Academic writing class, Fudan University, spring 2007
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About
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sophiaqiu's writing portfolio
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Age: |
24 |
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From: |
200000 shanhai |
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University: |
Fudan university in China |
I like...
| Artists: |
Ballet & painting
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| Songs: |
Breathe again , Graigie Hill , Fire fly , Like a river to the sea , life is like a boat
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| Films: |
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| Places: |
XuJiahui
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More about me...
When I was young...:
I always dreamed to grow up.
When I grow up...:
I want to go back to the old days.
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Blog
Cover Letter
To Whom It May Concern:
Time is always running fast. I still remember that it was the time when the willow tree gave birth to its new leaves that I entered Mr. Ron’s class and began to learn academic writing with other partners. And now, I suddenly find that the end of this semester is around the corner, as the lotus has occupied the whole pool. It occurred to me that it is the very time to review whatever I have learned in this semester.
Firstly, please give me the honor to thank for the hard working and help of Mr. Ron and the valuable suggestion from my group members, Claire and Jascha. Furthermore, thank you for reading my portfolio in which I have selected the best reading log out of five and the three drafts.
Secondly, when it comes to me, to be frank, learning English is a hard task for me. It seems that I was born without the sense of language which causes the fact that I have to pay much more efforts to learn English. However, after taking the course of academic writing, I find that learning English is such a great joy for me that I hoped for each Thursday to take part in the class. We are encouraged to express our thoughts in our reading logs. When I finished reading “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen”, I made generation gap my log’s topic though other students choose to analysis this article from other angels. I used to be told that I had better to do anything like others. However, in the academic writing class, I was taught to express my own opinion without restriction. I felt really free to express my feeling in English which later aroused my passion for English writing.
During the course, I learned a lot about the American academy. I learned the different writing hobbies between English and Chinese. As a matter of fact, foreign writer tends to express their ideas directly. Instead, Chinese tend to express their ideas in an indirect way. And another difference is that Chinese writers have the trend to develop their stories in a smooth way, however, American writers prefer to set great surprise for the readers.
Apart from realizing the great difference existing between the English and Chinese writing, I also learned how to writing logs and English drafts during the course. I used to finish an article once without further touching. After learning the process to writing drafts, I find that a good article needs several drafts to go first. Then with the help of different methods we gradually finished the article.
Thirdly, the word “swot” seems familiar with me. When I am learning major class, we tend to do “swot” analysis on many business-cases. When the method is used to do analysis in English learning, I successfully find out my “strength” and “weakness” in English writing. On one hand, I am good at relate articles to the background of the society. As a result, I am sensitive to the reason why the authors wrote these kinds of stories, then feeling more about the meaning of the stories. On the other hand, there also exists weakness in my English writing. Sometimes, I will have the trend to use Chinese-English to express certain meanings. For instance, I used to express the meaning of comparison by using the words “drop height”. As a result, my article sometimes will be misunderstood by foreigners who come from English-speaking countries.
I will finish the learning of academic writing very soon. However, it is just the very beginning of my learning in English writing. I will do my best to maintain my interest in academic writing and continue the improvement in my English writing.
Thank you for taking the time to read my papers. I hope you enjoyed reading each article and that you learned from my ideas.
Sincerely,
Student Sophia Qiu
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Final Timed-writing
Direction, From The Necklace, what might have been the quality of Mme.Loisel’s life if she had not lost the necklace? Is her life better or worse now? From my perspective, if Mme. Loisel had not lost the necklace, her life will be worse now. If Loisel had not lost the necklace, the greatest change to her life was that she did not need to pay ten years’ hard working and tough life for the expensive diamond necklace. She could at least enjoy the salary earned by both herself and her husband with out worrying about the debt that she had to pay on time. Life will be much easier for her. However, above all, Loisel is a vain person. Without the lesson of losing the necklace, she will not be clear-headed. If the necklace had not been lost, the party which Loisel attended would be a happy memory for her but not a nightmare, in which there existed delicious dishes, good-taste wine, luxury jewelry, beautiful dress and young gentlemen that were attracted by her beauty. However, the wonderful memory in which Loisel played as the focus point of the people would actually changed Loisel’s life. She would be emerged in dream which is filled with gracious and luxury life. Because of her nature of vanity, her demands for life are hard to meet. After the successful party, Loisel would begin to search for a higher standard of life to match her dream of being one member of the up-status group. Her mind that she was born to be loved and focused will be stronger and stronger. As a result, she would bind to be unsatisfied with her life. Worst case of all would be that she doesn’t feel satisfactory with her husband who is a clerk and earns a comparatively low salary so as not to afford the luxury dressing and jewelry. So she would probably divorce her husband who loves her and tolerate with her vanity. That case will actually become a nightmare. As the time is always running fast, Loisel is bond to be an old woman with winkles in her face and white hairs flowing with the wind. Without the support and love of her husband the life will be harder than cases under any circumstance. Maybe at first she would enjoy a wonderful time with some one else who has enough wealth to satisfy her vanity. However, when she gets old, every thing will be different. The gracious life will no longer continue. New minion will take her place to be the new focus point in the up-status group. The party which used to make her top of the world becomes a suffering for her. In addition to the unsatisfied material life, her spirit life will be worse, too. It had been ten years after the memorable party. No one can recall the name or the beauty of Loisel. Whatever she used to strive for becomes meaningless. She regretted. But there is no use doing so. All in all, in my opinion, Loisel’s life will be worse now.
