Flowers

Blooming in spring

Making fields colorful

Bringing bright smiles to faces

Summer

In humanities right now we are learning about poetry.This is a poem I wrote all by myself. I wrote it in a style called Cinquain. The first line must be 2 syllables, the second 4, the third 6, the fourth is 8 and the final line is 2 again. This is one out of three ways to write a Cinquain poem. I missed out on a humanities class the taught us this, so I had to write this poem at my house. I do take a real liking in this subject. I think it is most enjoyable. Over all poetry is quite hard to write. You have to put your mind in a different head space. I think I am progressing in coming up with better words to describe myself. Something that I found challenging was making my writing fit the rubric of the poem. Dave has taught our class a lot more skills about writing poetry and annotating it too. We have looked at Rumi poems. Rumi was a man in the medieval times that was one of the first people to write poetry. He wrote it in such a way that it spoke to people through there hearts. We took some of his poems and annotated them because it is an important skill to not only be able to write poetry but to understand poetry. I am looking forward to writing more and more every class I take.  

My mom is the drama teacher at our school and I chose to interview her because I already knew a lot about her, but I found out that there is a whole other side to her. I love my mom and I love learning about her. This was a really fun experience because I jumped into my mom’s childhood and upbringing. My mom has always been an amazing person in my eyes, but when I heard her stories I really thought about my mom’s entire life. I have always been interested in my mom’s life because she turned out to be such a kind and loving human being that I wanted to learn more about how she came to be. My interview happened in my house and I was on the couch. My mom and I had a nice interview and I learned a lot about my mom’s history and her career.  

We wrote letters to the people we wanted to interview for our project. The letter asked about things that I would want to learn more about. I really loved this project and I felt like I did a lot of thoughtful writing. It was all handwritten, but luckily for me I have great handwriting. I gave it to my mom and when she read it and agree I was quite happy. I kind of knew that she wasn’t going to say no because she’s my mom and this is a school project. I had a lot of fun writing it and the entire time was fun too.

I thought about what I wanted to ask my mom and I had to really dig deep because I know her well. I had to think of questions that were thoughtful and still had a lot of ways to go. I think that I did good questions because I got a lot of good responses.These are the questions I came up with:

What is your favorite part about your job and why?

What was your childhood like?

What’s a moment in your life that made you change as a person?

If you could re-do your life what would you change and why?

What was the biggest difference between England and America?

What do you miss about England?

Where have you been and where do you want to go and why?

What was the hardest challenge in life?

Who helped you through the hardest moment of your life?

We wrote our step that we took in a document. Here are mine:My step 2 doc

I feel really good on how it turned out. I put a lot of time and effort into it and I think it payed off. I am proud to present My interview.

This is my Parzival essay and I loved writing this because I feel like I am really good at debate and I think it is fun. I love showing my evidence for things to prove that I am right. The essay had guide lines, the guide lines are called T.E.E.A.C., that stands for Topic sentence, Evidence, Explanation, Analysis, Conclusion. It really helped when I was stuck and didn’t know what to do and I will now use it for future times. This is my T.E.E.A.C. essay format and then the finished essay.

My thesis statement: Parzival became king by free will because He pushed through his troubles, He made a promise to himself to not kill and had to do the right thing even if it wasn’t what they told him to do.

Intro: Where would humanity be without free will? In a ditch, we would all be in a ditch and no one would ever be anything better than a peasant. Free will built our country, our world. In the book, Parzival by Katherine Paterson, a boy sets off on a journey to learn about the world he lives in and to become a knight. On the way many things happen to this boy and he finds out his name is Parzival and then he ends up becoming king. Parzival became king by free will because he pushed through his troubles, he made a promise to himself to not kill ever again and he did the right thing even if it wasn’t what other people told him to do.   

T.E.E.A.C.

BP1

Topic Sentence: Parzival became king by pushing through his problems.

Evidence: On page 56, “You fool! You wretched fool! Why didn’t you ask the question?”

Explanation: Everyone wouldn’t tell him what he did wrong and what the question was, but he persevered through that.

Analysis: This is a big part about the story because it was very easy to turn back and go home but he didn’t do that. Free will made him continued his journey.

Conclusion (Transition):Not only was parzival dedicated to making it to his decination, but he was also loyal.

BP2

Topic Sentence: Parzival continued his journey by keep promises to himself and others.

Evidence:On page 32 a man told Parzival, “If you have defeated a man in battle, you do not need to kill him.”

Explanation: Parzival never killed again and he stayed true to himself.

Analysis: This is a big part to learn about parzival, he keeps his promises and that is free will.

Conclusion (Transition): Parzival is loyal but he is also clever.

BP3

Topic Sentence: Parzival came into royalty because he will do the right thing no matter what other people tell him.   

