Hello Reader,
The essay question is:
How do the accounts of the Iranian revolution recounted in Persepolis add to the accounts of the Iranian Revolution provided by our text book?
I need some feedback on my conclusion and how I can improve on it.
Thanks!
" Globalization, globalization is "increasing the interconnectedness of different markets..effect of markedly increasing not only international trades, but also cultural exchange." the westernizing of Iran, and the Shah being backed up by the west, elicited the conservative backlash of the people of Iran. The Iranian revolution (also known as the Islamic revolution) took place in during 1979. The revolution refers to the chain of events which involved the overthrowing of the Iran monarchy under the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and eventually replacing him with the leader of the revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The accounts of the Iranian revolution recounted in Persepolis adds to the account of the revolution provided by our text book because it goes into greater detail of what the textbook has summarized.
The revolution didn't take place just because of modern imperialism. Satrapi mentions, ""2500 years of tyranny and submission"...First our own emperors, then the Arab invasion from the west, followed by the Mongolian from the west, and finally modern imperialism." There were several events that built up to the revolution, modern imperialism could be seen as the last straw, that final nudge to perpetuate the wheels of the revolution. Demonstrations were held regularly but sometimes it got ugly, "the doors had been locked from the outside a few minutes before the fire. the police were there. they forbade people to rescue those locked inside. then they attacked them. the firemen didn't arrive until forty minutes later. the bbc said there were about 400 victims. the shah said that a group of religious fanatics perpetrated the massacre. but the people knew that it was the shah's fault!!!" The cruelty of the Shah harmed many innocent people, but it didn't stop the people from protesting. In fact, as the repression got more intense the more the people just lost hope in their government. Our textbook mentions this, "as repression intensified, so did the impression that the government had abandoned the people.
Shah Mohammad Reza came to power with the aid of the British. Once they found out about the abundance natural resources they paid him a visit,
"a blessing for the very influential British who soon learned of his projects...Reza! we should go meet him, immediately! Persia is full of oil...(Reza) I want to create a republic. The religious leaders are against it and they're right. A vast country like yours needs a holy symbol...you just give us the oil and we'll take care of the rest."
originally he wanted to create a Republic, but was persuaded to do otherwise. He was helped onto the throne of Iran in exchange for the oil. This is similar to what is mentioned in the text book, "Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had enjoyed unstinting U.S. Technical and military support since the Americans had helped to place him on the throne of Iran in 1953." The only difference is that the book says Reza was placed onto the throne with the aide of the U.S, but in Persepolis, Britain aided him in putting him on the throne.
The Shah took it too far when there as a mass massacre in one of the neighborhoods of Iran, now we know this as Black Friday, "''Black Friday.'' That day there were so many killed in one of the neighborhoods that a rumor spread that Israeli soldiers were responsible for the slaughter...after Black Friday, there was one massacre after another. Many people were killed" (39-41). The people didnt just take this, they kept pressing on the Shah, and eventually his reign would come to an end. As a result of the many revolts the Shah made a broadcast, "I understand your revolt, together we will march towards democracy" (40). After all he has done, this just infuriated the people...all they wanted from him was to leave. The American Hostage Crisis in Iran left the United States in shock, "The United States was stunned in 1979 by Iran's Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the shah and brought the exiled cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power. After radical students captured U.S. Embassy, as well as fifty-three hostages, an American rescue raid failed, leading to celebration by Iranians" upon Khomeini's return he established a theocratic state ruled by a council of islamic clerics."
Credits to Harrison Ketek
This seems to start in media res. You need to work on situating the events you describe in context. For instance, you write
The revolution didn't take place just because of modern imperialism.
.
At that point, though, you haven't mentioned that your text blames modern imperialism, unless of course you view globalization and cultural exchange as synonymous with modern imperialism, in which case, that is still a personal view and one that needs explaining. Likewise, you write
the doors had been locked from the outside a few minutes before the fire.
The doors to what, exactly? Who did the locking? You imply the Shah's followers, but without more context, the quotation confuses rather than enlightens.
And so on. You need to revise your essay to make sure you have fully explained the context of the examples, and their connection to both the text and Persepolis.