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Essay Draft Three
Optimism Made Ajit’s “Happy” Life Possible
When it comes to India, we always relate it with the poor people and the crowded streets. The life of poor people in Indian of the 1980s is not an easy one. Because of such huge a popularity, one has to share the limited resource with many other people. The poor have no choice but to strive for food, water, housing and security. There is no guarantee for their basic demands. As a matter of fact, they are just live on the curve of life and death.
Born in Kerala, a southwestern state of India, Krishnan Varma have experienced the Indian people’s life and witnessed the hard life of the poor. In his story “The Crass-Eaters”, the character whose name is Ajit Babu represented the poor in India. His life is filled with events and starvation. Though the surroundings are not satisfactory, Ajit still can enjoy his life with optimism.
During the whole story, Ajit moved his home for several times. Firstly, Ajit lived on a footpath of Chittaranjan Avenue. The footpath is surrounded with the atmosphere of death where Hindus and Muslims were killing one another (P56) . Even the great possibility of death, the footpath is so crowded that if you got up at night to relieve yourself you could not be sure of finding your place again (P56). Under these circumstances, human beings are so fragile that it is easy for anyone to be faced with the threat of hurt and death. Unfortunately, Ajit paid one ear for mistaking an old woman, which seems incredible. However, Ajit Babu was so optimistic that he didn’t complain for the hard life, furthermore he was so pleased that he survived even if he lost one ear.
Moving away from the footpath, Ajit and his wife moved into an abandoned-looked freight at the railway terminus. For normal people, it is unbelievable that human can live in freights. Nevertheless, Ajit did. He did moved into the freights and felt satisfactory for the new house. They were so excited to find a place to live that they did nothing but opened shut the doors for a full hour（P57）. At that moment, Ajit is very happy. Actually, for the people who are on the curve of survive, private life seems to be hopes beyond their ability to realize. Ajit felt satisfied with the housing, even though they had to bear the times when they woke to find that the world was running away from them and had to take another train to get back (P57) . Not for the fact that Swapna, Ajit’s wife, didn’t felt satisfied with the moving way of life, they will still live in freights. However, for the baby, Ajit decided to move again. There is no depression and sadness but hopes for the new life.
As far as parents are concerned, children are the core of their lives. There is no exception for Ajit. To prepare for the birth of the forth children, Ajit moved his home to a pipe where there is possible for his family to live a stable life. After that, with the help of Misrilal, they moved to a roof. Ajit is happy because the roof can offer his baby enough room to play. However, Prodeep also went away, which made Ajit very sad. Ajit and his wife missed the baby terribly. There is no doubt that the death of the children will be a great shock for parents. As the father of four children, Ajit lost all his children. The four children all had past away because of their poor living conditions. There are no enough food and clothing for both parents and babies. As a result, it will be a great challenge for the bring-up of babies. Ajit did want to have babies and had expected much for them to take care of him when he got old (P57). Life seems unfair for Ajit. But he survived and enjoyed the life. With his optimism, Ajit only focused on the advantages but not the disadvantages in his daily life. Surpassed the sadness, Ajit continued his life.
“The events, of course, were not always pleasant. But, does it matter? We have survived them.” (P59) This is what Ajit said. Many people will have the idea that Ajit was insensitive to the surroundings, which leads to the result that he could live a trouble-free life. Nevertheless, from the very sentence, we find that Ajit actually felt the great pressure of life and the shadow of death. Ajit did nothing but make himself optimistic for the life.
Ajit was not born with optimism. Because of much terrible experience, there is no use complaining for the poor life, which can also make conditions worse. As a result, Ajit chose to be optimistic. Ignore the ache of the poor life and enjoy whatever available and meaningful in their life. At last, they made their decision on their life style. They lived very quietly, content to look at the passing scene. (P59)
In my perspective, there are two purposes for Varma to write this article. One is to arouse the attention of people all over the world to do our best to give hands to those who strive for the basic demands for life.
