Being a Hero

Author's note: This is my Patriots Pen essay

The American flag hangs proudly in the corner of our classrooms. What made this country come together? Was is patriotism? Was it courage? Or, was it the example of a true hero? When a soldier marches onto the battlefield, thoughts will flash across his mind to turn back. But he doesn’t turn back, because he is a true hero. The founding fathers influenced the soldiers to march onto the battlefield, proud of their country, and determined to make our country a better place. 

The general of the first American army, George Washington, led his soldiers into battle against the British. He was an influential leader who controlled his army in a smooth way. George Washington lead America to victory against the British, and made America an independent country. He was inaugurated on April 30^th, 1789. He was the first president and is the Father of our great country.

John Adams, the Vice President of George Washington, and a founding father is one of the true heroes of America, just in a more political way than George Washington. John Adams helped negotiate the peace treaty between America and the British government. One of the things that made John Adams work so hard was his rival, Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed a controversial Alien and Sedition Acts and built up the army and navy. John Adams may have made some bad, or controversial choices, but he helped our country get stronger.

While Abraham Lincoln isn’t a founding father, he is one of Americas heroes. He lead his country through the Civil War, managing to preserve the Union while ending slavery, one of the worst things in America at the time. Abraham Lincoln served as president from 1861, until his terrible assassination in April 1865. Lincoln made our country stronger by ending the Civil War, and ending slavery. He was one of the country’s greatest presidents for all the things he did for our great country.

Heroes are typically hard to come by, but America has a lot of them. George Washington, John Adams, and Abraham Lincoln are only 3 of Americas heroes. They are also police men, firemen, doctors, vets, really anything that helps the community, or America. Americas heroes are some of the best, because they would put their lives on the line to protect the citizens of the united states. The Founding Fathers inspire some of our heroes, and even today, they push our country to do the right thing.

Our Sunshine

Author’s Note: This is my personal narrative about my trip to Disney World last summer

I groaned as I heard the first patter of rain.

“Why does it have to rain the day we go to DISNEY?” I complained to my Aunt Chris.

“I know… “ She paused, then sighed, “Grandpa won’t do well in the rain…” She sighed.

This whole trip to Florida has been all about my Grandfather’s well being, and I hate it.

And of course, the first day we’re here, it just HAS to rain. “Well we’re going to have to stop a lot, and that’s not the best thing to do.” I said.

“Yeah, but look on the bright side, your going to see Ariel today!” Auntie Chris smiled at me.

I smiled. I haven’t seen my big sister for almost 9 months since she joined the DCP, and I missed her like crazy. “I can’t wait to see her!” I smiled and pulled my sweatshirt on over my Hatsune Miku shirt I had chosen to wear.

“Me neither!” Auntie Chris said and put fruit snacks in her back pack.

I crossed the room and grabbed my sneakers, and looked at Auntie Chris. “Do you think the rain will let up?” I asked her, putting on my sneakers.

She sighed, “Well, when we where watching the news last night it said that a tropical  storm was coming in…” She trailed off, and put more stuff in her back pack.

“A tropical storm?!” I almost yelled, my eyes as big as CDs.

“I know!” She said, throwing her arms up.

I groaned again, “This stinks.” I said, making sure I didn’t say sucks. Auntie Chris is sensitive to swearing, or anything remotely close to swearing. But hey, at least she wasn’t as bad as my Grandpa, who cringes when someone says “fart”.

Auntie Chris sighed. “Well, we’re here for a whole week! So, let’s hope luck is on our side and the rain lets up in time for when we go to Universal.” She smiled at me.

My face lighted  up when she said Universal, “I’m so excited for Universal!” I said brightly.

“Your only excited because you’ll go to Harry Potter World.” She laughed.

“It’s called Wizarding World of Harry Potter.” I corrected smugly, standing up.

Auntie Chris and I exited our Hotel room and looked out over the banister. It was raining, and hard. “Do you think we should bring Ariel’s sweatshirts?” I asked.

“We don’t have an umbrella….” She said, a look of worry coming across her face.

“Then we’ll have to layer, right?” I said .

She nodded. “Ariel’s sweatshirts will be nice!” She laughed and grabbed the sweatshirts.

Once she came back with the sweatshirts, we went into my Grandpa and my dad’s room, where we found their eyes glued to the TV, a weather forecast on the TV .

“Hey Dad!” I said and plopped next to him on his bed.

“Hey Sare!” He smiled and gave me a side hug. “Did you sleep ok?” He asked me.

