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Reading as Resistance: Reading Lolita in Tehran
In Reading Lolita in Tehran, students examine the central conflict between citizens and their oppressive government, considering how fiction, as well as the reading and discussion of it, can be a powerful form of resistance.
ELA
Unit 5
10th Grade
Unit Summary
10th grade concludes with Reading Lolita in Tehran, a memoir about Azar Nafisi's experience living and teaching in the Islamic Republic of Iran during and after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Throughout 10th grade, students have explored the theme of the individual in society in fictional texts; with Nafisi's memoir—which combines personal experience, literary analysis, and historical context—they examine the very real ways that Nafisi and her students navigate their lives while living under an oppressive regime that aims to strip them of all individuality.
At the start of the unit, students work in groups to conduct research on a certain aspect of Iranian culture, building their knowledge about the setting of the memoir. While reading the text, students trace the role of fiction in the lives of Nafisi and her students and the ways in which reading fiction can be a powerful act of resistance. Other nonfiction texts, as well as poetry, are incorporated in the unit to further explore the memoir's themes and/or provide an additional perspective on the questions Nafisi raises in her memoir.
As students read, they also imitate Nafisi's use of vivid details and sensory imagery in their own shorter narrative writing exercises within the unit. For the unit's Performance Task, students apply those skills, crafting their own personal narratives in which they describe a significant moment in their lives, drawing inspiration from Nafisi.
Please Note: In November 2025, this unit and its lesson plans received a round of enhancements. The unit is now 25 instructional days (previously 29 days). Teachers should pay close attention as they intellectually prepare to account for updated pacing, sequencing, and content.
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Texts and Materials
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Core Materials
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Book: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi (Random House Trade Paperbacks)
Supporting Materials
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Video: “The Revolution that Led to the Iran We Know Today” by The Wall Street Journal (YouTube)
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Essay: “On Censorship” by Salman Rushdie (The New Yorker)
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Poem: “Selected Poems by Rumi”
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Essay: “First Impressions” by Isabel Hui (The New York Times)
- Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading
Assessment
These assessments accompany Unit 5 and should be given on the days suggested in the Lesson Map. Additionally, there are formative and creative assessments integrated into the unit to prepare students for the Performance Task.
Socratic Seminar
The Socratic Seminar assesses students on their ability to push themselves and their peers to think critically and participate meaningfully in conversation by collecting and evaluating evidence, actively listening, and responding thoughtfully. Socratic Seminar assessments may occur mid-unit as a way to synthesize the ideas of the text/unit to that point or summative, taking place at the end of a unit.
Performance Task
The Performance Task is the culminating assessment of the unit in which students have the opportunity to show the skills and content they have learned.
Unit Prep
Intellectual Prep
Essential Questions
- What is the purpose of fiction—both reading it and writing it?
- What public forms of resistance can individuals display in the face of oppression?
- How can a person maintain individuality when society is demanding conformity?
Vocabulary
Text-based
complycomplicitdissentimmutableinsubordinationordealsubversivenesstheocracytotalitariantransgression
Literary Terms
memoir
Root/Affix
theotrans-
To see all the vocabulary for Unit 5, view our 10th Grade Vocabulary Glossary.
Supporting All Students
In order to ensure that all students are able to access the texts and tasks in this unit, it is incredibly important to intellectually prepare to teach the unit prior to launching the unit. Use the guidance provided under 'Notes to the Teacher' below in addition to the Unit Launch to determine which supports students will need at the unit and lesson level. To learn more, visit the Supporting All Students Teacher Tool.
Notes to the Teacher
- Reading Lolita in Tehran contains both explicit and implicit references to disturbing content, including violence, protests, torture, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse which may be upsetting or uncomfortable for students. Before starting the text, teachers should provide students with an overall warning about the challenging topics in the text. To foster a safe learning environment, teachers should create or re-establish their classroom contract and have a dialogue with students about what would make them feel safe when reading and discussing these moments in the text.
- Reading Lolita in Tehran is taught through excerpts. Sections of the text are skipped because they are not directly related to the conflict between citizens and their oppressive government, and the role of fiction as a powerful form of resistance. Teachers could still choose to assign additional pages as Opportunities for Enrichment to enhance students' reading.
- Students will undoubtedly come into the classroom with some preconceptions—and possibly misconceptions—about the Middle East in general and Islam in particular. It is essential that discussions around these topics remain respectful and based on fact. Nafisi argues in her memoir that the way the Iranian government has used Islam as a political tool and method of social control is not an accurate representation of the religion. At times, she refers to some Muslims as "fanatical" or "fundamentalist"; it is important for students to understand that Nafisi is using these terms to describe certain individuals who have a strict interpretation of how one should live as a Muslim; she is by no means suggesting that all Muslims have fanatical beliefs and fundamental interpretations of Islamist teachings. Just like any other religion, there is enormous diversity within the Islamic world about how the religion should be practiced in daily life and how religious law should be applied.
In Lesson 4, students are given a brief introduction to the core beliefs and Five Pillars of Islam. Below are additional texts and resources to consider before teaching this unit and/or to provide for students in order to give more background information that will hopefully address some of the stereotypes and misconceptions about the religion.
- Teaching about Islam:
- Supporting Muslim students
- "Supporting Muslim Teens in the Face of Islamophobia—in Their Own Schools" by Farida Jhabvala Romero (KQED)
- "Confronting Islamophobia" by Facing History and Ourselves