About the Book
Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi, tells the complex story of the Iranian Revolution from the perspective of a 10-year-old girl who grows into young adulthood and lives through one of the most turbulent periods in recent Iranian history.
Student and faculty members of the Common Reading Book Committee chose Persepolis for several reasons:
- As a graphic memoir, it represents an emerging literary form that combines visual and verbal artistry in compelling ways, and allows incoming students to experience a cutting-edge form of artistic expression.
- As a coming of age story that traces the growth of an individual from childhood to young adulthood during a time of radical social change, it embodies the ways in which the personal and political are intertwined in all our lives.
- As a first-person narrative focusing on a single female’s experience, it engages issues of gender and gender politics in ways that are centrally important at a women’s college.
Since it was published in 2003, Persepolis has gained international popularity. It has won numerous awards, and the film adaptation was nominated for a 2007 Academy Award for best animated feature. Marjane Satrapi lives in Paris and continues to write graphic narratives. She also writes and illustrates children’s books. Persepolis was originally written in French and was translated into English by Satrapi’s husband, Mattias Ripa, and Blake Ferris.
Your Required Summer Reading
With Persepolis, you’ll join Agnes Scott's tradition of required summer reading for first-years. The college will mail you a copy this summer and you’ll write an essay about the book before arriving on campus. The Random House Reader’s Guides contain a series of questions on the first and second parts of the memoir that will help you prepare a response essay on the book; you are welcome to choose one of the questions about part 1 or part 2 as the basis of your essay.
During fall semester, you’ll discuss the book in your ASC 101 group and attend events related to the book.
Past first-year books have included American Woman by Susan Choi and Bee Season by Myla Goldberg.
Questions?
Your current contact for the first-year book is Jim Diedrick, associate dean of the college, at jdiedrick@agnesscott.edu.