Week 1
Wednesday August 27 Introduction
Week 2
Monday September 1 No Class
Wednesday September 3 “Writing Matters”– pp. 3-25
Seeing and Writing
Week 3
Monday September 8 No Class due to emergency
Wednesday September 10 pp. 27-49
Seeing and Writing
Learning Across the Curriculum – Chapter 1 – A
Writer’s Resource
Blog
Week 4
Monday September 15 Annie Dillard’s “Seeing” – pp.108-117
Alfred Leslie’s “Television Moon” – pp. 90-92
Seeing and Writing
Blog
Wednesday September 17 No Class
Week 5
Monday September 22 “Challenging Images” – pp. 598-611
Isabel Allende’s “Omayra Sanchez” pp. 612-615
Seeing and Writing
Writing and Designing Papers – Chapter 2 – A Writer’s Resource
Blog
Wednesday September 24 “Chapter 2: Coming to Terms with Place” – pp. 139-149
Edward Hirsch’s – “Edward Hopper and the House by
The Railroad (1925)”
Seeing and Writing
Blog
Week 6
Monday September 29 No Class
Essay #1 – First Draft
Blog
Wednesday October 1 No Class
Week 7
Tuesday October 6 Peer Review
Wednesday October 8 No Class
Week 8
Tuesday October 14 Peer Review
Wednesday October 15 Eudora Welty’s “The Little Store” – pp. 154 – 160
E.B. White’s “Once More to the Lake” – pp. 162 -167
Peer Review
Blog
Week 9
Monday October 20 Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” – Chapter 1, “The Veil” – pp. 3-9
Persepolis
Seeing and Writing – pp. 360-361
Blog
Wednesday October 22 Second Draft of Essay #1 Due
Persepolis – pp. 10-32
Blog
Week 10
Monday October 27 Persepolis –pp. 33-53
Blog
Wednesday October 29 Persepolis –pp. 54 - 79
Blog
Week 11
Monday November 3 Persepolis – pp. 80 - 110
Blog
Watch Film
Wednesday November 5 Persepolis –pp. 111-134
Blog
Watch Film
Week 12
Monday November 10 Persepolis – pp. 135 -153
Blog
Wednesday November 12 First Draft of Essay #2 Due
Peer Review
Week 13
Monday November 17 View “Baraka”
Wednesday November 19 “Visualizing Composition: Metaphor” p. 545
Exercise p. 545
Seeing and Writing
Stylistic Devices (handout)
Week 14
Monday November 24 Second Draft of Essay #3 Due
Richard Selzer’s “The Knife” (handout)
Blog
Wednesday November 26 Sylvia Plath’s “Ariel” (handout)
Robert Hass’ “Meditation at Lagunitas (handout)
Blog
Week 15
Monday December 1 Chapter 6 “Reading Icons – pp. 499-507
Guy Davenport’s “The Geography of the Imagination” pp. 508 -513
Seeing and Writing
Blog
Wednesday December 3 “She Can’t Smile Without You” pp. 516-531
Sally Stein’s “Passing Likeness” pp. 533-544
Seeing and Writing
Blog
Week 16
Monday December 8 Tom Perrotta’s “The Cosmic Significance of Britney
Spears” pp. 568- 574
Seeing and Writing
Wednesday December 10 Group Meetings
Week 17
Monday December 15 Final Group Presentations
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Marijane Satrapi was born in 1969. She was Iranian and her expression is more courageous and Frankness than any European. When she was a child, her parents criticized their politics to Marijane. Therefore, she recognized her country need a revolution to get a new life for people in Iran. Her dream was become a prophetess with love and justice. At her 14 years old, she was sent to Vienna school. She wrote an autobiography called "Persepolis" was based on her thought and experience. In the introduction of "Persepolis", Marijane introduced a background and history of her homeland-Iran. She also wanted to correct people's view of Iran. People's view of Iran was linking to the World II, oil and religion. Nevertheless, they had never known what causes Iran enter a war and how they lived in it. She pointed out Iran was separated from "Ayryna Vajo" which means "The Origin of the Aryans". Reza Shah's son - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became a leader of Iran after Reza Shah abdicated because he against British, Soviet and America. Iran got rich because oil business during the second world. After then, the CIA was going to against Mohammed Mossadeq who nationalized the oil industry. In this case, she was going to finish her autobiography because it was of the highest importance to make people understand the truth in Iran. The first chapter of "Persepolis" is "The Veil", she described her childhood in comic way with simple lines and black-white color. In this story, she was a young girl in 1980. She didn't like to wear a veil, because she didn't understand the meaning of veil. After Cultural Revolution came, Marijane and her classmates must be separated to girls and boys. Most of the people began to against this case. At one of the demonstrations, a German journalist took a photo of her mother. Therefore, her mother got scare so that she changed her hair color. After then, she gave her a dream that become a prophetess. Nevertheless, everyone laughed at her because they thought her was a stupid person, include her parents. However, her grandmother was supporting her to make her dream come true. At each night, she liked to speak with god because only god was agreed with her. For this reason, she would like to become a prophetess with god's love, hate and justice. Marijane used a special way (comic) to express and spread the Iran culture, history and religion. We can easily get an idea and view from her autobiography. According to this chapter, I understand Iranians' lives often oppressed and separated by government during a culture revolution. I also see her strong feeling to be freedom and equal.
