The book I decided to read was Reading Lolita in Tehran and I can only base my response off this book since I don't know about the other two. I think we were assigned Reading Lolita in Tehran because it's about a college professor telling her story about teaching banned American novels to eight Muslim girls living during the Iranian Revolution. The author, Azar Nafisi, not only meets with these eight girls but she also teaches at two major universities in Iran. Nafisi does not really follow the Iranian standards of how she should act or dress during the revolution because of her beliefs. This story makes you feel as if you're actually in revolutionary Iran with her description of how she risked her life teaching these books and how eight girls also did so they could just read and be knowledgable.
I think this book in particular was assigned because it is not only about a professor rebelling in ways against the government due to her beliefs but because there were eight girls who risked everything to read American books. Within the story, these girls slowly begin to reveal their identities as intellectual women who want to be educated and literate. This book was assigned since it is of non-fictional characters who want to be knowledgable about the outside world and there is no better way for learning about literacy then through a book.
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Reading some of the basis of what you got from your book coincides with how I feel while reading "Teacher Man" by Frank McCourt. I feel as though these books are showing us how teacher/students overcome obtacles in education. As you were saying the girls in Tehran are reading books banned in their country, Frank McCourt goes against the odds in his book as a teacher. He is able to rise above the expectations of his abilities as an Irish immigrant and become an outstanding teacher. We as teachers are faced with many questions: "How will I teach this lesson? How will I react to the behavior in my classroom? " With so many more on top of this, I think Frank's book allows us to see what works and what doesn't, even if it's primarily in an urban setting. Like the girls in Tehran not letting their country rule what they read, Frank doesn't let his negative experiences in school ruin his teaching experience. He keeps chugging whether he receives negative or positive feedback from administration and/or students.
I agree with what your saying about the books we are reading. When reading "Freedom Writers," the students do not want to give change a chance at first. As the school year progresses their feelings change towards the teacher and themselves. They too realize that their lives do not have to be the same as their parents or older brothers and sisters. They realize that they can open so many other doors of opportunities. From reading your Blog I gather that is what those women were experiencing. I cannot agree with you anymore when you say the best way for literacy is by reading.
Excellent analysis. Great post -- I also really appreciate how the girls change over the course of the book/
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