Reading as Resistance: Reading Lolita in Tehran

Lesson 9
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ELA

Unit 5

10th Grade

Lesson 9 of 29

Objective


Analyze the impact of the reading group on the girls' identities and how that relates to Nafisi's theme of individuality. 

Readings and Materials


  • Book: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi  — pp. 59–67, 70–77

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A Note for Teachers


This reading describes violent physical punishment.

Target Task


Discussion & Writing Prompt

Nafisi once again asks her girls to describe their images of themselves and reads their responses. What do their responses reveal about the impact of the reading group on their understanding of themselves? How does Nafisi's drawing exercise connect to her message about individuality at the end of Part 1?

Sample Response

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Key Thinking


Close Read Questions

How do the ideas in Chapter 18 relate to how Nafisi opens Chapter 19? What does the anecdote about the Revolutionary Guard reveal about life in the regime?

What happened to Sanaz when she went on a brief vacation with friends? How does this incident, as well as her family's reaction to it, further develop your understanding of life in the regime?

Why does Nafisi return to the dance scene in Invitation to a Beheading? What connections does she make between Cincinnatus and his jailers/executioners and citizens and the totalitarian regime in Iran?

Vocabulary


Text-based

arbitrary

adj.

(p. 67)

based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system

totalitarian

adj.

(p. 67)

relating to a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state

indignity

n.

(p. 73)

treatment or circumstances that cause one to feel shame or to lose one's dignity

complicit

adj.

(p. 76)

involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing

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Standards


  • RI.9-10.2 — Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
  • RI.9-10.3 — Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them.
  • RI.9-10.5 — Analyze in detail how an author's ideas or claims are developed and refined by particular sentences, paragraphs, or larger portions of a text (e.g., a section or chapter).

Supporting Standards

L.9-10.1
L.9-10.6
RI.9-10.1
RI.9-10.10
SL.9-10.1
SL.9-10.6
W.9-10.9.b
W.9-10.10

Next

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Lesson 10
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