This was the routine for whenever I was with my dad. When I wake up, he asks me how I slept, if I had any dreams, and if I had any allergies. “I slept fine, how did you guys sleep?” I asked, to the general room.

My family all mumbled mixes of ok and great.

“You ready for Disney?” My grandpa asked, smiling.

“Yeah!” I smiled, then frowned. “It’s raining though.” I said.

“Yeah, that’s a downer.” Grandpa sighed.

Auntie Chris, Dad and I shared a look. We where all preparing for  the long day.

Once we got to Disney, the weather got even worse.

Rain was pouring down in buckets,  My dad REFUSED to get a rain poncho (the reason why: unknown), and Grandpa was getting grumpy, which caused Auntie Chris to be grumpy. In essence, I was the only one in a semi-good mood.

“So, what do you want to do first Sarah?” Grandpa asked me.

I froze slightly. I wasn’t good at making decisions about what to do. For example, when someone asks me what I want for dinner, it’ll take me about an hour to figure something out. “Uhm… Whatever you want to do Grandpa!” I smiled at him.

“Well, this trip is about YOU Sarah.” He said sternly.

Oh that’s right, this was SUPPOSED to be a birthday present. This whole trip I guess.

“But I want all of you to be happy to!” I said. That wasn’t a lie at all, I cared more about what my family was feeling then I cared about how I felt.

“Well, Sare, this is for you. Not us.” My dad chimed in, wringing his already soaked shirt off.

“I guess…” I mumbled and looked at my sopping  sneakers.

“Let’s just go straight and see where we end up!” Auntie Chris said, walking forward.

I stepped in time with her, then mumbled to her. “How’s Grandpa doing?”

“He’s already tired. He hates the rain.” She mumbled back to me.

“Greattt…” I sighed and looked at the castle in front of me.

Typically, the castle was supposed to be beautiful, but to me, it looked more like the Beasts castle before the enchantment was lifted.

We walked along, chattering about the sights we where seeing, and debating for the rides.

And that’s when my dad’s phone rang.

We quickly stepped underneath a ledge so his phone wouldn’t get ruined.

“Hello?” He answered, “Oh, Hi Ariel!” He said cheerfully, then let Ariel talk. “Oh, your coming to Disney soon?” Another pause. “Oh, in a couple hours then…” He nodded at whatever she was saying, “So, we’ll meet up at the Space thing?” He nodded, “Cool. See you in a few hours!” He said, then hung up. “That was Ariel.” He said.

I secretly rolled my eyes. No duh!

“What did she have to say?” Grandpa piped up, curiosity in his voice.

“Well, we’ll meet up with her in a couple of hours at the space part of the park.” Dad said, and I smiled.

I was finally going to see my sister again!! I missed her so much, and now, to think I’d see her again in a couple of hours… I couldn’t believe it.  Me being who I am, I kept in my excitement. Grandpa wouldn’t be too happy if one of the reasons why I was so excited for this trip was so I could see my sister.

“Cool!” I chirped and put the hood up on my sweatshirt, seeing the rain pick up.

We stepped out of our little shelter and trooped through the Magic Kingdom.

I was irritated with my entire family by the time we made it to the space themed section of the park. I was tired, hungry, and mad that I hadn’t seen my sister yet. Half of the park was meant for little kids, and I had been pushed around tons of times by 40 year old men, who where soaking wet.

I was done.

“So… Do you guys wanna go eat something?” My Aunt asked. It had become very clear that she was going to be the one to lead us around the park, seeing as she’d been there before.

“YES!” I almost screamed, and walked briskly into the Space Café.

We all ordered, then sat down with our steaming hot meals.

“So, anything from Ariel?” I looked at my dad across the table, eating his cheeseburger.

He swallowed and replied to me, “Yeah, we’ve been texting. She’ll be here in an hour or so.” Dad said and smiled at me weakly. He was more tired than me, because he didn’t have a poncho and his clothes MUST be weighing him down. I felt bad for him, but didn’t say anything.

“Yay!” I chirped and ate fries coated with Ranch dressing, my favorite thing to dip fries in.

My family smiled at me and ate their meals, small talk drifting to my ears.

After we finished, we walked back out into the rain and down the “street”. 

“So, the laugh factory seems interesting.” My dad said, looking at the screen of his phone.

Personally, I wanted to go to the Stitch ride, but everyone INSISTED that it was a little kid ride.

“Anywhere I can sit down is good for me.” Grandpa nodded.

