Reflections on War, Power, Education, Survival, and Rebellion by Gavin Nguyen [Student WHS] https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0 Made with the best of intentions en-us 2019-04-02 19:16:43 UTC 2025-10-30 13:51:35 UTC hello@padlet.com Depeche Mode - People Are People Reflection ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/347804698 1. What is the song about? What message are they trying to convey?

This song is about the hatred a person feels from another person. The person receiving the hate doesn't understand the reason for him getting the hated on and he wants to get along. Depeche Mode is trying to convey the message that people should attempt to get along with people and there is no good reason to hate someone. They use the lyrics, "People are people so why should it be, You and I should get along so awfully" By using the word "should" it implies that people did not get along with each other. These lyrics are used to inspire people to attempt to get along with each other because they are all humans. Depeche Mode also use the lyrics, "I can't understand What makes a man Hate another man Help me understand." These lyrics provide a negative connotation on the hating of other people. They use these lyrics to encourage people to not hate one another. 

2. In what way do you think this song is relevant today?

I think this song is extremely relevant today, because currently a lot of people are receiving hate due to their ethnicity and religion. One group of people that has received a lot of undeserved hate recently are Muslims. They are hated on because of the actions of a minute percentage of their religions has commited.  This song connects to this situation, because it can encourage people to get along with and not hate on others. 
]]> 2019-04-02 19:23:17 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/347804698 Previous Understanding on War, Power, Education, Survival, and Rebellion ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/348172421 War: 
- War is often fought because of a conflict in ideas. 
- War is often portrayed in literature. 
- In almost every literature war is portrayed as something that is bad and the themes that are portrayed in these works have to deal with the idea that people shouldn't get involved in war.
- Military is one of the most powerful industries worldwide. 
- The idea of war is important, because it is a crisis that relates to the real world, and from war many lessons can be taught that prove to be beneficial to society. 

Power: 
-  The idea of power and the struggle for power is a common idea in many works of literature.
- People fight over power because they want to be in control
- It can become a corrupting influence. 

Education: 
- When I think of education my mind focuses on the education of kids and how education can be used as a way to rise up in the social status.
- Everyone should have an education.
- An education is required to be a key member of society. 
- Need education in order for innovation
- There are positive and negative effects to innovation. 

Survival: 
-  "Survival of the fittest" and "Every person for themselves"
-  The only thing that is on a person's mind is to live
- When people have the survival mindset, they are willing to do anything. They are desperate to live and are willing to break any laws do anything just to get by. 
- This instinct kicks in when a person's life is in danger. 

Rebellion: 
- When I think of rebellions I think of two sides with one side having a lot more power than the other side.
- The weaker side is usually oppressed and eventually they get sick of it and try to better their situation by overthrowing the stronger side. 

]]> 2019-04-03 16:45:41 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/348172421 Key Slogans in 1984 ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/348186791 "War is Peace"
"Ignorance is Strength"
"Freedom is slavery]]> 2019-04-03 17:10:42 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/348186791 Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/348189273 Through his social political references and events what is he saying? 

Throughout this song Billy Joel makes multiple references to wars, dictators, and scientific discoveries. After these allusions he goes on to say "we didn't start the fire." I think Joel is trying to imply that wars, dictators, and scientific discoveries have begun ever since humans were created. Although these ideas were really common during his time, he understands that this is not necessarily human's fault. Joel is implying that these ideas are a part of human nature and that they will continue long after his generation passes. 

How is he using the social political references? 

Joel is using social political references to highlight key parts in history such as war, important figures,  new scientific discoveries, etc. Joel covers almost everything in society including political figures, scandals, movies, actors, science, sports, athletes, etc. He highlights all of the big things in society from 1950's to 1990's.

What is critical about the refrain that we didn't start the fire (chorus)?

The refrain is critical, because it connects the song and through it, it is able to convey a message. 



]]> 2019-04-03 17:14:31 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/348189273 Black Eyed Peas - Where is the Love? ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/350890285 What message is conveyed through the song/lyrics?

Through this song, the Black Eyed Peas convey the message that we have to unite ourselves as one regardless of race and class, because we are all people. Fighting each other does us no good. One of their lyrics is, "But if you only got love for your own race, then you're gonna leave space for others to discriminate." These lyrics are crucial in showing what was happening at the time the song was created. During this time there was a lot of racial segregation. The African Americans felt that they were targeted and being treated unfairly. The people would support their own race and hate on the opposing races. The Black Eyed Peas are saying that if people are able to support all races and groups than there wouldn't be discrimination. When the Black Eyed Peas sing, "Black lives not now, Everybody matter to me," it is clear that they want people to unite with one another and not be separated by their race. They are trying to convey that black people should not only support other black people, but as well as other races and groups. These groups shouldn't discriminate against the African Americans either. 

