Throughout the last portion of our school year, our class of PLP has been studying and investigating a variety of different topics. These concepts reflect all of our learning throughout the year, and draw on everything we have studied. A (kind of) new teacher named Ms. Maxwell has joined us on every day two to help our learning, and guide us through the studying. The concepts we have been assigned to study consist of:

Power and Authority

Humanity and Inhumanity

Violence and Destruction

Human nature

Civilization and Savagery

Innocence and Evil

Individualism and Community

Every week since these concepts have been introduced to our class, we has been assigned to write a paragraph investigating one of them. These paragraphs were outlined to asses one of these concepts through creating an inquiry question focusing in on the concept. The three concept paragraphs I wrote focused on the concepts of Power and Authority, Civilization and Savagery, and Community and Individualism. We were asked to choose from one of the three concepts we investigated, and create an in depth learning portfolio post on that concept. The concept I will be focusing on is the concept of Power and Authority.

The two concepts of power and authority are often mistaken to be vaguely similar, but in reality the two concepts have a deep underlying differences. Power is a personality trait of having the ability to influence somebody to do something that they would not have done other wise. On the other hand, authority refers to a claim of legitimacy, or the justification and right to use that power. Through studying these two important concepts essential to our civilization over the past few weeks, I have learned that the differences in these concepts are rooted in our personality and characteristic traits. Of the two concepts power and authority, which has the stronger ability to influence others? Through the many texts we have studied, and material we have learned, I have assembled examples and evidence to answer this inquiry question.

The first text we will be analyzing is Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This fictional novel tells the story of a group of London school boys crash landing on an unknown island, and the many conflicts and problems that arise as the boys slowly decent into madness and savagery. In Lord of the Flies, the character Ralph is elected to be leader of the boys right off the start. He is chosen to have authority over all decisions and actions undertaken by the group. Jack is another character who is clearly represented as somebody who has a powerful personality type from the start. He also runs to be given authority as leader, but looses to Ralph. Ralph uses his authority to maximize the chances of the boys rescue by giving orders to all the boys. He issues rules such as the conch rule to maintain order within the group of boys. His characteristic traits represent him to be a civilized leader, who is looking out for the boys. The personality traits that jack represent are vastly different, as he is shown or be powerful and savage. He is strongly portrayed to be power hungry and selfish, caring more for himself and the choir boys than the entire group. This can be proven when he killed the pig, and refused to give meat to people such as piggy since they did not contribute in the hunt. In Lord of the Flies, author William Golding represents how the concept of authority and power are represented, and how they display character, within the boys Jack and Ralph. Jack has a significantly stronger ability to influence the boys on the island, due to the power stemming from his personality. This personality driven characteristic is viewed by the other boys, who are strongly in need of somebody to show power. Ralph lacks the powerful characteristic trait that is burning within jack, and thus looses his influence on the boys living on the island.

As we talked about in the previous text example on power an authority, the concept of power has a stronger ability to influence and affect people. Let’s take a look at another text example from earlier in this school year, and asses if power still has a stronger ability to influence compared to authority. Earlier this year, our class studied and investigated Macbeth by Shakespeare, and focused on the nature of evil. In the play, there Shakespeare uses power and authority within the characters, and this builds on the plot. There are two power figures in the story that make major advancements to the plot through manipulation and influence. The first of these two power figures are the witches, who use their suggestion and the negative characteristics of their victims to destroy them and others. Macbeth’s ambition, which has brought him great success and reward when used justly, is proved to be his downfall when distorted by the witches. Their power lies within their ability to influence and manipulate Macbeth, using awareness of Macbeth’s deepest desires. The witches use their powerful words to manipulate Macbeth, and lack any authority to do so. The second major power figure to influence Macbeth is none other than Lady Macbeth. Lady Macbeth calls upon the powers of evil to give her strength to kill the king. She has no right to command such forces, and her demands are punished with her madness and death. She controls her husband, manipulating him in to killing the king as much as the witches do. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the theme of power is used to manipulate and influence at great measures, with the concept of authority having no real influence.

