About Mabel Stafford
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The Story Of The Stellar Parzival Essay
In the second quarter we worked on our Parzival Essays. We read the book Parzival by Katherine Paterson, and when we finished, we started to write. At the time, I was in the middle school play, Romeo and Juliet, so I was behind on my thesis. I mostly worked on it in class, and when I had time, I would try at home. When I saw that there was no way I would finish in time, I only tried harder because I am really, really stubborn sometimes. Then it was due, and I was just about ready to throw my chromebook at the wall. But then… Dave (my humanities teacher) called me over. He said that my essay was STELLAR! So, I named it The Stellar Parzival Essay. Here is the stellar Parzival essay.
The Stellar Parzival Essay
By Mabel Stafford
Parzival’s upbringing helped him become a good king because it taught him to be curious, thoughtful, and caring.
Without the way you were brought up, would you be the way you are now? The way you were brought up is the beginning of your life, the crucial foundation that helps steady what you build on it as you grow. In Parzival by Katherine Paterson, a naive boy who was raised in a forest takes on a quest which, without his upbringing, would be very hard to complete. Parzival’s upbringing helped him become a good king because it taught him to be curious, thoughtful, and caring.
How Parzival was raised helped him become a good king because it taught him to be curious. In chapter one, on page six Parzival asks “Who is God, Mother?” Parzival’s mother, (Queen Herzoloyde) kept life outside of the forest that they lived in a secret. She believed that she was doing her son a great service because she thought that she was sparing him from the fate of his father, who died seeking adventure in battle. But this only made Parzival thirst for knowledge, even though he used to be content in his ignorance. This is important because if Parzival were happy to know absolutely nothing about the way life was lead out of the woods, then he never would have gone to Arthur’s court, and he never would have began his quest! Not only did his upbringing teach him to be independent, it also taught him to be thoughtful.
Parzival’s upbringing helped him become a good king because it taught him to be thoughtful. In chapter one, on page five it says, “Indeed, for many days, whenever he heard the song of a lark, he burst into tears, remembering his thoughtless act.” Parzival’s thoughtlessness killed a lark, and Parzival was so repentant that he made sure he thought before he moved. This is significant because if this never happened, then Parzival would not have taken care to think before acting. Not only did his upbringing teach him to be thoughtful, it also taught him to be caring.
Parzival’s upbringing helped him become a good king because it taught him to be caring. In chapter one, on page five it says “Indeed, for many days, whenever he heard the song of a lark, he burst into tears, remembering his thoughtless act.” When Parzival realized that he had killed the bird, his heart grieved for it, and the result was a more caring Parzival. This was an essential part of becoming a well-loved monarch because if you cannot weep for the mistakes you made, and cannot care for those who serve you, then you will never be known as a kind, just sovereign. Without Parzival’s kind heart, he never would have become an excellent ruler.
The way Parzival was raised made quite an impact on his later self. Think back to when you were young. Did your upbringing make a foundation on which you could construct your future? One person could be raised in a way that will affect earth, and could change all our lives for better, or for worse. For example, if I were raised in a really terrible way, then I’d grow up to join ISIS or maybe start World War Three! However, if I were raised as a normal person who cared, I’d change the world for the better by finding a cure for cancer, or I’d put an end to poverty. The way you are brought up is the start of making a potential hero.
Ha ha ha. Try and beat that! :p
My Soundtrap Song
This is my song.
Soundtrap is very useful and fun. I made this song by making up melodies, and then adding a drum part. I also had other people play on this piece, and I uploaded some things from noteflight to do this. I think that Soundtrap is a very useful tool when one is making a song.
My Current Math Status
This is my Xtramath score report. Xtramath is a website that is designed to help kids practice multiplication, and we have to use it every night. I think that I am making progress, given that although I do not usually get to see my current score, I am having an easier time remembering answers right away in class. I think that my effort is increasing. I probably am putting more effort in than I was before, because my score is going up. I think that Xtramath is a great website for kids who need help remembering their multiplication facts.
This is one of the little pop quizzes that Margaret has us do in the beginning of class. At the moment I am not doing very well, but I am determined to do better, since I REALLY do not like getting a bad score, let alone not learning this! I am going to improve by practicing Xtramath, and by paying as much attention as possible in class. I know that I need to improve my work, and I will try very hard to do so. After trying and succeeding, the best thing is trying and failing, so I will try.
This is a page on my test that I am proud of. I am proud of this page because I got all the answers right, and it seems that I did it in an acceptable way, because I got no comments from Margaret! I think that this was a very cool test, because it was a take-home test. Those are easier than regular tests, because you are doing it in a less stressful environment! Thank you for your time.
What I’ve Learned In Mandarin
Here are some things that I learned in Mandarin, and some things that helped me learn.
Ashokan Thesis Statements
The best part of the Ashokan trip was blacksmithing because #1: It was cool that we got to work the bellows, #2: We learned a lot about the art of metal working, #3: It was so fun that there are no pictures of me except when I was working at the forge, because I was SO happy and bouncy. All in all, it was TOTALLY worth missing free period ( also called open rec). Look how happy Jen is.