To our pleasure, India is developing fast these years. With the process of globalization, India has become the biggest worldwide supplier of outsourcing, especially in the field of accounting and technology where Indian people can ear a high salary. As most well-educated Indians have risen their salary dramatically, which also contributed to the rise of the Indian average life standard.
The another purpose is to arouse the optimism of normal people. With the development of the modern society, there will be fewer and fewer people work just to strive for living. However, the great pressure which comes from the afraid to fail in career and other affairs makes people unhappy. They get used to signing for daily life. After reading this article, the readers can successfully learn the great spirit of optimism from the character, Ajit. When normal people are sank in the sea of hopelessness, think of Ajit, and go straight ahead with head up and nose down.
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Essay Draft Two
Optimism Made Babu’s “Happly” Life Possible
When it comes to India, we always relate it with the poor people and the crowded streets. The life of a poor person in Indian of the 1980s is not an easy one. Because of such huge a popularity, people have to share the limited resource with many other people. The poor have no choice but to strive for food, water, housing and security. There is no guarantee for their basic demands. As a matter of fact, they are just live on the curve of life and death.
Born in Kerala, a southwestern state of India, Krishnan Varma have experienced the Indian people’s life and witnessed the hard life of the poor. In his story “The Crass-Eaters”, the character whose name is Ajit Babu represented the poor in India. His life is filled with events and starvation. Though the surroundings are not satisfactory, Babu still can enjoy his life with optimism.
During the whole story, Babu moved his home for several times. Firstly, Babu lived on a footpath of Chittaranjan Avenue. The footpath is surrounded with the atmosphere of death. Even though the great possibility of death, the footpath is so crowded that if you got up at night to relieve yourself you could not be sure of finding your place again. Under these circumstances, human beings are so fragile that it is easy for anyone to be faced with the threat of hurt and death. Unfortunately, Babu paid one ear for mistaking an old woman, which seems incredible. However, Ajit Babu was so optimistic that he didn’t complain for the hard life, furthermore he was so pleased that he survived even if he lost one ear.
Moving away from the footpath, Babu and his wife moved into an abandoned-looked freight at the railway terminus. For normal people, it is unbelievable that human can live in freights. Nevertheless, Babu did. He did moved into the freights and felt satisfactory for the new house. They did nothing but opened shut the doors for a full hour. At that moment, Babu is very happy. Actually, for the people who are on the curve of survive, private life seems to be hopes beyond their ability to realize. Babu felt satisfied with the housing, even though they had to bear the cases when they woke to find that the world was running away from them and had to take another train to get back. Not for the fact that Swapna, Babu’s wife, didn’t felt satisfied with the moving way of life, they will still live in freights. However, for the baby, Babu decided to move again. There is no depression and sadness but hopes.
As far as parents are concerned, children are the cores of their lives. There is no exception for Babu. To prepare for the birth of the forth children, Babu moved his home to a pipe where there is possible for his family to live a stable life. After that, with the help of Misrilal, they moved to a roof. Babu is happy because the roof can offer his baby enough room to play. However, Prodeep also went away, which made Babu very sad. Babu and his wife missed the baby terribly. There is no doubt that the death of the children will be a great shock for parents. As the father of four children, Babu lost all his children. The four children all past away because of their poor living conditions. There are no enough food and clothing for both parents, as a result, it will be a great challenge for the bring-up of babies. Babu did want to have babies and had expected much for them to take care of him when he got old. Life seems unfair for Babu. But he survived and enjoyed the life. With his optimism, Babu only focused on the advantages but not the disadvantages in his daily life. Surpassed the sadness, Babu continued his life.
“The events, of course, were not always pleasant. But, does it matter? We have survived them.” This is what Babu said. Many people will have the idea that Babu was insensitive to the surroundings, which leads to the result that he could live a trouble-free life. Nevertheless, from the very sentence, we find that Babu actually felt the great pressure of life and the shadow of death. Babu nothing but make himself optimistic for the life.
Babu was not born with optimism. Because of much terrible experience, there is no use complaining for the poor life, which can also make conditions worse. As a result, Babu chose to be optimistic. Ignore the ache of the poor life and enjoy whatever available and meaningful in their life. At last, they made their decision on their life style. They lived very quietly, content to look at the passing scene.
In my perspective, the purpose of this article is to arouse the attention of people all over the world to do our best to give hands to those who strive for the basic demands for life.
