To be honest, what you probably need to do is simply study the Migrating from PHP 4 to PHP 5 FAQ and the more detailed Migrating from PHP 4 to PHP 5.0. X section of the PHP manual - as this will tell you pretty much all you need to know.
I also once worked on an app which used PHP4's XML support quite heavily, and would have required quite a bit of work to move to PHP5.
The best advice I could give anyone working with PHP4 is this.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.