The worst part of the Ashokan trip was the canoeing because #1: My team hit every rock in the lake five times, #2: My friend totally deserted my team, and you can imagine that did not feel good,#3: It was SO insanely bad, that there are NO pictures of canoeing at all! Really! Just an empty, sad lake. Like this one.
What I’m Working On
This year in 6th grade, I am working on a lot of things. For example, my Beowulf project. We are reading a book called Beowulf, and it is about a man named Beowulf. He is a very out of proportion hero. He comes from the land of the Geats, (Sweden) to the land of the Danes, (Denmark) to free King Hrothgar from the monster Grendel. My project is that I have to draw King Hrothgar before and after Grendel comes. I spent three hours on it, just to finish the after Grendel picture. We also made a fact to fiction story. We wrote about something that actually happened to us over the summer, then we added some fiction to it. It was really fun. I am really happy that fast reading is a strength for me, because it means I can read Beowulf fast, but get all of it. Something I’m struggling with is that I really hate stopping my flow, (my reading) to take notes, or write a chapter summery. We have to do that to prove that we read the assigned chapter. We are currently studying the feudal chart, and church hierarchy in the middle ages. It is very interesting.
Summer
This summer was pretty fun, although I did not see anyone who was not family, except at camp. Here is how my summer went. On the first day of summer, my dad’s parents came over, and after dinner, they took me and my brother to Stoddartsville, Pennsylvania. We stayed in a cabin called Wac-Zip. We like to swim in the Lehigh River while we are there. Coincidentally, their dog’s name is also Lehigh! We were there For two weeks. Although my mom and I had to leave a week early for camp.
I go to a camp called Urban Stages. It is a theatre camp. I was there for a month. We write our own show there. It is very fun. Right after that, I was dragged off to Maine for a week, to see my great aunt Kathleen. We went to a place called The Bagaduce Lunch. The food is really good. We also went on two very exhausting hikes in Brooksville, Maine. One was on a mountain, and it left us all sore for a week after.The other was much flatter, but also exhausting. The next day, we saw my cousin Bianca, and her sister, Katelyn. They are not really sisters, but their parents feel like siblings, so that’s the way it is.Then we left the day after, and I was really lazy because I had been dragged all over the place. That lasted for a while.
Then It was my birthday, and I got a new loft bed, desk, chair, and shelves. It was really exciting, and fun to put together. After that, My brother and I slept in until 11:30 every morning. Then on the first day of school, we could barely sit up when mom and dad woke us up at 6:00. So, that was my summer. Pictures are next to this. Thanks for reading!
My Hero essay
This is the hero essay I wrote.
Mabel’s Hero Essay
By Mabel
A hero is someone who is kind, brave, intelligent, selfless, and inspiring. A true hero can make you try to be a better person. Heroes can be ancient like Ulysses, who fought at Troy, or modern, like Malala, who fought for female education in Afghanistan. Ulysses displayed stereotypical hero traits, while Malala was driven by determination to succeed, and displayed compassion, kindness, and an excellent sense of what is right, and what is wrong. Ulysses may have been brave, but Malala sacrificed herself so that women and girls in Afghanistan could have education.
While Ulysses did some heroic things, but in the end, they weren’t quite enough for him to qualify as a hero. Ulysses did things so bad that they overrode his good deeds, and he lacked some vital heroic qualities, such as compassion and kindness. Ulysses showed excessive pride when he blinded Polyphemus, and he said, “If anyone asks, it it not nobody, but Ulysses who has done this to you,” on page 26 in the Ulysses book. Ulysses was brave and clever, but he was not very kind. Therefore, he should not be remembered as a hero.
A good example of a hero would be someone like Malala. Someone who would risk themselves for others. She was brave, determined, and kind, and she almost sacrificed her life so girls could go to school in Afghanistan. She put herself in mortal peril for the benefit of others. I personally think that a person like Malala should definitely be a hero, because they would put their whole lives on hold so that others could have better lives, even if it meant risking their own life for a very small change.
Think about a world where people like Malala who stood up for education, and Pushpa Basnet who made a home and school for children in jail, were not there to help! The world would be a miserable fail. Heroes are supposed to change and help the world, and with no one changing and helping, the world would be a huge ball of misery! The world might even slide back into slavery and extreme racism! We wouldn’t want this for the world. A world as bad as 9/11. With death possibly just around the corner! I’d get to the other side of the world if that was the only way to escape a horrible earth. Without heros, this is what the earth would come to. We need people like Malala and Pushpa Basnet. We need people who can be brave, strong, kind, courageous, valiant, and most of all, someone who would risk their own lives to save our earth. We need to step up, and be those people!
This is the book we read first.
Pictographic Character Project
Below is a picture of mandarin project. The assignment was to make a poster of how your chosen character’s writing evolved. I chose Huò. Fire. I chose this character because it is sort of satisfying when it is finished. It is like the satisfaction you get from a fire in the hearth n a cold morning. A fire that you worked hard for. A fire that you helped to burn. A fire that you gathered the logs for in the cold evening last night. I would know. I have done that. Try it. It is very satisfying.
