It all began sophomore year in the dull, cookie cutter classroom of Mrs. Reaves. She was very thin, lanky and fresh out of college. She was always trendy and in style. Her hair was short, thin, and straight. On the other hand, I was awkward and quiet. Every morning, I’d show up with my wet curly hair, sleepy eyes, and a somewhat put together outfit. Her room had cheesy motivational posters and smelled like her pumpkin spice candle warmer. We were her first class she ever taught; it was first period at the notorious Chelsea High School. When I heard the words, “We will be writing a research paper on Romanticism.” I felt that familiar feeling creeping up my spine again like a snake slithering through the grass.
Anxiety set in and my mind was …show more content…
I woke up and remembered all the dumb assignments due tomorrow and began the torture you call “homework”. Now my strategy was to only do big projects and first/second period assignments, the rest was done during the day at school, pretty smart right? I know. Getting my project out of the way, I was on to choosing my topic for my research paper. I Googled “Edgar Allen Poe Romanticism” and as you could guess, I had a plethora of choices. The third top hit was “The Fall of the House of Usher”, which somehow struck my interest. Googling a little further, I came to find it was an interesting short story with a surprising twist. Just to give you a synopsis, a man goes to an old childhood friend’s house, Roderick Usher. Roderick has fallen ill and wrote his friend for help. Roderick’s caretaker and sister, Madeline, dies while the friend is visiting. Roderick, being sickly and all, asks his friend to help bury Madeline. Later that night, they hear noises in the house and Roderick believes Madeline is back from the dead. Sure enough, the doors blow open and there’s Madeline’s trembling, bloody body standing at the door. Roderick becomes so scared he passes from a heart attack and the friend fleas from the scene. This short story was a thriller, with a dash of dark humor. Maybe this Romanticism paper wasn’t going to be so bad after
Anxiety set in and my mind was …show more content…
I woke up and remembered all the dumb assignments due tomorrow and began the torture you call “homework”. Now my strategy was to only do big projects and first/second period assignments, the rest was done during the day at school, pretty smart right? I know. Getting my project out of the way, I was on to choosing my topic for my research paper. I Googled “Edgar Allen Poe Romanticism” and as you could guess, I had a plethora of choices. The third top hit was “The Fall of the House of Usher”, which somehow struck my interest. Googling a little further, I came to find it was an interesting short story with a surprising twist. Just to give you a synopsis, a man goes to an old childhood friend’s house, Roderick Usher. Roderick has fallen ill and wrote his friend for help. Roderick’s caretaker and sister, Madeline, dies while the friend is visiting. Roderick, being sickly and all, asks his friend to help bury Madeline. Later that night, they hear noises in the house and Roderick believes Madeline is back from the dead. Sure enough, the doors blow open and there’s Madeline’s trembling, bloody body standing at the door. Roderick becomes so scared he passes from a heart attack and the friend fleas from the scene. This short story was a thriller, with a dash of dark humor. Maybe this Romanticism paper wasn’t going to be so bad after