Answer TWO of
the following:
Q1: Why does
Bautman open her essay with a history lesson on modern Turkey, when her essay
is really about her experiences wearing (or not wearing) the veil? How does
this help us understand her story and place it in the appropriate context?
Also, how might it relate to what’s going on in America today?
Q2: In Rogers’
essay, the Chinese look at her strangely because she’s alone; why do the
Turkish look at Bautman strangely? What marks her out as a “foreigner” or an “American,”
even though she is Turkish and speaks
the language? Does she understand this from the outset, or does she have to
learn it, as Rogers does?
Q3: Later in the
essay, Bautman says that not wearing the veil was “out of principle,” but then
reflects, “To whom was I communicating that principle? With what degree of
success?” (9). What does she mean by this? Why does Turkish society force her to
question her values about being a woman and an American?
Q4: Bautman uses
a French science fiction novel, Submission,
to help illustrate her larger ideas in the essay. In one passage, she explains
that his novel depicts Islam “not as a depersonalized creeping manace…but as a
system of beliefs that is enormously appealing to many people, many of whom
have other options. It’s the same realization I reached in Urfa. Nobody has
everything; everyone is trading certain things for others” (13-14). What do you
think she means by this? Why does the novel—and Bautman herself—come to see
Islam in Turkey as less threatening as she once believed?
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