ACADEMICS
Sophomore students in English Teacher Alexandra Hyman’s World Literature class read the novel “Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi. This memoir follows the author’s experience growing up in Iran during and after the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. During their discussions of the novel, students analyzed the effects that cultural revolutions may have had on citizens’ public and private lives. Students witnessed the main character, Marji, as she —Alexandra Hyman, English Teacher experimented with rebellion after the fundamentalist regime restricted women’s access to education and established decrees that all men and women must dress in accordance with their views on modesty, including mandatory headscarves for women.
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An Examination of Cultural Revolutions and Fundamentalism in World Literature
This project is essential in that it helps students build bridges between their course material and the world they currently experience. This is a critical exercise in World Literature in which students explore diverse cultures and environments that are often quite different from their own. As young women, Mercy students are developing their own voices on important cultural matters including topics that may or may not directly impact them. Our future depends on their leadership and their education should reflect that. Students have developed skills in argumentative writing—a skill they will continue to practice in their junior year. It requires students to acknowledge that there are multiple perspectives in any debate, and that one must consider all sides before making an informed and balanced decision.
The class explored the ways in which the government’s extremism affected Marji’s childhood and made her question her own identity as a young Muslim woman. Coincidentally, as students read the novel, Switzerland and France both passed separate laws banning full-face coverings in public. The assignment attempted to help students explore connections between the novel and the world we live in. Students were asked to take a stance on whether veils—which include traditional burqas, niqabs, and hijabs—should be banned in public places, similar to the laws passed throughout Western Europe. They were given four articles relating to various worldwide bans on headscarves that explored multiple perspectives on such legislation. They then identified claims that supported arguments both in favor of and against those bans. As a final assessment, students wrote an argument essay in which they defended their position on whether headscarves should be banned in public places, developed counter-arguments, and made connections between the mandatory decrees in “Persepolis” and the current ban on veils.
Congratulations to Nancy Astabie ’21! She was named a Commended Scholar by the National Merit Scholarship Program. Students are recognized for their exceptional academic talent and promise. Nancy placed among the top 3.5% of more than 1.5 million students that took the PSAT.
Nancy will be attending West Point in the fall.
6 MERCY HIGH SCHOOL, BURLINGAME
Congratulations to Mercy’s UNICEF Club! They won first prize from UNICEF for being a highly involved and active club. A highlight was receiving a box full of UNICEF USA merchandise with t-shirts, stickers, masks, and more! Mercy’s UNICEF Club will be highlighted on UNICEF's Instagram!