Evidence: On page 17 Parzival said, “I will take my javelin and avenge these wrongs!”

Explanation: He then spent the rest of his journey trying to do just that even though his cousin didn’t want him to go.

Analysis: Parzival is selfless and that is a choice that he made.

Conclusion (Transition): Now you have seen that Parzival is dedicated, loyal and selfless. His journey to becoming a king is truly because of free will.

Conclusion: Parzival decided his path in life. He could have taken other roots down the road, but he chose wisdom. Everyone has made their own story, their own journey. How do you think Obama got to become president or how Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak came together to make Apple. These people all thought outside the box and that is Free will.  

Finished version:

Where would humanity be without free will? In a ditch, we would all be in a ditch and no one would ever be anything better than a peasant. Free will built our country, our world. In the book, Parzival by Katherine Paterson, a boy sets off on a journey to learn about the world he lives in and to become a knight. On the way many things happen to this boy and he finds out his name is Parzival and then he ends up becoming king. Parzival became king by free will because he pushed through his troubles, he made a promise to himself to not kill ever again and he did the right thing even if it wasn’t what other people told him to do.   

Parzival became king by pushing through his problems. On page 56, “You fool! You wretched fool! Why didn’t you ask the question?” Everyone wouldn’t tell him what he did wrong and what the question was, but he persevered through that. This is a big part about the story because it was very easy to turn back and go home but he didn’t do that. Free will made him continued his journey. Not only was Parzival dedicated to making it to his decination, but he was also loyal.

Parzival continued his journey by keep promises to himself and others. On page 32 a man told Parzival, “If you have defeated a man in battle, you do not need to kill him.” Parzival never killed again and he stayed true to himself. This is a big part to learn about Parzival, he keeps his promises and that is free will. Parzival is loyal but he is also sensible.

Parzival came into royalty because he will do the right thing no matter what other people tell him. On page 17 Parzival said, “I will take my javelin and avenge these wrongs!” He then spent the rest of his journey trying to do just that even though his cousin didn’t want him to go. Parzival is selfless and that is a choice that he made. Now it has been shown that Parzival is dedicated, loyal and selfless. His journey to becoming a king is truly because of free will.

Parzival decided his path in life. He could have taken other roots down the road, but he chose wisdom. Everyone has made their own story, their own journey. How do you think Obama got to become president or how Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak came together to make Apple. These people all thought outside the box and that is Free will.  

I did a fact to fiction story. If you don’t know what that is, it is a story that is part fact part fiction. I took a story that really happened and made it interesting. It was about a moose that was a demon over lord. It was a great story and I think I did an amazing job on it. It was a hard process and I loved creating this nature woman. I had a lot of fun making this story and I hope that you have fun reading it.

This summer I went to Boulder, Colorado with my family. It was a lot of fun and my favorite moment was hiking. My  family was going to climb a mountain to the Royal Arch and on the side of the road we spotted a moose. A full grown big daddy moose. Its antlers were so furry. Its hair was very long and his eyes were adorable. I just wanted to hug him, but I know that it is very dangerous. My dad didn’t think so, he jumped out of the car and jumped into a pose and took a selfie. As he did he said,

“Moose selfie”. Then all the sudden the moose stood up on his hind legs, and changed into this seven foot monster with four arms and massive feathers sticking out from everywhere. His skin was touching every bone and two of his arms were huge muscles and said

“I am no moose, I am Galthzizco. The demon overlord.” We all froze. Then he said, “Can I help you such lovely people”. So my brother said,

“Can you show us where the camp site is?”. He looked as if he was as dumb as a rock. I thought that that was the day I die. It was the end. Goodbye world, I thought.

“Sure little boy” the monster said, “but I need something from you first. You must go find my daughter.”

“Ummmmm, where is she?” I asked.

“Don’t know, she ran away from me today.” he said. I sighed. This would never work, I thought. But we started walking around calling, “Galthzizco daughter” I didn’t think it would work, but then all the sudden I heard a voice. A soft sweet voice of a woman, flowing like water through a stream. I looked through the bushes and saw a beautiful lady in a tree singing. She had cobalt blue eyes like a lake and long tuscan sun hair down to her feet. She was wearing a parakeet green jumpsuit with flowers on it that framed off how tall she was. Her flip flops had fallen on the floor. Her skin was as white as irovy. She looked as delicate as a porcelain doll. She turned her head at saw me looking at her so I said, “umm, hello. Sorry for staring you just look so beautiful like you are supposed to be in a painting.” She smiled at me and jumped down off the tree. She walked slowly and softly toward me. I felt scared yet peaceful. “Thank you, my name is Hynthora. What’s your name?” She said.

