My Life As A Traitor

Published in 2008, My Life as a Traitor by Zarah Ghahramani tells the true life story of a young girl taken captive in her home country of Iran. In 2001, Zarah is a 19 year-old student at Tehran University. Like many students her age, she wants change in the place that she has grown up, becoming disenfranchised with the way she has grown up in society. But, with the tensions rising in Iran from the World Trade Center attacks and “Islamic” terror groups beginning to infiltrate society there, Zarah is caught in the middle. Zarah participated in peaceful protests, and “disobedience” of fundamentalist regime laws (often uncovering her hair a few inches and standing too close to boys). When she is dragged from the streets, and taken to the infamous Evin Prison, known for the worst of tortures in the regime, her worst fears come to life. She is tortured, beaten, psychologically tortured, and isolated. Her only form of communication is scratched messages on a bathroom wall and the stories of a half-mad man next to her. She is held for nearly a month, then dropped in a desert outside of Tehran, alone, and far from home. She escaped Iran later with the help of her co-writer, Robert Hillman, and now lives in Australia. I originally read this book in 9th grade as an independent reading project. It has continued to stick with me as a powerful example of life in other countries. I believe it is accessible to 10-12th graders, with ample support. The lexile level is low, but the topics can be tough if not talked about with students. It could also be a trigger to some students who have dealt with tough things. But it could have students look outside themselves, to how even the smallest action that a country takes could have massive effects on its citizens. Have students create a timeline of the turmoil in Iran, starting from the coup in the 1970’s. This could help them understand how history affects the present.
Have students do a visual representation of the text, picking one thing that stood out to them and drawing, coloring, printing, or collaging it.
Have students compare and contrast to other countries and their own country.
Have students compare to another novel/short story that is similar.

This text does deal with other religions. However, it shows the contrast between extremism and how that leads to other religions and beliefs being oppressed. This could be problematic depending on the parents, but developing a strong relationship and rationale for how it could help students learn about the world outside of the U.S. I would also need to prove to my administration that it would be beneficial to the students, and that it has a strong purpose to reading it, both for socio-emotional learning and Common Core Standards. 

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