The Chronicle of Charlotte

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10 Year Syllabus

1984 - George Orwell Sorry Mrs. Liamini, but despite what I may have claimed in 10th grade, I did not in fact read this book over the summer. 1984 was the one required book in my high school career that I never actually read. However, since then I have realized that this book might actually be interesting and discusses a lot of important themes, such as privacy and government intervention, which feel necessary to better understand in today’s political climate. Le Petite Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry The Little Prince has been listed as many different people’s favorite books, including my own fathers. Because of this I would like to read the story, but more specifically the original French version. Ever since I finished my French classes at Troy High, I’ve regretted my loss of the language. By committing to reading and understanding this book I hope to both improve my French while enjoying a beautiful story. The Diary of a Young Girl - Anne Frank The story of Anne Frank has tou...

This I Have Learned

Of all of the school assignments and lessons I’ve endured over the past 4 years, learning about the arrival fallacy has been by far the most impactful. The arrival fallacy is the illusion that once a goal is reached, it will bring perfect happiness. I first learned about it in psychology, and then was reminded of it during our discussion of Waiting for Godot. In the story, Vladimir and Estragon waste their time waiting for the mysterious Godot to arrive and give them some sort of direction or peace, yet Godot never comes. All our lives, teachers, parents, and peers have told us that the work we put in now will all pay off when we have prestigious degrees and successful careers. Yet none of us truly know for certain if we will ever achieve this vision for the future, or if we do, that it will actually make us happy. We've all been told to wait for the future, but like Godot, it could never be coming. Instead, I have learned to prioritize my current...

Why I Hate Poetry.

Just like the vast majority of the class, as soon as I heard we were starting a poetry unit I let out a sign of resignation. Ever since we started learning about poetry in middle school, I’ve concluded that it’s not for me. I prefer concrete words and ideas, not nonsensical phrases jumbled together in an incomplete sounding mess. When asked to compose a poem in class, I was inspired to author this: I hate poetry. It’s careless words Splattered on the page Like paint on canvas Some call it angry Others joyful The authors just say “yes”. However, over the course of this unit I’ve been forced to confront a lot of my prejudices against the art of poetry and I’ve come to the decision… It’s really not that bad. The largest reason for why I have always been averse to poetry is that it’s often ridiculously confusing. We are used to literature giving us all the answers or at least being entertaining, yet the type of poetry that often comes to mind when we think of “traditional poetry” offers us...

Fairytales

Stories and poems have been used for centuries to express a certain type of wisdom. They illustrate a thought, feeling, or moral that stated by itself would be meaningless. The clearest example of this are the fairytales of our childhood. Without even realizing it, while watching movies like Cinderella and Ariel, we are taught that in order to live our desired happily ever after, we have to act like the princess. You must be kind, gracious, and patient - and never, under any circumstance, have any agency in your own life. Seriously, look at basically every original Disney princess and all they do is wait around for things to happen to them. They are each forced into a traumatizing situation, such as being kidnapped by a beast or cursed to sleep for a hundred years. Then, suddenly their problems are solved by someone else and they enjoy the life of their dreams. Most likely, it's a prince who swoops in with a non consensual kiss. This trope is not onl...

Diamonds Vs Coal

When we are growing up, we’re told a lot of “helpful” lies. Like how Michael Jordan was cut from his highschool basketball team, or how Einstein failed math. Except Michael Jordan was never actually cut from his team and Einstein had mastered college calculus before starting highschool, so neither of them actually failed anything. While the image of our favorite sports stars and certified geniuses struggling the same way we do is certainly appealing, it’s just not true. We’re told these white lies as a method of inspiration, to support the comforting notion that if you try hard enough, no matter how many times you fail, you can be anything. However, ultimately, there are some levels of achievement that are just not possible when you're not born with a particular set of traits. If you aren’t over 6 feet, you're probably never going to have a career as a basketball player. And unless your IQ magically jumps to 160, it’s safe to say you're not going to make any signific...

Expectations Vs Reality

When we were young, we all had these detailed predictions for what our senior year might look like. It’s constantly brought up in movies and tv as the quintessential teen experience. It's the year of prom, and graduation, and the ending of our childhoods. We carefully examine the past seniors, waiting until it can finally be our turn to fill their shoes, crafting our expectations for this “special” year. Yet now that we're here, actually living it doesn't seem to live up to the ideas I had in my head. I always pictured it to be a year without stress or hard work. I would spend my days relaxing, preparing myself for college, and having fun with friends. So far, I have accomplished exactly none of these things and it's basically been another long year of the same. However, senior year isn't the only example of this. Most of us can think of several times our own imaginings of what something might be like were seriousl...