Project:  As a project prior to beginning the graphic novel Persepolis, I will design a webquest for my high school students. 

Grade Level:  Persepolis might be read as part of a world literature class, so the students would probably be juniors or seniors, though not necessarily college-bound.  I will design the webquest for average-level juniors.

Rationale:  Persepolis is a novel about an adolescent girl during the Islamic revolution in Iran during the mid 1970’s and early 1980’s.  Because historical events play a major part in the novel, students need to have a clear understanding of these events and even their impact on the Middle East and our relations with them today.

General Ideas:

Students will work in groups on their research and give PowerPoint® presentations on the following topics:

• The Shah of Iran—his role in government and his overthrow
• Islam—major beliefs of the religion and why the Taliban felt the revolution was necessary
• Society in Iran—institutions such as schools, religion, families, government; what were the norms pre-revolution as compared to post-revolution?
• Culture in Iran—movies, music, art, fashion; what were the norms pre-revolution as compared to post revolution.
• Other?

Concerns:

Are these topics too much for students to handle?  Are they already biased about the society and culture of Iran by our government’s propaganda?  Will they understand what/why they are researching if we haven’t started reading the novel yet?  Should I wait until we begin reading they novel?

Things I need to start working on:

• Find appropriate websites for students to use for their research.
• Start thinking of goals for the assignment
• Write up the assignment guidelines for completing the webquest and the PowerPoint®. 
• Start thinking about assessments for the PowerPoint® and group work.