Personally, there is a same thing happened in China during 1966 to 1976 called "The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution". The Cultural Revolution in China was a large scale political campaign launched by the late iron man Maos. Maos attacked to the leadership of the Community Party. It caused law and order is breaking out. The people's lives were in complete upheaval. The Cultural Revolution turned to a nightmare in history of Chinese development. My mother experience with Culture revolution as I remember that she didn't have enough money to buy food to eat. Even thought my government would offer our food, but it wasn't enough to live on. My mother always worked hard in a farm and a factory. However, she didn't earn lots money from government. Our lives are not control by ourselves, but only by government, politics and religion. In the past, we usually paid for price for having our freedom. It is a fairly way to our lives?
So far, I am enjoying reading "Persepolis". Although in these first few pages the difficult time of the Islamic Revolution in Iran is discussed, Marjane Satrapi still successfully adds a humorous element to it. For example, when she introduces how the children did not want to wear the veil at school on the bottom of page three, the dialogue and illustration lighten the mood. Children are shown running around, jumping, and playing with the veils and complaining about it. I also enjoyed reading about her relations to God, and looking at the illustrations of him talking to her. It is this connection of seriousness to humor which I enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy as I read more of the book.
I really enjoy reading the first couple of pages. I can see that Satrapi is a rambunctious little girl with a lot of potential. Also, I find it very rare that Satrapi had a strong belief in God; and the fact that she wanted to be a prophet. To me it seems wonderful, but still, it is kind of unusual. I really love the fact that her parents back her up. I find that parents who have children with such knowledge run crazy. However, Satrapi parents don't scold her for telling people what she wants to be. But instead they embrace it; which I find very lovely. I also love the humor in her writing and drawing. If I was to read this as a regular book with no cartoons, I think I would still like the book, but I wouldn't be as intrigued as I am with it now.
In "The Viel" Satrapi speaks about her experiences in early 1980 when the Islamic Revolution started. One of the main things it caused was the law for them to wear their viels all the time. Though it was a dangerous time, her and her family had the courage to stand up for their beliefs.
She explains how even though she did not want to wear the viel all the time, she was very religious. As a child, she believed she wanted to be a prophet when she grew up. Her grandmother always supported her desire to become a prophet.
I think this first chapter shows the starting of extremely dangerous times in Iran with a humorous twist. Her mother would fight for against the veil. When her picture was posted on the newspaper, Satrapi showed that she was really proud of her mom. I like how they are all strong and supportive of their beliefs.
So far "Persepolis" is about a young lgirl growing up in her country during the Islamic Revolution. She is confused to finding a common ground between being religion and adapting to her surroundings. At school, this is easily seen because of the segregation between boys and girls and the idea of wearing the veil. However, she seems like any ordinary little girl growing up. She is really close and concern for her grandmother and dreams of growing up to be a prophet. She wants to be a prophet to help her grandmother and help the world. Her teacher thinks she is weird for wanting to be a prophet but her grandmother believes her. Instead she tells everyone that she wants to be a doctor. I think that there is a strong relationship between her and her grandmother and her relationship to God that will be very important as the book continues. I think the book is interesting so far. Although the text is very simple to understand, the pictures help to have a better understanding.
Christina Mathew
Cmathew624@yahoo.com
"The Veil" was a humorous story about living in Iran when the Iran Revolution started. She's just a child living in this world and she shows us her view on things. While we are reading this chapter, you know its from a child's point of view. She doesn't understand the reality of things around her. She looks soo innocent and sweet yet her lifegoal is to be a prophet.
Stephanie Balroop (sbalroop100@qc.cuny.edu)
In "The Veil" Marijane Satrapi describes her experience during the Islamic and cultural revolution in 1980. I found her perspective very interesting and found that she was wise for her age. I also found it very strange that she wanted to be a prophet, in fact I thought it was a joke. So far I am enjoying reading Persepolis. I like the fact that comic strips are used. It makes the book clearer, more detailed and most of all more enjoyable.
