes through visuals. Your task is to create four connected comic panels—one for each of the following themes:
🌀 Identity – Who am I, and how do I express myself in a society that wants to define me?
⚖️ Oppression – How does power control people’s lives, and how do individuals experience that control?
✊ Resistance – How do people push back when their beliefs, rights, or identity are threatened?
🕊️ Freedom – What does it mean to be free in your choices, body, and mind?
👥 Step 1: Join Your Creative Team
Get into groups of 4 students. Each group member will take the lead on one theme and create a panel for it.
Together, brainstorm how your four panels can form a story arc or thematic sequence (you decide if they are connected or stand alone).
🎨 Step 2: Design Your 4 Panels (25–30 min)
Use Canva or Storyboard That to bring your story to life:
✅ Canva
Visit canva.com and search for “comic strip.”
Choose a layout or blank canvas.
Use symbolism, facial expressions, and bold contrast (black & white recommended).
Add short captions below each panel (1–2 sentences explaining how the panel expresses the theme).
✅ Storyboard That
Go to storyboardthat.com.
Create a panel for each theme using backgrounds, characters, and symbols.
Be sure to focus on body language and setting to convey meaning visually.
🏆 Step 3: Panel Gallery + Challenge Vote (10 min)
Present your 4-panel story in class or upload it to a shared gallery (Padlet or Drive).
Students vote for:
🏅 Most Creative Interpretation
🏅 Most Visually Powerful Panel
🏅 Most Insightful Group Message
Which theme was the hardest to show through visuals? Why?
How did Satrapi use minimalism and contrast to represent these big ideas?
What did this activity help you understand about power, control, and voice?