Embedded Files
Rahmans Story.pdfRahman's Story
Rahman's Story
Fiction by Hossein Mortezaeian Abkenar
Translated from the Farsi by Sara Khalili
Class Twenty
Class Twenty
Introduction To the Iran-Iraq War
Class Twenty Homework
Class Twenty Homework
For a personal perspective on the war, watch this New York Times film about a boy who joined the Iranian army at 13 and had a surprising encounter with an Iraqi soldier.
In a 200-word essay, explore one or more of the following questions:
"Is the Iranian narrator reliable or unreliable? How about the Iraqi soldier who supposedly wrote the story? Rahman? The Iranian prisoner of war?
"Why does the story assert and undermine its own truth?"
"What does this approach suggest about the nature of 'truth' in wartime?"
Class Twenty-One
Class Twenty-One
Friends or Enemies
"It Is True" - Writing about War and Violence
Class Twenty-One Homework
Class Twenty-One Homework
Representation is a major issue in the literary community, with questions such as: Can, or should, a white author write in the voice of an African-American character? Should A man write in the voice of a woman?-A birthright citizen in the voice of a refugee? "Rahman's Story," with an Iranian narrator claiming to present the translated writing of an Iraqi soldier, helps us to understand how complex this issue is.
Read the New York Magazine article "Who Gave You the Right to Tell That Story?", in which ten authors weigh in on issues of representation and write a one to two-page essay about which opinions resonated with you, and why. Do you think it is possible to truthfully write in the voice of a person from a different culture? Why or why not? What are the ethical questions involved in telling someone else's story?
Cleric and I.pdfThe Cleric and I
The Cleric and I
Nonfiction by Salar Abdoh
Class Twenty-Two
Class Twenty-Two
Beyond Labels: Writing To Understand Others and Yourself
Class Twenty-Two Homework
Class Twenty-Two Homework
Fnd out what growing up was like for Salar Abdoh in his essay Hunger, and watch Abdoh describing his experiences following the forces fighting ISIS, including a few paragraphs that went directly into "The Cleric and I."
Write about a personal experience navigating a "multiplicity of worlds." If you like, you may illustrate your essay with photographs or drawings. Challenge: Use the second person in a portion of your essay.
Class Twenty-Three
Class Twenty-Three
Between "Us" and "Them" - Writing To Build Community
Class Twenty-Three Homework
Class Twenty-Three Homework
Read Carl Sagan on Moving Beyond "Us" vs. "Them" from Brain Pickings
Write about an example of "us and them" you have experienced. Was it yours or someone else's? Did the "us and them" thinking ever change, and if so, how? Are there lessons in the example about how we can combat intolerance and build community?
The Neighbor.pdfThe Neighbor
The Neighbor
Fiction by Goli Taraghi
Translated from the Farsi by Azizeh Azodi
Class Twenty-Four
Class Twenty-Four
Othering, Role Reversal and Friendship
Class Twenty-Four Homework
Class Twenty-Four Homework
Without language skills in French, the Persian narrator feels utterly incapacitated. Language is power; the lack of language is powerlessness. In the story's climax, knowing that the neighbor probably lacks English language skills, the narrator begins speaking it to her---and quickly transforms the fearsome adversary into a frightened "lamb."
Read A Guide to Being a Perfect Refugee, a graphic story by another Persian immigrant in Paris, which also explores language and power.
Write a short prose piece (200-300 words) or a poem about the power of language in your life or how this dynamic plays out in people's empowerment and disempowerment in such settings as schools, hospitals, and courts.
Class Twenty-Five
Class Twenty-Five
The Psychology Of Being New
Class Twenty-Five Homework
Class Twenty-Five Homework
The Iranian family in the story has left a "spacious house with a garden full of flowers and trees" for an apartment in the Paris city center. Read about Persian gardens and look through a photo gallery from UNESCO.
Find out the fateful meaning of Taraghi's last name (which her father chose for the family) in a speech she gave at Stanford University. Research your surname and at least one other surnames in your family. What is their derivation and cultural significance? They probably fits into one of these categories.
Patronymics (Johnson)
Place names (London)
Office or profession (Reeve)
Animals, plants, minerals (Rose)
Implements or tools (Hammer)
Food and drink (Rotwein)
Abstract ideas or inanimate objects (Hope)
Physical peculiarities (Tallman)
Character or temperament (Courage)
Dress or finery (Ring)
Property or wealth (Richman)
Occupation; habits; outstanding adventures (Baker)
Relation to God (Abdallah)
When you have finished your research, write a short essay about the surnames' origin story. Do these family names hold any significance to you or how you view yourself in the world?
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