Last night, I finished reading a graphic novel called Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. It is about a young girl growing up in Iran in the 1970s and 1980s. While I had previously attempted to learn more about that region's conflicts and underlying causes of them, I feel like I never really had a firm grasp of how the recent history of the country impacted its role in the world today.
The format of this book, however, really helped me to see not only the personal impact of the revolutions and war during that time on one family, but also to understand some of the broader political and religious situations that contributed to this time of upheaval. While it looks like a comic book, with its black and white drawings with speech and thought bubbles, and is broken into vignettes that could be read piecemeal, altogether the book really
helped me to better understand the historical context of what has happened in the Middle East in the last few decades.
There are a variety of graphic novels and graphic representations of different historical periods, that may help you or your student to build some background knowledge on the topic. Having background knowledge, as you know, will help you to better understand your textbook or other, more complex required reading. There are also graphic novel versions of many classic novels too, which can be a good supplement to reading the real book, an enjoyable review of major plot points, or a good previewing and jumping-off place prior to reading the whole book.
Give it a try, and you might find it both helpful and enjoyable!
The format of this book, however, really helped me to see not only the personal impact of the revolutions and war during that time on one family, but also to understand some of the broader political and religious situations that contributed to this time of upheaval. While it looks like a comic book, with its black and white drawings with speech and thought bubbles, and is broken into vignettes that could be read piecemeal, altogether the book really
helped me to better understand the historical context of what has happened in the Middle East in the last few decades.
There are a variety of graphic novels and graphic representations of different historical periods, that may help you or your student to build some background knowledge on the topic. Having background knowledge, as you know, will help you to better understand your textbook or other, more complex required reading. There are also graphic novel versions of many classic novels too, which can be a good supplement to reading the real book, an enjoyable review of major plot points, or a good previewing and jumping-off place prior to reading the whole book.
Give it a try, and you might find it both helpful and enjoyable!
