Learning from the Source: Shifting Perspectives of Iran

Enduring Understandings*

Politics is a process to determine who governs and for what purposes.
Time, place, and culture influence our perspectives on people and issues.
Different perspectives affect the interpretation of history.

Activity

Have students collaborate to compare and contrast how visual and text sources have described and depicted the country of Iran over time.

Sources

Maps/infographics

Iran, ethnic distribution, created 2004 by the United States Central Intelligence Agency
Iran Country Profile, created 2004 by the United States Central Intelligence Agency Cartography Center
Iran Country Profile, created 2009 by the United States Central Intelligence Agency Cartography Center

Text summaries from the Library of Congress

June 2013 Iran presidential election articles

“Iran’s Upcoming Presidential Election” June 13, 2013 blog post: In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress

“Who are Iran’s power players?” June 2, 2013 article from Aljazeera website

Questions to consider

Before looking at any sources, ask yourself: What do you know about the country of Iran? What are your personal views of the country?
Do you think the title of the ethnic distribution map is the best title to indicate the information the map presents? Why or why not?
How would you summarize the information provided on the ethnic distribution map?
What information is the same and what is different on the two country profile maps?
How does the choice of information and presentation format (language, claims, evidence, reasoning) shift your perspective of the country?
How were the text summaries from the Library of Congress compiled? Where was the information gathered from?
What did you learn from each of the text summaries from the Library of Congress?
What shifts in perspective or point of view did you notice over time in the text summaries from the Library of Congress?
Compare and contrast the treatment of Iran provided by the maps versus the text summaries. What different perspectives do they provide?
What is the author’s purpose in the Library of Congress blog post about the June 2013 Iranian presidential election? What details support your conclusion?
What is the author’s purpose in the article about the June 2013 Iranian presidential election from the news agency Aljazeera? What details support your conclusion?
Compare and contrast the treatment of the June 2013 Iranian presidential election provided by the Library of Congress blog post and the article from the news agency Aljazeera. What different perspectives do they provide?
Compare and contrast the 2013 election articles with the information provided on the ethnic distribution map. What different perspectives do they provide?
What new perspectives have you gained by analyzing these sources?
Has your personal view of Iran changed? Why or why not?

CCSS standards alignment

Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6–12

RH 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10

More resources

World Spotlight: Iran

* These enduring understandings are found in the Chicago Public Schools Social Science Content Framework Version 3.0. Also see, CPS Social Science Resources.