Dear Mom and Dad,

I’ve been having a great time here at university. California is so beautiful. I have already started classes, and the one I like the best is a film class. For the past two weeks, we have been studying the history of film, starting with the silent films of the first two decades of the 20th century. Of course, I have been learning about Charlie Chaplin. I have already watched several of his movies.

The Kid, one of Chaplin’s early movies, is from 1920. I have been writing an essay about this movie, in which The Tramp, played by Chaplin, rescues and raises a young poor boy. My teacher has told us that Chaplin himself had a troubled and poor childhood. I have just been watching Modern Times, a movie made in 1936. Chaplin has explored the effect of technology on human beings in the excellent movie. My favourite Chaplin movie so far is The Great Dictator, which Chaplin completed in 1940. In this masterpiece, Chaplin has made a mockery of Adolf Hitler and has made serious comments about the war. I have been studying the Second World War in my Modern History class, and it has been interesting to compare the history book with the movie.

I hope you have been enjoying the California wine I sent you. I have just discovered the best place to buy orange juice in the whole city, and I am mailing you a bottle of it with this letter. I almost forgot, I have seen mom’s cousin Alice several times since I got here, and she sends her love.

Take care!

Ronald

Written by Caitlin Myles