Where in the World is Persia?
by J.D. Huneycutt

   Contrary to popular belief, Persia is not a place. It isn't even somewhere you could go to if you wanted to and what's more even if you could you wouldn't want to. The simple answer to the reason why this is that it's Iran. What I'm saying is that Persia has become Iran and this means that it's gone forever. I didn't even know that until I took this class this year. How many times have we played video games like Prince of Persia Ones-Three and not even reallized we were playing Prince of Iran? I must say that I feel somewhat mislead by the videogames' creators. I'm going around trying to be something that if I knew what it was, I wouldn't even want to be it.

   As far as the important facts goes, the number of people who have ruled Persia over the years numbers in the thousands. In fact, there have been so many time periods over the decades in Persia that if you were to start counting them all today, you wouldn't finish for good long while. They are as follows: Aechmaenid Persia (648 BC-330 BC), Hellenistic Persia (330 BC0-170 BC), Parhtiain Persia (170 BC-2265AD), Sassanid Persia (226 AD-650 AD), Islam and Persia (650-1219), Persia Under the Turkic Rule (1037-1219), Persia under the Mongols and their Sucessors (1219-1500), A new Persian Empire: the Safavids (1500-1722), Persia and Europe (1722-19144), Persia in World War 1 (1914-1918), Persia After World War One (1919-1935), List of Kings and Emperors of Persia, and External Links. See what I mean? So many diverse forms of time and rule. Today though they say that Persia is gone and has been replaced by Iran and this makes me sick to think about that having happening.

   The reason why this is is first of all people there can't even vote. They have to wear manacles and chains everywhere unless it's to the mosks where they are forced to pray at the hands of HUGE AK-47's. I'm just sorry that the rest of the world doesn't know the sad truth about Persia being Iran, if they did they surely wouldn't play videogames that made lite of the plights of all sorts of freedomless peoples.

p.s.I rented the movie Alexander for this paper because you said a lot of it was about Persia even though you said you hadn't seen it. I'm still not sure what it had to do with Persia but you should watch the movies you recommend to your students first b/c my mom told me to tell you that it made her uncomfortble with me.