Graphic Novel Terms
The space between panels where readers infer what happens.
What is the gutter?
A close-up panel often emphasizes this.
What is emotion, facial expression, or inner feeling?
The narrator, main character, and author/artist of Persepolis.
Who is Marjane / Marji Satrapi?
The veil symbolizes this for Marjane and her mother.
What is oppression or control over women?
The country where Persepolis takes place.
What is Iran?
A large image that takes up a full page or nearly a full page and has no border
What is a splash page?
When two contrasting images or ideas are placed beside each other for effect.
What is juxtaposition?
Marjane’s parents are best described as this - politically and socially.
What are liberal, modern, educated, and rebellious?
The golden key given to poor boys symbolizes this.
What is government manipulation / false promises of martyrdom?
The 1979 event that changes Marjane’s school, clothing, and daily life.
What is the Iranian Revolution?
Symbols like sweat drops, motion lines, or stress marks that show emotion or movement.
What are emanata?
Lines, gazes, arms, or movement that guide the reader’s eye across the page.
What are vectors?
She gives Marjane advice, comfort, and a strong sense of family memory.
Who is Marjane’s grandmother, and what is her significance?
Marjane’s love of punk music and Western clothing represents this theme.
What is rebellion and independence?
The war that begins after the revolution and brings bombing, fear, and loss into Marjane’s life.
What is the Iran-Iraq War?
The visual element that draws the reader’s eye first because of size, contrast, placement, or boldness.
What is graphic weight/salience?
A black panel may suggest this when words or images cannot fully express trauma.
What is silence, grief, shock, or emotional overwhelm?
This character helps Marjane understand that family history must not be forgotten.
Who is Uncle Anoosh?
The contrast between Marjane’s private home life and public behaviour develops this theme.
What is public versus private identity?
The ancient Persian capital referenced by the title.
What is Persepolis?
The level of realism in an image; lower realism can make characters feel more universal or symbolic.
What is modality.
A repeated object, image, or icon that develops meaning across a text.
What is a motif?
Mehri’s story helps reveal this social issue in Iran.
What is social class inequality?
Marjane’s final separation from her parents represents the end of this.
What is childhood or innocence?
Satrapi writes the memoir partly to challenge this Western view of Iran.
What is the idea that Iran should be defined only by fundamentalism, fanaticism, or terrorism?