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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