At home I’m happy because I get to eat and sleep before going to school and I don’t have to do any work.  When I start to walk to school I’m sad because I have to walk a lot to get to school. I’m nervous on the corner of Greenwich and Spring because I always get worried that I’m going to be late for school. I’m tired at the corner of Varick and Vandam because my back starts to hurt from carrying my backpack and because I would prefer to sleep. On King street I get hungry because I realized I didn’t eat enough for breakfast. I’m annoyed at the crossing of Houston and 6th Avenue because you have to cross twice and the lights are offsetting. I’m angry when I get to school because then I realise that I have to start to do work.

In humanities our first emotional cartography map was our path to school. I used emojis to explain how I felt at certain parts of my walk.

Many kings are born into royalty. It is their fate to become a king. In the book Parzival by Katherine Paterson, the main character, Parzival, becomes king a different way. It is his own free will that led him on a great journey to become a knight, and furthermore a king. This free will led Parzival to become King because of his curiosity, bravery, and generosity.

Parzival became royal as a result of his curiosity. On page 8 Paterson wrote, “‘Tell me,’ he (Parzival) said, ‘Are you the one called God?’” (He said to the two knights.) Parzival didn’t know a lot about the world, and when the knights came he thought they were God. The knights told him their job was to protect people, and this inspired Parzival to become a knight. Without his curiosity, Parzival would have asked questions, which led him on his journey to be a knight. Not only was Parzival interested in learning new things, he was also courageous.

Parzival’s path to royalty started with his bravery. On page 12 Paterson wrote, “‘Never fear mother,’” the boy (Parzival) said, ‘I will avenge my people with this javelin.’” Parzival wasn’t scared to become a knight and protect people from the brothers, Lahelin and Orilus. The brothers stole two of his kingdoms, so Parzival wanted to get his kingdom’s back. Parzival wanted all of the good people to be ruled by a fair king. This is significant because his bravery, and his desire to help and protect others, helped continue his path to become a knight. Not only was Parzival fearless, he was also considerate.

Parzival became king because he’s generous. On page 40 and 41 it says, “Two ships foundered on the rocks of the river-ships whose whole cargo was food… then he (Parzival) carefully parceled out all of the food, so that no one would have to little or too much.” He gave the people equal amounts of food, which was a sign of his generosity. His selflessness to give everyone equal amounts of food was what made the queen want to marry him. Parzival’s consideration for other people enabled him to become king.

Parzival had to make his own decisions about life, which is how he started the journey to become king. His free will triggered his journey to become a knight, and a king later on. Parzival is similar to King Arthur. King Arthur became king through making the choice to pull a sword out of a stone. Because of their free will, and their choices, both Parzival and Arthur became king.

In humanities we all wrote an essay about Parzival. Parzival was the name of the book and main character in the book we read. It’s about a boy who is a king, but doesn’t know it. His father was the king, but died in battle as a knight. His mom didn’t want him to die as well, so the moved to the forest so parzival would never know about this. She kept all information about his life away so he wouldn’t die. He figures out about all this anyway and becomes a knight at his own free will.

The Butt Fumble Game

I remember the Thanksgiving when my dad and I went to the Jets- Patriots game on November 22, 2012. You might remember it as the Butt Fumble Game, which is always on the Thanksgiving Sportscenter Not Top Ten. I was eager for the game because it was my first night game. When I walked into Metlife Stadium, I was hoping that the Jets would win, but that was almost impossible. The odds weren’t in our favor, and they only would have been in our favor if Tom Brady was injured.

Things were looking great in the first quarter, 0-0. The Patriots normally score before then. The second quarter we came out down 35-3. On the third score of the game, the horrific butt fumble happened. I couldn’t believe my eyes as Mark Sanchez, the Jets quarterback, called a play action fake, which is when the quarterback fakes a handoff and passes the ball. He faked the handoff to the running back and decided to sneak instead of passing. I thought he was going to get a few yards, but he “sprinted” into Brandon Moore’s butt, who is an offensive linemen on the Jets. I was in shock that he did such an idiotic play. He fumbled the ball and the Patriots safety Steve Gregory returned it 21 yards for a disastrous touchdown, and the Patriots lead got even bigger. After the play I heard Patriots fans screaming in happiness.  The Jets fans were not saying anything, and looked pale. I saw a lot of Jets fans curse and leave the stadium in rage. By the end of the quarter, my dad and I left even though I begged him to stay. I wanted to stay because I knew if I went home I would have to go to bed, and I wanted to watch the rest of the game. We left anyway.  This game helped me learn to always think before doing.  Let’s hope that only butt fumbles will happen to the Patriots for the rest of eternity!

Every class wrote a thanksgiving piece. It was about a thanksgiving memory we had. Mine was about the Jets game. Two people from each class got to read their thanksgiving piece at the assembly, and I was one of them!

The best part of the Ashokan trip was the ropes course because almost everyone was happy while doing it, it was hard which made it fun, and some people told me they had a lot of fun.

The worst part of the Ashokan trip was sleeping because it was hard to fall asleep, we had to wake up early and we had to go to bed early.