‘Museum of Persepolis’ Exhibition

At the end of Term 1 the Year 11 IBDP English A students hosted the ‘Museum of Persepolis’ exhibition as a conclusion to their study of the graphic novel memoir ‘Persepolis’ by Marjane Satrapi. The students worked collaboratively in small groups to produce a museum audio guide, showcase their knowledge and understanding of both  contextual and symbolic meaning within the text. In true IB style, students were tasked with a ‘real life scenario’ to choose an artefact from the text, create an audio script and recording showcasing the stories of human experiences during the Iranian Revolution (circa 1979-1990).  Their script had to explore the significance of the artefact within the text, exploring evidence from the graphic novel. The task outlined The Museum of Persepolis as having the primary purpose to inform of the differing experiences of individuals during the overthrow of the Shah and uprising of Islamic theocratic leader Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini. The students also had to include information to explore a further secondary purpose of analysing the effect of social, historical and cultural context on individual’s personal experiences.

The Cranbrook English department has a commitment to developing student understanding through inquiry based, independent learning to empower every student, regardless of ability. This short IBDP project allowed the students to showcase their learning creatively, and has helped them engage with Global Issues that are at the heart of the English curriculum. The students will now develop these ideas into practice Individual Oral activities to help prepare them for their Internal Assessment later this year.

Carline Usasz
Assistant Head of Department – English (Stage 6)