Cover Letter

To Ron and my dearest friends:

Welcome to Cherry’s Writing Portfolio. This is a collection of my writing works in Mr. Ron Corio's course-the Academic Writing course of Fudan University in the spring 2007. During this semester, Ron concentrated on the text book entitled “The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction.” I really devoted a lot of time and energy to this course, for it arouses my interests in writing. I am the year three student. The course is not compulsory for me, but I have never regretted my choice. Moreover I am delighted to see all the efforts I presented here, which are the witnesses of my progress. All the stories I have read in my text book impressed me a lot. I learnt from writers' skills and memorized the instructions on my essay writing which is an enjoyable experience when regarding it as an upward process. Content and opinion are more important than structure. However, formal writing strategies including a strong thesis statement, skills in incorporating quotations effectively and usage of punctuation are very important. Formal Writing shows the respects to our readers.

I have met of a lot of friends here who also have a passion for English writing. We communicate with each other and comment on others’ writing works. They helped me a lot in our peer reviewing. We gained the further understanding of our essays through positive arguments and free exchange of personal opinions. Moreover, the most important thing is that we establish a solid relationship after class.

In the following part, you will see my 3 drafts based on the time series, my final timed-writing which is about a filmed advertisement and my reading log dealing with the Grass-Eaters by Krisshnan Varma. My essay is abouth the Americanization of Shadrach Cohen.

First of all you will see my essay drafts. I received feedback on my interim draft from both Ron and my classmates. I easily identifed my thesis statement because the most interesting story among the five which fascinates me is about the Jewish father and his sons. Deep esteem from my heart to the protagonist contributes to my clear thesis. However, I encountered some problems to make it more concrete. I analyzed Shadrach’s virtue in three words- prudence, tolerance and diligence. These three words are ended with the same rhythm which I am quite satisfied with. However, my efforts in pinpointing the evidences from the passage to support my thesis don't go smoothly. Lack of vocabulary hinders me from expressing my opinions clearly. I will spare every effort on vacabulary  in my future writing learning.

Second, I finished  timed-writing three in our last lab meeting. I am a little nervous, because I hope to work on my best. We practice timed-writing at the beginning in every one of class meetings. I was always confined to the definite expression to support my topics. However, I received encouraging comments in my first two timed-writing from my instructor. His appreciation works as chemical substance which catalyses my courage. I knew the necessity to practice more to achieve better allocation for time and organization of my writings.

Last, I demonstrate my reading log for the Grass-Eaters which I was most satisfied. I like to read more background information about the setting, the characteristics of the protagonist and the writer of the story. I always express my feelings with the association of extra information. I regard online discussion room of nicent as a successful way of teaching.

Yours,

Cherry Yin

22.6.07 06:56