Article for press

 

Women, girls and students protesting in Iran   (10th October, 2022)

Protests by women, school girls and university students are gaining in momentum in Iran. The uprisings began following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on the 16th of September at the hands of Iran's morality police. She became an instant martyr after she took off her headscarf and showed her hair in public. Her death ignited a whole series of demonstrations throughout Iran. Hundreds of thousands of women have replicated Ms Amini's actions to openly send a message to Iran's leaders. They took off their headscarves en masse in the streets, on buses and in schools. Many burnt their hair coverings and cut their hair in public. They have marched in the streets chanting their rallying cry of "women, life, freedom".
         The latest uprising in Iran is the result of decades of pent-up fury at Iran's regime. Women are tired of being forced to cover their hair. It became obligatory in April 1983 for them to do so. Punishments for violating this law range from financial penalties to imprisonment. The death of 16-year-old Nika Shakarami last week has further fuelled the intensity of the protests. Hundreds more have died in the past month at the hands of the authorities. An Iranian professor said hair coverings were the tip of the iceberg. She said: "There's a lot of compulsion in Iranian culture, and so the demand is freedom. The current protests… are engaging students… who are ready to live life freely. They're done with death and grief and mourning."

PROTESTS: What do you think of these forms of protests? Why? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

	What You Think	Why
Marching in the streets
Petitions
Sit-ins
Withdrawing labour
Internet campaign
Public speeches

DEMONSTRATIONS: Rank these with your partner. Put the things that would make you demonstrate in the streets at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

·         Higher pay

·         Lower taxes

·         Freedom

·         Human rights

·         Equal rights

·         No war

·         Government corruption

·         Climate change

 

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

1.	momentum	a.	An act of resistance or rebellion.
2.	uprising	b.	A person who is killed because of their religious or other beliefs.
3.	morality	c.	The energy and driving force gained by the development of a process or course of events.
4.	martyr	d.	Copied.
5.	ignited	e.	Made an emotion or situation much stronger, or more powerful or dangerous.
6.	replicated	f.	The action or process of coming together to support a person or cause.
7.	rallying	g.	Principles about the difference between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour.

    Paragraph 2

8.	pent-up	h.	The expression of sorrow for someone's death.
9.	obligatory	i.	How strong or powerful something is.
10.	violating	j.	The small part we can see or understand of a much larger situation or problem that remains hidden.
11.	intensity	k.	Of emotions, energy, etc. unable to be expressed or released.
12.	the tip of the iceberg	l.	Required by a legal, moral, or other rule.
13.	grief	m.	Intense sadness, especially caused by someone's death.
14.	mourning	n.	Breaking or failing to comply with a rule, law or formal agreement.

 

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

1. The article says school boys and girls are protesting in the streets.     T / F
2. The death of a teenager who removed her headscarf started the initial protests.   T / F
3. Women have been removing headscarves in schools and on buses.     T / F
4. Many women in Iran are cutting their hair in public.     T / F
5. The uprisings in Iran are a recent thing.     T / F
6. It has been law in Iran for over 30 years for women to cover their hair.  T / F
7. Women in Iran can go to prison for not wearing a headscarf.     T / F
8. A professor said students are finished with grieving and mourning.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. momentum
2. instant
3. series
4. replicated
5. cry
6. uprising
7. obligatory
8. violating
9. done
10. grief

1. compulsory
2. copied
3. finished
4. immediate
5. revolt
6. energy
7. breaching
8. sorrow
9. chain
10. appeal

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1. gaining in
2. Her death ignited a whole
3. openly send
4. burnt their hair coverings
5. chanting their rallying
6. the result of decades of
7. It became obligatory in April 1983
8. Punishments for violating
9. the tip
10. grief and

1. pent-up fury
2. mourning
3. cry
4. for them to do so
5. series of demonstrations
6. of the iceberg
7. a message
8. momentum
9. this law
10. and cut their hair

Comprehension questions

1. What does the article say protests are growing in?
2. When did Mahsa Amini die?
3. What did Mahsa Amini's death ignite throughout Iran?
4. Who do protestors want to send a message to?
5. What does the article say the chant "women, life, freedom" is?
6. For how long have women in Iran felt pent-up anger?
7. When did it become law for women in Iran to cover their hair?
8. What can happen to women (besides fines) for not covering their hair?
9. What did a professor say the hair covering issue was the tip of?
10. What are students done with, besides death and grief?

Multiple choice quiz

1)  What does the article say protests are growing in?
a) size
b) momentum
c) Tehran
d) importance
2)  When did Mahsa Amini die?
a) September the 15th
b) September the 18th
c) September the 14th
d) September the 16th
3) What did Mahsa Amini's death ignite throughout Iran?
a) a whole series of demonstrations
b) passions
c) flames
d) a series of explosions
4) Who do protestors want to send a message to?
a) the UN
b) the world
c) Iran's leaders
d) the USA
5) What does the article say the chant "women, life, freedom" is?
a) a slogan
b) a rallying cry
c) important
d) a request for change

6) For how long have women in Iran felt pent-up anger?
a) decades
b) centuries
c) millennia
d) years
7) When did it become law for women in Iran to cover their hair?
a) April 1988
b) August 1983
c) April 1983
d) August 1988
8) What can happen to women (besides fines) for not covering their hair?
a) imprisonment
b) community service
c) naming and shaming
d) hair cutting
9) What did a professor say the hair covering issue was the tip of?
a) the iceberg
b) the matter
c) someone's tongue
d) a pen
10) What are students done with, besides death and grief?
a) remonstrating
b) marching
c) demonstrating
d) mourning

 

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. What did you think when you read the headline?
2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'life'?
3. How important is freedom to you?
4. What do you know about this story?
5. What do you think of Mahsa Amini?
6. What do you think of the thousands of women taking off hair coverings?
7. Would you join the women and protest?
8. Should women be forced to not wear hair coverings and veils?
9. How dangerous is it to take part in these protests?
10. What advice would you give the women and girls who are protesting?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

11. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12. What do you think of when you hear the word 'freedom'?
13. What do you think about what you read?
14. Are there freedoms that you do not have?
15. What would make you protest in the streets?
16. What can you do to help the protestors?
17. Are we gaining or losing freedoms in our lives?
18. What do you know about Iran's history?
19. How will this story develop in the coming months?
20. What questions would you like to ask Iran's leaders?

Put the words in the right order

1. momentum   .   Protests   by   girls   school   are   in   gaining
2. death   ignited   Her   whole   series   of   demonstrations   .   a
3. women   actions   .   Thousands   of   Amini's   have   Ms   replicated
4. They   en masse   off   in   headscarves   took   the   streets   .
5. chanting   .   have   marched   the   They   streets   in
6. decades   result   of   The   pent-up   of   fury   .
7. Tired   cover   their   being   of   hair   .   forced   to
8. obligatory   do   so   .   to   became   for   It   them
9. the   were   coverings   tip   Hair   of   the   iceberg   .
10. to   live   are   freely   .   who   Students   life   ready

Free writing

Write about women, life, freedom for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Homework

 LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on Iran. Ask him/her three questions about the country. Give him/her three of your thoughts on what will happen in the next year. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.