Persepolis Webquest

Assignment Sheet

Soon we will begin reading the graphic novel Persepolis, the story of a teen-age girl in Iran during the Islamic revolution in the mid 1970’s.  In order to completely appreciate her story, we need to learn more about Iran and its society, culture, and institutions during that time period, and we will be doing that with the help of a webquest.  This may sound like a lot of research, but you will be responsible for only a small part of the entire research project.

Part I:  The WebQuest

In groups, you will be responsible for researching one of the following areas:

• The Shah of Iran—his role in government and reasons for his overthrow
• Islam—major beliefs of the religion and why religious fundamentalists felt the revolution was necessary
• Society in Iran—institutions such as schools, religion, families, government
  • One group on pre-revolution norms
  • One group on post-revolution norms
• Culture in Iran—movies, music, art, fashion
  • One group on pre-revolution culture
  • One group on post-revolution culture

Part II:  PowerPoint® Presentation

Each group will put together a number of slides (three per person in your group unless otherwise negotiated) for a formal presentation in class.  These slides should be the basis for the information you relay to the rest of the class, but they should not just be slides with written material on them.  Use color, pictures, clip art, and text to create an attractive and meaningful presentation.   Don’t read your slides to us; rather, use notes to speak extemporaneously or pre-record your narration.   Time limit for the presentation is two minutes per person in your group unless otherwise negotiated, so plan your time wisely together and rehearse your timings and presentation together.  Your work will be assessed by a rubric.  You will be assigned a group grade and an individual grade.