The Chronicle of Charlotte

        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...

What does it take to be happy? For centuries philosophers have been puzzling over this essential question. Yet no matter how much thought is put into it, no one has been able to figure out a set formula. Ideas for what it takes to feel fulfilled in life vary not just from person to person, but by time period as well. The common ideas of what happiness looks like and how to achieve it are impacted by the historical events that take place. We can see this through the author's interpretations of what it takes to be happy. Literature gives us a glimpse into the sort of things authors of the time valued and appreciated, such as in The Stranger and The Alchemist, two books written at very different times with very different philosophical ideals. While both Meursault and Santiago, the protagonists of these stories, are ultimately able to reach fulfillment, the ideologies they each follow to get there are starkly different. This changing belief about the path to happiness reflects t...