“My name is Meadow. What are you doing out here?” I asked.

“Well, it’s a long story so maybe later I will tell you, but for now what are you doing out here?” She asked.

“I am hiking.” I said not trying to give away too much.

“Well hiker follow me.” Then Hynthora held my hand up and walked into the forest. I followed. I was about to say can you help me find this monsters daughter, but I decided rather not ruin this moment with a lady I found in tree. She walked like nothing in the world mattered, I would love to see her do a test I thought. She jumped up the tree like it was easy peasy. Then I tried and just looked awkward. She leant down and I thought she was going to help me up, but she did something way cooler. She got vines to wrap around me and pull me up. Was I too fat and heavy for her to pull me up with her arms, did she have to harness her powers to lift me a few inches I thought to myself. “umm, just a quick question. What was that because a normal person singing in a treetop by herself in the woods cannot use vines to lift an eleven year old girl to a tree?” I asked.

“Ok, you got me. I am not just a lady in the woods, I am…”

“A magical fairy princess?”I interrupted.

“No, that’s crazy! I am the queen of nature.”

“I was close.” I mumbled. She turned with a gust of wind and somehow changed all her clothing. I was like what? And she was all like that’s right girl, I can do whatever I want. Her jumpsuit had turned into a long pearl white dress. The dress was silky soft with a strapless top and corset below. She was wearing four inch high heels made out of glass and her toenails colored arctic blue. Her hair had turned to a dark chocolate brown with a frost blue ribbon pulling it back. Then when I looked at her face it was lighter than before and now she was wearing black mascara and rose red lipstick. The only thing that didn’t change was her eyes. The were still the same calm cobalt blue eyes that I saw singing in the tree. I felt safer knowing that she was the same person in the tree.  “Now your turn” Hynthora said.

“Um I can do that. I am a normal person, so sorry.” I said.

“No I mean tell me the truth about why you are out here all alone.”She responded. I kind of felt bad because of the things I said after that, but I remembered that she is a fairy queen thing so that made me feel better. “Well, I am looking for a girl. She ran away.” I finally said.

“Oh, who is the person that sent you to find this girl?” her voice sank.

“Um, this monster guy named Gathzinc or something.”

“Galthzizco, It is Galthzizco” She sank farther down with her voice. “I am his daughter. And I know what you are thinking. How can I be so kind and he be so mean. I got the kindness from my mom.”

“You also got her looks.”

“No I got them from my dad.”

“But he is so…”

“Ugly, ya I know.”

“I was going to say he looks like a badger fell into acid, got kicked of a plane that hit another plane mid air and fell onto a car that was on fire then run over by a truck that exploded and then a bird died on him.”

“That’s a bit harsh don’t you think?”

“No not at all.” I jumped down and heard something in the street. I motioned for Hynthora to come quick. I tip toed to the street as silently as I could. She was coming off the tree very slowly because her heels were so high she could barely stand. I looked through the bushes and I saw my brother talking to Hynthora dad. I listened in closer.

“Little boy wouldn’t you want a super power?”

“Yes I would.”

“Well then just give me your soul.”

“Wait what… I did not agreed to tha…” And his voice trailed off as the monster sucked the soul out off my brother in front of me. I gasped. Hynthora saw this and ran out to her father. I could hear what was going on, but I watched closely. She yelling at him and he was yelling back. She picked up a rock and threw it at him. He didn’t like that, so he grabbed her by her arm, but she didn’t take that nicely so she wrapped her vines around him and squeezed tight enough that it hurt but didn’t kill. That’s when I got out of the bush.

“Need any help?” I asked

“No I got him. And now I will bring your brother back.”

“With a magical spell?”

“No, by hitting my dad in the stomach.” And with that she gave him a good whack in the back and my brother’s soul returned to his limp body. He looked dazed for a bit, but then he stood up.

“Are you ok?” I asked. He nodded at me and hugged me. Hynthora shook his hand and then hugged him too. My mom and dad came out from the forest with a shocked expression on their faces. So I explained everything to them, from vine lady to soul sucker.

Then Hynthora said, “What was the wish that you wanted?”

“Ice cream!” River shouted like a nit wit. With that we all had ice cream in our hands.

“River! I will kill you! But not with the witnesses, so thank you for all your help but that was not the right wish.”

“What’s done is done. I can not do anything. I must go so peace.” And Hynthora disappeared. Our rented car had somehow disappeared with her.  We were left in the middle of nowhere and we all had ice creams. My brother sighed and licked his ice cream. My mom and my dad sighed as well and looked at me. I sighed and then we all looked at the road and started to walk. It took a long, long time, but we did it. We got up to the Royal Arch. The view was amazing. I didn’t want it to end. The sun set and we all laid on a rock and sighed.