The final text that we will be assessing in the learning portfolio post is Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden. This book follows the story of two young Cree men from Canada, and their struggles throughout the Second World War. The two main characters, Xavier and Elijah, both bring their skills learned through their First Nations culture into the the war, but develop in vastly different way throughout the combat. One of their commanders, Lieutenant Breech, is an interesting character as he has both the authority of his squadron, and an extremely powerful personality trait. This brings an interesting mix of both concepts, and one must pin point which trait, whether it be his power or authority, is being used at which time. He is known as “Bastard Breech” because he bosses the privates around with a sneer. Breech is the battalion’s sadistic and cruel commanding officer hence his name. He does not care about anyone and gives no one special treatment. He is also constantly attacking Xavier’s culture and identity, knowing that Xavier is more passive about it than Elijah. Even though Xavier and Elijah keep trying to prove to him that they are skilled sniper, he is apathetic. Breech repeatedly endangers his own men with risky endeavours whose lone objective is to enhance his own reputation. He has authority over his soldiers, and this is solely the reason they respect and listen to him. On the contrary, his power hungry, greed, and racist actions influence and manipulate the mind state of Elijah. Elijah is continuously mocked, made fun of, and disregarded, causing mental torment with his already war torn delicate mind. These negative actions drastically alter Elijah, and he becomes incredibly evil. Elijah eventually murders the very man, Lieutenant Breech, whose power changed him. In Three Day Road, Joseph Boyden uses the concept of power and authority, and represents the manipulation power can cause.

The final example we will be examining today will be a real world example. Let’s take a look back at our inquiry question. Of the two concepts power and authority, which has the stronger ability to influence others? During the mid 1900’s, the power of nuclear energy and nuclear weapons had been a tremendous new discovery, changing the face of science forever. Through the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the nuclear accidents in the Three Mile Island power plant, Chernobyl power plant, and events depicted in the movie China Syndrome, the general society began to fear anything nuclear. In 1957 the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy (SANE) began pressing for a halt to weapons testing, with the help of prominent Americans like publisher Norman Cousins and child-care expert Dr. Benjamin Spock. Women also played an important role in this early antinuclear activism. Alarmed by prospective dangers to their children, a group called Women Strike for Peace (WSP) organized a nationwide protest against nuclear testing and radiation on November 1, 1961. In New York City, for example, WSP supporters marched outside the United Nations building. Antinuclear activists continued to pressure politicians, resulting in the 1962 ratification of the American-Soviet treaty banning nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, space, and underwater. The protesting then shifted to nuclear energy. Hundreds of protests involving millions of American citizens occurred all over the country. The antinuclear movement succeeded in virtually halting the governments’ development of nuclear power, and also influenced further nuclear weapons reductions, especially as the Cold War began to wind down by the late 1980s. The people of America came together to form an immense power, with the amazing capability to induce change. They created a powerful movement, and change fine way that the country saw nuclear, causing great influence.

(Signing of nuclear test ban)
The two concepts of power and authority are often mistaken to be vaguely similar, but in reality the two concepts have a deep underlying differences. Power is a personality trait of having the ability to influence somebody to do something that they would not have done other wise. On the other hand, authority refers to a claim of legitimacy, or the justification and right to use that power. Through studying these two important concepts essential to our civilization over the past few weeks, I have learned that the differences in these concepts are rooted in our personality and characteristic traits. Of the two concepts power and authority, which has the stronger ability to influence others? I have came to the conclusion that Power in fact has a much greater ability to influence, manipulate, and change people. Here is a concept comparison  picture I created on Paper as a media representation of my learning.

Each icon and photo represents a certain value of the concept. The authority side has icons representing the deffinition of authority. Authority is the right given to a person or a post to achieve particular objectives. It is the right to get things done by others, to take decisions and give orders and get obedience from them. It comes from the duties and responsibilities awarded to a position holder in any official structure. Power can be defined as the ability of a person or a group to influence the beliefs and actions of other people, and to influence or control actions or events. Power is the possession or the ability or the right to control the actions and performances of others either by authority or by other means