How is this relevant to what we are studying/this unit?

This is relevant to our studies of war and survival because this song focuses on spreading love and uniting people rather than hating other groups and fighting them. The novels we have been reading revolve around the concept of war and the consequences of it. This song conveys the idea that war doesn't get us anywhere. ]]> 2019-04-11 17:34:08 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/350890285 War, Power, Education, Survival, and Rebellion in Animal Farm ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/353142344 Overall the out of these five topics Orwell is critically advocating for education. He tries to show the necessity of education. It's not just education, but as well as the ability to think critically and the skill to hold people accountable and question them.

War - One key idea that surrounds Animals Farm is the idea of war. Throughout the book, there are many battles between the animals and the humans to represent the wars. The idea of war is further shown through having the character represent well known Russian dictators that gained their power through wars/battles like Trotsky through Snowball and Stalin through Napoleon. George Orwell even goes as far as showing how war exploits the civilians as they were the ones that had to fight the battles.

Power: Power is another key topic in this story. This story focuses on the power struggle between Napoleon and Snowball and how Napoleon goes to great depths to force Snowball out to establish himself as the sole leader. Orwell uses the power struggle to emphasize man's great desire for power and the lengths they are willing to go to achieve it.

Education - Although education is not the main point in Animal Farm it is still quite prevalent. All the animals have the chance to get an education and those that have the highest level of education are the pigs. The pigs use their education to assert their power, whereas those that don't have a great education blindly follow those with an education. This is key in showing that those with an education and are intelligent have the most power.

Survival - Survival is discussed in Animal Farm through how the animals blindly follow the pigs. They listen to everything the pigs say because they are persuaded into thinking that the conditions they are currently living in are much better than the conditions they lived in when Mr. Jones was in charge. They are also influenced to believe that if they don't listen then Mr. Jones will come back. Orwell uses this to explore the idea that when people's lives can be affected negatively they will do anything to prevent it from happening.

Rebellion - The idea of rebellion is what starts Animal Farm, but the emphasis on it soon disappears and is instead replaced by the ideas of war and power. The idea of rebellion is seen at the very beginning where Old Major encourages the animals to overthrow Mr. Jones. Orwell uses this to represent the Communist Revolution in Russia and how they overthrew the Tsar. Through the rebellions in Animal Farm Orwell conveys the idea that as conditions worsen, eventually it will reach a point that is unbearable forcing people to do whatever is necessary to improve their conditions. 

]]> 2019-04-22 18:18:13 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/353142344 Allegories in Nursery Rhymes like Animal Farm https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/353471341 Three Little Pigs, Humpty Dumpty, Little Red Riding Hood, and Ring Around the Roses are all nursery rhymes that convey a lesson. 

Ring Around the Roses is a nursery rhyme about the bubonic plague. It uses lines like, "Ring around the Rosie" and "Pockets full of Posies" to show how the people would deal with the disease by using plants to either treat the disease or mask the disease and the people that died to it. The lines "ashes ashes they all fall down" are meant to show how everyone died to it and when they did die the bodies were burned. This nursery rhyme was composed to keep a lookout for the plague.

Little Red Riding Hood is a story of coming of age and this is seen through how Little Red Riding Hood leaves her home and goes through the forest. This story is about the sexual relationship between women and man. In this story, the wolf represents man and how women should be wary of man. They are expected to be chaste.

In the Three Little Pigs, the author used this nursery rhyme to convey the messages of being smart with your resources, planning ahead, not trying to cut corners, because in the long run cutting corners will come back and hurt you. It is also a twist on the "Parable of Prodigal Son" in the Bible. In this story, the old man gives his money to his three sons. Two of the sons were very smart with their money whereas one of the sons waste all his money and returns home in shame. When he returns home his father welcomes him back because he knows that his son knows his mistakes and regrets it.  

Humpty Dumpty about this idea of civil war. It shows how we can wreck our nation and once Humpty Dumpty breaks it is hard to put everything together again just like how when a country is united it is hard to reunite it.