So, we trudged to the Laugh Factory and waited in line for about 45 minutes, then entered the Laugh Factory.

We sat in our seats, and looked at the screen.

My family and I exited the Laugh Factory, chuckling about when a little kid said that his age was Puerto Rico.

“So Sare, when someone asks how old you are, don’t say thirteen… say…” My dad began, leaving the end for me to fill in.

“Puerto Rico!” I said, using a Spanish accent.

My family laughed, and I looked over to my left and I saw her

The one I had been waiting to see this ENTIRE TIME

My sister

 Ariel Wiedemann.

“Ariel!” I yelled and ran over to her, latching onto her in a bear hug.

“SARAH! Oh my god your so freakin tall!” She laughed and hugged me.

“I missed you so much!” I cried, welling up.

“I missed you to Sabu.” She said, a twinkle in her eye.

“ARIEL!” Auntie Chris yelled and latched onto Ariel’s other side, making it a three person hug.

“Auntie Chris!” Ariel said, hugging her and me.

My dad and grandpa followed us over, and where watching this with a smile on their face.

As it turns out, my dad had been texting with Ariel while we were in the Laugh Factory, setting all this up.

My dad took his turn to hug Ariel, and we all laughed and smiled, now having a good time. Then, he let go of her and Ariel, Auntie Chris and I all grouped around each other with a smile on our faces, and my dad took a picture.

So, it turns out, Ariel was our sunshine on such a crappy day.

Thank god. 

The rest of the day, we all enjoyed each other’s company and went on ride after ride, my sister and I dancing in the rain, making our selves look like idiots.

Cinder Cause and Effect Piece

Author's Note: This is my cause and effect piece on Cinder, by Marissa Meyer

When Cinder goes to the Market to sell repairs for androids, Prince Kai comes up to her asking for Cinder to repair his android. Cinder doesn't know it's him, because she's looking down into a bucket with spare parts. When she looks up, she realizes it's the Prince and automatically gets embarrassed for how rude she was being, thus starts to stutter and mumble. Prince Kai waves it off easily, but she's still embarrassed about her behavior.

The cause of this scenario in the first place is because Prince Kai came up to her nearly abandoned booth with a question. Cinder had no idea that he was the Prince, thus she used her typical snarky tone of voice on him to. When Cinder looked up at him, she realized he was the Prince and immediately began apologizing and being embarrassed, but Prince Kai just waves off her attempts with a wave of his hand and an easy smile. 

Cinder thought she was braking the law by not bowing to him, which is another part of the effect of her not looking up at him. This little "incident" sets the tone for the rest of the book, but it's more like a back drop to the real story, which is focusing on a politics of her country, and a disease that's plaguing the country. All of the reasons why she got involved are because of this one thing. Because she wasn't looking up, she didn't notice turmoil that was starting across from her booth, at the Baker. The plague is starting to get to the market that she works in, and she's oblivious to it all because she was to wrapped up in her thoughts about "breaking the law". 

Furthermore, this cause and effect aren't as big of a deal as Cinder make them out to be. This shows that the character over reacts easily, even though she may have the right to, seeing as he's the prince. If Cinder had calmed down, the entire situation would have been different. 

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Conflict/Resolution

Author's note: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone has many conflicts, but this short essay is highlighting on one of them. 

In the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, one of the main conflicts of the beginning is Harry and the Dursleys. This conflict has been Harry’s life, and he’s pretty sick of it. The cause of this conflict is Harry’s parents (Lily and James) died in a “car accident” when he was a baby. Thus, he lives with the Dursley’s. One resolution that arises is when letters to Harry start appearing, all the time. But, this resolution is turned down by Vernon Dursley, when he burns them, rips them to shreds, or even EATS them. The second resolution that presents itself is when, after Vernon loses all his common sense and move them to an island, Hagrid, a giant from Hogwarts, comes with a letter for Harry. This is the resolution that makes the story start.

One of the things that could change the conflict, or in this case, the entire story, if let’s say Harry’s godfather, who you learn about in the third book, didn’t go to prison for something he didn’t do, and took Harry in? This could/would change the entire story line, because Harry would be raised differently, his personality could change, his look on life, or even how the story’s climax begins. Harry living with Sirius could be a BAD thing because Sirius is more of a rebel than the Dursley’s ever where. This could change Harry’s outlook on life, or even worse, his courage. All in all, Harry living with the Dursleys may have been bad, but it made him a better person. So, it’s a good thing he lives with the Dursleys.