Photoshop Elements 9 is essentially a "Lite" / hobbyist version of the regular Photoshop CS5. It covers some basics but is scaled down and simpler. You could always just download and run free trials of both products to see which better suits your needs.
I have CS5 and its amazing, if you know how to use it you can do anything you want. Color sharpness and other simple photo editing is very simple and easy to do.
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.