People use nursery rhymes that are seen to target kids to teach morals, and historical events in a new way. In this different style, it is more complex and has a much larger impact.]]> 2019-04-23 17:36:18 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/353471341 Iranian Revolution ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/356484374 The Iran Revolution began in 1979. These revolutions were aimed at getting rid of the Pahlavi Dynasty. The 1979 Revolution didn't start out to create an Islamic state. It was a typical uprising by dissatisfied Iranians to overthrow a government that they perceived as corrupt and unresponsive to their needs. They were dissatisfied with economic inequality and political repression and a corrupt regime. The first part of the Iranian revolution was relatively peaceful protests followed by a government crackdown, followed by more protests the eventually led to the collapse of the monarchy. Many historians believe these protests were over the discontent over living conditions, pay cuts, and the threat of unemployment fused with the general disillusionment and anger with the regime instead of over Islam. The new Islamic Republic of Iran was based on Khomeini's idea about what an Islamic government should be. Khomeini is an Iranian politician that led the 1979 Iranian Revolution and overthrew the last Shah of Iran. It was based on a principle he called velayat-e faqih meaning a sharia law scholar would have ultimate authority because he was the most knowledgeable about the law. There would be a legislature and a president and a prime minister, but any of their decisions could be overturned by Khomeini, the Supreme Ruler. Iran is not a democracy. Khomeini was giving supreme power.]]> 2019-05-03 05:01:34 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/356484374 Iranian Revolution ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/356487898 Khomeini was the face and architect of the Iranian Revolution. He wanted to serve the people and was not after power. The Revolution would have a wide range of impact on the region and would create an era of conflict between Iran and the West. Khomeini raised the issue of saving Islam and Iran. He saw that we needed to overthrow the Pahlavi Dynasty. He continuously attacked the Shah. Khomeini was against the wide range of reforms, "White Revolution", that changed the laws on land ownership and gave women the right to vote and American Military Personnel in Iran were granted freedom from persecution. Khomeini was exiled but continued to attack the Shah's. He gained a large following that supported the overthrowal of Iran's elite. Everyone saw him as a humble and honest man the didn't care about power. He found sanctuary in Europe. The world was witnessing a first. The leader of an oil-rich country allied with the west was on the brink of being overthrown by revolution led by a quiet simple leader. Communists and socialists began to join the revolutionary movement. The Shah was forced to flee in January 1979. The Revolution had been won. The constitution was written around Khomeini's philosophy which believed that no law would be greater than gods. This idea led him to be a supreme leader. In the beginning, the government was a democracy, but soon Khomeini had the final say in everything. He took pleasure in gaining power and did not care for freedom. In November 1979 university students stormed the American Embassy and took them hostage. They believed they were spies. Khomeini gave his blessings to the embassy attack and because of this, it created tensions. He was villainized by western media. He kept the hostages for 444 days. Because of this Iran was hit with harsh economic and political sanctions. In 1980, with the support of the U.S. Iraq invaded Iran. Khomeini engaged in the war and because of this over a million lives were lost. The Iran and Iraq war lasted for eight years. In 1988 there was a cease-fire. One year after that he passed. Many people believe Khomeini gave identity to Muslims all around the world. Even though he has passed he is still present in Iranian life today.]]> 2019-05-03 05:37:20 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/356487898 Another Kind of Girl ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/358602759 This video displays a girl that is forced to go to a concentration camp during the time of the war in Syria. When she goes to the concentration camp not only her life but also the life of her family completely changes. She says that before the concentration camps, her siblings would never want to do any work or play with their hands. Now that these kids are stuck in these concentration camps they have nothing but themselves and each other to entertain themselves. These kids even resort to doing chores. This goes to show the type of conditions that were endured by people at concentration camps. They didn't have anything that could have made their life easier or more enjoyable. The kids didn't have toys to play with and they all had to sleep on a thin mat on the floor. These conditions show that families in concentration camps have the bare minimum. Although concentration camps are negative, the person recording the video makes it clear that it could have some positive effects. The experience of the concentration camp made everyone more grateful as well as forcing them to get out of their comfort zones. For the kids, they were forced to find other forms of entertainment, and for the recorder, she was forced to get over her fear of the dark and being shy. She also explains in the video that she regrets dropping out of school. She left school in 8th grade and now that she is in the concentration camps she realizes how important education is. She hopes to teach her siblings so they don't make the same mistakes. ]]> 2019-05-09 17:50:38 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/358602759 Heal the World - Michael Jackson ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/358603337 In Michael Jackson's "Heal the World" it starts off with a world where there are a lot of wars and fighting. The world is portrayed as evil and shows the negative effects that war creates. After showing these