By Jim Bitros (Level: C' class)
Topic: Civil War, based on the song by Guns N' Roses

See lyrics at:  http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/gunsnroses/civilwar.html

The title "Civil War" means that all wars are civil because people fight people. The lyricist used this trick to convince people not to do wars.

We can divide that song in two parts. The first is "the promised land". The politicians always use some tricks to make people do wars. Some of them are the love of God, the human rights, money and authority.

The singer used many stylistic devices. One of them are the repeated phrases. He used pereated phrases to show us the truth behind wars. The first phrase is "the way we have always done before". It shows that the history repeats itself. The second phrase is "the history hides the lies". It shows that the history is written by the winners. Finally, at the beginning of the song the singer used the phrase "I don't need your civil war" but at the end he used the phrase "I don't need one more war". This shows that he doesn't want wars.

An other stylistic device are the historical references. Kennedy was a politician who fought for the human rights but in 1963 they killed him. Martin Luther King (peace could last for ever) was a black politician who fought for the black people but at the age of 39 they killed him (1968). The Americans went to Vietnam to fight for the human rights but they destroyed it.

To sum up, my opinion about wars is negative. People mustn't kill each other but they must be friends and work together to make their lives better.