To our pleasure, India is developing fast these years. With the process of globalization, India has become the biggest worldwide supplier of outsourcing, especially in the field of accounting and technology where Indian people can ear a high salary. As most well-educated Indians have risen their salary dramatically, which also contributed to the rise of the Indian average life standard.
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Essay Draft One
Babu is optimistic though his life was tough
When it comes to India, we always relate it with the poor people and the crowded streets. Because of such huge a popularity, Indian people suffered a lot. There is usually no enough food, clothing and living space for all the people. It seems that the poor people who occupied a great percentage of the Indian popularity are striving all the time. As a matter of fact, they are just live on the curve of life and death.
Born in Kerala, a southwestern state of India, Krishnan Varma have experienced the Indian people’s life and witnessed the hard life of the poor. In his story “The Crass-Eaters”, the character whose name is Ajit Babu represented the poor in India. Though the surroundings are not satisfactory, Babu still can enjoy his life with optimism.
During the whole story, Babu moved his home for several times. Firstly, Babu lived on a footpath of Chittaranjan Avenue. The footpath is surrounded with the atmosphere of death. It sounds terrible that Babu paid one ear for his mistake. Under these circumstances, human beings are so fragile that it is easy for anyone to be faced with the threat of death. Living in such a place, there is no guarantee for security. However, Ajit Babu was so optimistic that he didn’t complain for the hard life, furthermore he was so pleased that he survived even if he lost one ear.
After the experience of the footpath, Babu and his wife moved into an abandoned-looked freight at the railway terminus. For normal people, it is incredible that human can live in freights. Nevertheless, Babu did. He did moved into the freights and felt satisfactory for the new house. They did nothing but opened shut the doors for a full hour. At that moment, Babu is very happy, there is no more extra need and complaints for life though the fact that Babu and his wife were still living unstable lives.
There are many times when they went to bed in Culcuth and woke up in another place. This kind of life style is unbelievable for many other people, but Babu beard it, enjoyed it and described it as an intensely thrilling experience. As a matter of fact, Babu lived his happy life with whatever he had and owned.
As far as parents are concerned, children are the cores of their lives. There is no exception for Babu. To prepare for the birth of the forth children, Babu moved his home to a pipe where there is possible for his family to live a stable life. After that, with the help of Misrilal, they moved to a roof. Babu is happy because the roof can offer his baby enough room to play. However, Prodeep also went away, which made Babu very sad. Babu and his wife missed the baby terribly. There is no doubt that the death of the children will be a great shock for parents. As the father of four children, Babu lost all his children. The four children all past away, because of their poor living conditions. Babu did want to have babies and had expected much for them to take care of him when he got old. Life seems unfair for Babu. But he survived and enjoyed the life. With his optimism, Babu only focused on the advantages not the disadvantages. When he lost his baby, he believed that it is not that bad, for the reason that they don’t need to wear clothes.
“The events, of course, were not always pleasant. But, does it matter? We have survived them.”
In my opinion, the Babu was not born with optimism. Because of much terrible experience, there is no use complaining for the poor life, which can also make conditions worse. As a result, Babu chose to be optimistic. Ignore the ache of the poor life and enjoy whatever available and meaningful in their life. At last, they made their decision on their life style. They lived very quietly, content to look at the passing scene.
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Reading Log : the generation gap in the process of Americanization
The story is carried out between two Americanized young men and their father who insisted on his religion. I like the story every much not only because of the powerful conflicts which attract me a lot, but also the thoughts associated with the story. The old-fashioned religious thoughts and the new thoughts of Americanization crashed here and there in the whole story. When the young keep their face smooth, their dear father tends to wear long beard. Besides, instead of donning the praying cup and reciting the grace, the sons are ashamed of doing so. However, what really accounts is not the different behaviors can be seen, but the basic thought in their mind.
The father and sons hold different attitude towards the old religion. On one hand, Shadrach sticks to the religion. On the other hand, Abel and Cottlieb believe that the religion is out of date and should be abolished.
When it comes to the daily life, I find that such kind of conflict also exists in the modern society. These kinds of conflicts are sometimes called generation gap, as a fact that parents and children always hold opposite opinions towards life. Let's take clothing for example, when the children are enthusiastic about the clothing with the title of colorful, stylish and sexy, the parents claims that comfort, cold-resistance and price should be placed on the top of the list.
From my perspective, parents and children should sit down to listen to each other, for the fact that the children have the talent to catch up with the pace of the time and the parents can supply more advice which came from their own experiences. Just like the finally result of the story, Shadrach adopted the new thought of liberty and democracy, when the sons acquired the wealth which came from their religion. The society is promoted by the adoption of new creative ideas and the inheritance of the old people's wisdom.
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