scenes, Michael Jackson goes on to sing, "Heal the world make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race." These lyrics are essential in showing that Jackson is trying to portray the message that there are problems in our world, but they can always be fixed and that people should fix them for the overall benefit of mankind. This song was created as a way to motivate and inspire people to do what's best for mankind. Towards the end of the music video, there are children that are able to run around and soldiers that are beginning to put down their weapons. This goes to show that this video was created as a way to encourage peace and unity. Michael Jackson wants to end wars due to the pain and suffering they cause. ]]> 2019-05-09 17:51:38 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/358603337 Michael Jackson - Man in the Mirror ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/363033251 In Michael Jackson's song, Man in the Mirror, he conveys the idea that people should try to make a change in the world instead of relying on others to do it. He first starts his official music video with videos and images of less fortunate people that are extremely malnourished. These visuals are used as a way to show the extreme hardships some humans face and motivated people to help them out. Michael Jackson uses the lyrics, "I've been a victim of a selfish kind of love it's time that I realize that there are some with no home, not a nickel to loan, to emphasize that people in societies where they are better off are not grateful and focuses a great deal on their own problems. These problems that they worry about are extremely minute to the problems that these less fortunate people face. He uses these lyrics to put a perspective on more fortunate people so that they can realize that they need to be more grateful. He goes on to use the lyrics, "If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change." These lyrics show that in order to make a change, the change must first happen within the person. People shouldn't rely on others to start the change, and should instead take inniative and start it themselves. All in all, Michael Jackson's song, Man in the Mirror, focuses on the unfortunate circumstances that people face and it tries to motivate people that hear the song to make a change.]]> 2019-05-23 17:47:19 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/363033251 The Girl Whose Shadow Reflects the Moon ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/363034350 This video was an extremely eye opening video. It focuses on the life of a girl who lives in an area where there is an active war and has had multiple traumatic life experiences including the death of her two friends in front of her as well as being raped by a man whose job is to protect the people. The purpose of this autobiography is to help people that experienced similar situations realize that they are not alone. It also emphasizes the importance of releasing bottled up emotions and having someone to talk to. ]]> 2019-05-23 17:49:45 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/363034350 Concluding Reflection ghnguyen104_2 https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/364712832 After completing this unit and reading all of the works that we have, my knowledge on the topics of war, power, education, survival, and rebellion has greatly expanded. The topic that I now best understand out of these five is war. Before completing this unit, I saw war as a common topic that many pieces of literature are based on. In these works, war was often portrayed negatively. Now I realize that there is much more when it comes to the topic of war. Some things that I learned about war includes how war is often created by people in power to benefit themselves at the cost of everyday citizens. This idea is extremely clear in the novels All Quiet on the Western Front and Persepolis. From the videos we watched, it is also evident that harms innocent people. In many of the songs that we have seen, they convey the idea that people need to be united and stop fighting each other. These songs try to persuade people to make an attempt to unite themselves with others by showing images of little kids who are negatively affected by the war. This indicates that as long as we have wars, people will suffer. I now also understand that war can be fought over just about anything. As long as there is a conflict, there is a potential for war. The idea of power is another idea that was common in the works that we have seen and read. When it comes to this topic, many of the ideas I knew prior are still intact such as how people wage wars to stay in power. However, one new concept about the idea of power that has been made clear is that having power is not necessarily a bad thing. It only becomes a bad thing when it falls into the wrong hands. From the readings that we did, one things that stood out to me when it came to education was that education is power. Those with the most knowledge were usually the people in control as well as the people at the top of the social ladder. It was also clear that education is one of the ways people can improve their status. Education proves to be one of the most important and vital aspects of a human's life. Some concepts that I took away from the topic of survival after reading all of these works is that people will do anything to survive. In a life or death situation, the only thing on a human's mind is to survival, and they will do anything to make this a reality. Finally, my knowledge also expanded on the concept of rebellion. From reading these novels, especially Persepolis, my knowledge concerning rebellions also expanded. I was able to learn and understand that rebellions occur after a growing frustration in the population. Eventually, the level of frustration will be so high that people will begin to take action in hopes of change. I also learned that there are two sides to a rebellion. One side is not necessarily correct, due to the fact that people have different opinions. However, one side can be more morally correct than the other. ]]> 2019-05-30 17:56:34 UTC https://padlet.com/ghnguyen104_2/d7q3fiql6hc0/wish/364712832