As I continued reading chapters 4-10 of Persepolis, I noticed that as the conflict got more intense, the narrator also got older, which influenced how mature the tone was throughout this section. For example, themes such as torture were described pretty graphically to a girl who most certainly shouldn’t be exposed to such a thing. I also noticed that the narrator started to become more comfortable in forming her own beliefs about the situation. Her parents even allowed her to join a demonstration even though she hadn’t aged that much since they last refused her, which also could be due to the conflict escalating. What struck me the most though was the relationship between the narrator and her uncle. The concept of family was really emphasized in this section, and I liked how much she looked up to her uncle for being a hero, but I was really saddened when I found out about his fate. Even though the conflict is becoming more heavy, the graphic novel format doesn’t make it seem as dark as the situation really is.

Regarding our visit to the Book Arts Studio, I enjoyed getting to make my own story book myself. I prefer to have a hands-on approach to learning, so I appreciated that we got to actually make our own book out of paper. I am not the best artist in the world, so if we are making one for our storytelling project, then I would probably like to use images or magazine cut outs. I do enjoy writing in cursive or different fonts though and I have been told that my handwriting is pretty neat, so I would definitely still use my handwriting. I do have some ideas of what story of mine I’ll tell. I want to tell a very personal story that has had a big impact on my life because it means so much to me.