Class 4/8/09, Iran Awakening

Class today was very informative and helped me to better understand names of important people within the book, Iran Awakening. I often find when reading books for this class the native culture and words that are used are unfamiliar to me. I make a good effort to sound the word out but it is so much different than what I am used to, and I usually just skip the word. That makes me unable to register the person, place, or thing. Then when it comes time to discuss them in class I usually know the first letter, but I don't know exactly what it is. I am also able to describe the character and how they are involved but it is much more difficult than knowing the name. I feel that knowing the names are very important and often by the end of the book I know them, but while I am reading I am not sure and I get easily confused. The activity we did in class that broke down each character and why they were important helped gratefully. I now know more about each individual person and can better understand the reading.