Hughes-BlaumLENS5

back to personal page Kelsey Hughes-Blaum Dr. Sherry Literature for Young Adults LENS 5 29 March 2011 Reader-Response: // Persepolis // // Persepolis // by Marjane Satrapi is a coming of age story which is exactly why it makes for a great read for not only young adults, but for those of us in class who plan on teaching them. However, what makes this coming of age tale even more beneficial to young adult readers is that they will be able to identify with Marjane’s experiences while gaining cultural insight. When I think back to my experiences as a young adult, I can relate to Marjane in the sense that she had to learn to adapt and accept aspects of her life and culture that she was not entirely informed about. I was in sixth grade when the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred. I recall watching the World Trade Center smolder in every single one of my seven classes that day. However, my peers and I watched in complete confusion. When we asked our teachers what was going on, they simply told us we were too young to understand. This was just one of the moments throughout young adulthood where I, and many other adolescents, realized that my age group was a sort of median between childhood and adulthood. We were old enough to see the footage of the destruction, but not mature enough to grasp the concept of why it was occurring. So much changed in our country after 9/11 and my generation was at an age where it was totally new and we had to learn to accept it. This encounter reminds me of the very beginning of the novel when Marjane is told to wear the veil but is not given sufficient information as to why. Any coming of age story is suitable and beneficial for young adult readers. I find this one to be so fruitful because the author is taking a culture that may be completely unfamiliar to some students and showing them that all young adults, worldwide, experience the struggles and the joy of growing up. I appreciated this novel not only from the point of view as a future teacher, but simply as a reader. I, personally, take understanding other cultures very seriously and with great interest. Therefore, I found Persepolis to be a perfect combination of depicting the journey of a young girl and providing cultural insight.