Hello readers!

This week on ASTU, we continued talking about the book Persepolis written by Marjane Satrapi. We not only discussed the style of the book in depth but also linked the style of the drawing to  the child’s view of violence and trauma.

The comic style of the book made it approachable and easy to read, she drew it in the view of a child and the child-like language used made it easily relatable. Despite the simplistic drawing technique used, what Satrapi is trying to convey to us readers are far more dark and not for the faint hearted. She tries to express her anger towards war, her hatred towards violence and her sympathy towards the innocents that died during the protest. Satrapi purposely drew out how she perceived all the violence as a child and how she imagined it to look. Take the mass murder scene as an example, everything is so neat and tidy, there is no blood nor broken limbs shown in the panel. As a reader, we know that the actual scene would be far more bloody, this gave us readers the opportunity to picture how it would actually look like. In another words, it is also because of the book’s simplistic drawing style that enabled us to focus on the main idea of violence. If the panel is filled with colour or patterns, those effects would over shadow the main idea of violence. Keeping the colour black and white give it a sense of seriousness which helps deliver her story and keep the readers in mind that she is talking about a serious issue.

Another feature I would like to point out is how simple the heading of each chapter is. Marjane Satrapi purposely named the chapter after commonly found things in her daily life in her childhood. For example the veil, the bicycle, the key…. This shows a child remember events by linking their memories to an everyday object, and each object have a story of its own. Every chapter, she will bring out a deeper meaning using the object mentioned in the heading as a lead. The fact that even the most common objects have a sad story behind it suggested that she has a painful childhood.

What I love about Marjane Satrapi’s book Persepolis is how well planned the book is, every panel and heading is purposely drawn or in a particular way to bring out a deeper meaning. I find this comic book an amazing depiction of the Islamic Revolution, it gave us insight of what is happening during that time.

Thank you for reading and I hope my piece is a delight to read!

By Rachel Lam

Hello readers!

I will admit I do not have the most exciting topic but please forgive me and hang with me here. Today in my ASTU I just had my Summary exam, to be honestly I find this task extremely challenging and would much rather write an essay than a summary. While I was writing my exam, I thought to myself. Why is having the skills to summarize an article so importance? The more I think of this question, the more real life application of summary can come into play. We all read the short summary paragraph at the back of the book before buying it; or perhaps read the comments on rotten tomato of a movie before watching it and most importantly we would read the summarized life of a person on Wikipedia when we need to do a research paper on a historic person. The list go on and on, and I am convinced that summary is extremely important in the world of literature.

You might be wondering what’s the purpose of me writing a short article specifically on why summary is important. Well, Let’s face it, we all love summary and we all read summary, which is also probably why we should all learn how to write a summary. I know this sounds cliché but summary is everywhere in our daily life!

In order to write a good summary, here are some things to beware of.

1. Writing a summary is no easy task, fitting all the key information from an essay into one short paragraph is a lot harder than it sounds. The key is to focus on the bigger picture rather than expanding on smaller details. Try to mention points that’s link to another point.
2. Always use present tense. Avoid switching tenses mid-way through the paragraph, not only will it cause confusion for the reader but it would also affect the flow of the paragraph.
3. Do not use the full name of the article as the introduction but use the words within the name of the article. Not only will it save much valuable space but also make the paragraph less bulky.
4. Avoid using the word “conclude” but use the word “argues”, “claims” and also “charts”.
5. Try to use direct words from the article and put it into the summary. It not only gives the readers a taste of the original article but also put more trust into your work.
6. Try to stay neutral and only use words like “intend” when you doubt or disagrees with the original text. Please be aware that after using these words, an explanation is required. You will have to explain why you disagree or what the writer is trying to prove but failed to.
7. Last but not least, always remember to introduce the writer. Avoid using information like which University he/she is from and try to mention something the readers would want to know or find useful! The writer’s field of studies is an example. For example: Biologist Rachel Lam proposed that in her recent article……….

I hope you find my article a delight to read and my pointers useful. See you next week!

Hello readers!

This week on ASTU we read the comic book Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and I must say this is a marvellous and well written comic book. The book enables us readers to oversee the whole Islamic Revolution in the view of a child, it helps deliver the serious message in a simple, childish and pressure-free way.

A scene in the comic resonated with me long after I read the book, in that scene Marjane Satrapi (the protagonist of the book) was in the car with her parent. She asked them why didn’t they leave the country and her father coldly replied, “So that I can be a taxi driver and you [Marjane] can be a cleaning lady?” (page 64) After reading this scene, I sympathize with Marjane and her family. I feel a sense of hopelessness because the political outlook of the country is so unstable; trapped because there is nowhere they can go. Moreover, this particular scene reminded me of the sacrifice my parents made migrating to Canada 20 years ago.

Hong Kong used to be a British colony until 1996 when Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese government. My parents were terrified of what will become of Hong Kong after the handover, they do not wish to raise their kids in a communist country and decided to migrate to Canada. They gave up the stable jobs and comfortable lives they enjoy in Hong Kong and moved to another continent. After moving to Canada, they struggled to make a stable living and have to put up with the constant racist comments and harassment from their co-workers. Some might ask why didn’t they switch jobs? Well, let me ask you a question. If you have a 2 years old child and another one on the way (the other one is me to be exact), can you afford to be picky? Besides, not much jobs were opened to new immigrants at that time.

It was especially hard for my dad, he earned a degree in urban planning and worked in the government in Hong Kong. Although he is a very talented man and is passionate about his studies, the only job he landed in Canada was to work in a fish market unloading boxes and boxes of seafood on and off truck. Due to the heavy load he carried everyday during that period, he severely hurt his back and is still in constant pain till this day.

Marjan Satrapi’s story reminded me of what happened to my parents and how influential the head of state or government can be. One wrong decision they make can severely affect the lives of millions. In event like these, both Marjane and my parents are choosing better the lesser evil and are asking themselves the ultimate question. Would they rather risk raising their child in a potentially unsafe environment but have a high social standing and a stable income or would they give up all they have just so they can have a stable life but earn an unstable income?

Overall I enjoyed the book, I have always been a fan of memoir or comic books. Having these two genre combine is just perfect. To those who are also interested in this genre of books, I recommend you to read “The Book Of Negro” written by Canadian author Lawrence Hill. This book is otherwise known as “Someone Knows My Name” in New Zealand and in the United State. Although it is not a comic book but a novel, it is not at all dull or boring.

I hope you enjoy my blog and find it a pleasure to read!

By Rachel Lam

PS: After my parents lived in Canada for 5 years, they realize Canada is not the promise land that the country advertised so they moved back to Hong Kong.