Stephanie Balroop (sbalroop100@qc.cuny.edu)
Throughout "the bicycle", "water cell" and "persepolis" we see Marijane learn a lot about what is going on with the revolution and the Reza Shah. We also learn how the Shah took power and who he is. It is revealed that Marijane's great grandfather was the emperor of Persia before being over thrown by the Shah. Throughout these sections Marijane is frustrated due to the fact that she doesn't really understand the revolution as well as her parents. As a result of this she decides to read many books about Persia's history and the revolution. As we read through the sections Marijane becomes a little more aware of what is going on around her. I was a bit confused after reading these few pages. I found that there were many things that were not explained.
“The Bicycle” ,Marjane explained the bicycle was a metaphor used for a revolution. If a revolution didn’t work with people any more, then people would fall down together from a bicycle. She tried to say people must support their same purpose-“Done with the king”. A belief, sometimes was based on a scientist theory-“Everything don’t exist, because it come from people’s imagination.” However, it was wrong. A truth could correct a wrong belief. At a night, she heard her parent was discussing about the fire in a Movie Theater. The government cheated people that a terrorist made the fire happen. Marjane was clearly to know a government’s plot-to kill anyone who against them. “Where is the god?” Marjane was recalling the god to help her. But at that night, he didn’t come. The bicycle is a good metaphor to represent a revolution. The revolution is working on people. If it doesn’t work any more, then people will disappointment, in other word, they will lose their hopes in their lives.
In the “The Water Cell” Marjane had changed his idea that a king wasn’t choose by a god. Her father told her, a king had his own justification to become a king but it was not a god’s will. A king had a common sense that having much money to do everything they want. But a king must listen to a man who help him to become a king, just like a son of Reza Shah - Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, he became a king under the western countries’ help. But he must offer oil to them to against French. As a result, people began to against their king-Mohammad, because he was a despot. Her father also told her that her grandfather was a son of the king. But he was in jail, because he was a communism. Marjane was surprised to hear her grandfather was a son of the king, but she didn’t hear any more information from her grandmother. Finally, she understood why her grandfather was dead, and why her family gets poor because the king was a despot who controls people’s lives and takes everything from people own. This chapter makes me fell upset, because a government must protect people, right? But why they hurt people so painful? A good leader is protecting people, not controlling them.
In people’s lives, they look forward freedom, hope, happy and wealth. But their leaders take their freedom, hope, happy and wealth. And brings restrict, disappointment, sad and poor to them. What they want to treat people on that way? The money, power and benefit are reasons to explain a bad leader’s fault. China, it has a same problem, people’s lives were enough money to support their families in the past. It was not only a reason causes them to become poor, but also their political opinions (share everything between government and people) affect their lives. However, a good leader is going to service, protect, support people.
[B]Liu6584@yahoo.com
WRITING Q.1[/B]
An icon is a visual representation of things such as an object, scene, person or abstraction which symbolized something else. Most people used a photograph to represent another thing, but it always reduces some dimension of an image’s reality, such as Lange’s photograph and an image of the Virgin Mary. Most of Lang’s photograph was used for political purposes, for example, her famous photo, “Migrant Mother” which described a woman lived in hard time during the Great Depression. Another example of Christian traditional portrait named Virgin Mary which was painted in many different styles by many artists.
“Migrant Mother” showed a poor Native American woman, and her children who always beside her. Lange avoided the woman’s own reality story to combine her symbolism and religious notions make her image more powerful for the political use. According to Lange’s photos which focused on the woman’s worried and fear face and her poor situation, she tried to document how the Great Depression to ravage American lives. Lange didn’t know the woman indentify and background, even her own life story. But Lange thought these photos could make viewers feel compassion, and her document would be more persuasive for her political purpose that how people feeling of the Great Depression. “Migrant Mother” became the icon of Roosevelt's New Deal policy. Furthermore, everyone’s viewpoints of this photo are considered with the Great Depression, not the woman’s original situation. And the woman’s reality story would be hidden in the photo. An image of Virgin Mary, many artists painted Virgin Mary in different ways, such as ‘Madonna Nursing the Child’ which applied gold color to the flat image in the early century, and an oil painting of ‘Holy Family with Saints Margaret and Francis’ by Lavinia Fontana in the middle century, etc. They painted or drawn Virgin Mary who is mother of Jesus in their own knowledge, religious belief and conception. Because nobody knows how Virgin Mary looks like, they tried use their imaginations and knowledge to paint their own Virgin Mary. Different places have different kinds of Virgin Mary portrait, and each portrait have different influences on viewers. For example, Lavinia Fontana painted Virgin Mary as white woman, but Michael Escoffery painted her as Indian woman. There are such difference between Lavinia and Michael’ painting of Virgin Mary, but however, the image of people uses would affect viewer’s viewpoints through their images. They convert the image to icon for symbolizing another things to hidden the reality. In this way, the icon makes the origin of image is obscure, and lead viewer to focus on anther things, and the reality of image was lost.
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