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cover letter
To Whom It May Concern:
Thank you for your taking time to read my selected works for my portfolio. When you read these papers, you will find that most of them are focused on the story, “the Necklace”, a masterpiece of Guy de Maupassant whose literature works I am most interested in. In the story, I am deeply impressed by the main character, Matholve Loisel because she set an example for us. She told us that when facing difficulties rather than bemoaning the state of the universe and pitying the fate, we can come over any difficulties as long as we held a belief in our heart. I have selected three draft of my essay to submit in my portfolio. Each one represents what I think of Mme.Loisel at different time.
Before my taking this writing class, I actually had little confidence in my English skill. However, through nearly four-month learning, I feel my English skills have made great progress both in reading and in writing with the help of my teacher and classmates. As to reading, I no longer look into dictionary when come across new words. Compared with reading, I made more achievements in writing. I feel much easier to express my thoughts through my papers. I am able to select evidence to support my point of view. I spent several days to write thesis statements which live up to the teacher’s standard. Moreover, I learned to cooperate with others by conducting peer reviewing. In the process, I tried to help the writer understand what is effective in the paper and what might be done better. At the same time, I learned to accept comments rather than wasting time defending my ground. In fact, my paper will not get improved without the help of my classmates.
There are six papers that I have submitted to the portfolio. They are arranged in the order form best to worst so that as you read from paper to paper you can see how they have been improved.
Three of them are the essay drafts. To me, writing an essay is not such a difficult task at all. However, writing a essay in English is still a big challenge to me for this is my first try at all. The first problem I met with is to find a strong and clear thesis statement with enough evidence to support. When I submit ed my first statement Mr. Corio pointed out that my thesis statement is not clear enough and there are not enough evidence to support is as well. So I spent several days in thinking out a better statement which finally lived up to Mr. Corio’ requirements. You can see it in the draft one. After I finished the draft one, I exchanged it with my classmates. I received many helpful suggestions from them. Based on the suggestions, I collected grammar mistakes, improved quotations, and added my own comments on the story. Thus I finished the draft two and draft three.
The final timed-writing is one part of our final exam. It requires writing a article in limited time. This is very hard to me at first because I often failed to finish my writing in time. So later I took Mr. Corio’s advice that I write out the main idea of each paragraph first and set aside about five to ten minutes to edit what I have written. Later, I became used to the timed-writing.
The reading log represents my thought on the story, “the necklace”, when I read it for the first time.
Thank you for taking time to read my papers. I hope you enjoyed reading each one and that you learned from my ideas.
Sincerely,
Warren Ge
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draft three
Warren Ge
May 16, 2007
Draft three
Mme.Loisel’s fight against fate
In the late nineteenth-century Paris, French society was organized on a class basis. Most of people had a strong sense of hierarchy. So it was difficult for people to change or move from the class into which they were born. Although the French Revolution had made great difference in France, class distinctions remained an integral part of French society.
Living in such a society, the French writer named Guy de Maupassant described a woman’s fight against her unfair fate in his story “the Necklace”. In the story, Matholve Loisel, an ordinary woman born into the lower class in France, who feels the distinctions between social classes, does not give up her dreams to enter the upper class and fights for it persistently. As a result, she finally seizes a opportunity to demonstrate her beauty at a ball hosted by the ministry of public instruction. She comes near succeeding in fighting the fate when she is noticed by the minister himself at the ball. However, on her way home, she losses the necklace which she thinks is very expensive. She could have bought a false one to replace it, but she chooses to take the responsibility and fight against the fate again. After ten-year hard working, she pays off her total debt and prevails over the fate again.
As it is said in the story, “how life is strange and changeful and how little a thing a person needed to be lost or to be saved”(44). Faced with so powerful fate, the majority of people will choose to give in. But Mme.Loisel is an exception. She sets an example for us. She tells us that when facing difficulties rather than bemoaning the state of the universe and pitying the fate, we can come over any difficulties as long as we held a belief in our heart! So I think Mme.Loisel is a woman who dares to fight fate.
Mme.Loisel’s fight against fate can be divided into three stages.
1 before the ball, Mme.Loisel’s fight is passive and useless
During the time in which the story is set, it was expected that a husband would receive a dowry from the family of his future bride. A man often chose a wife on the basis of how large her fortune was. So Mme.Loisel who is “born in a family of clerks”(38) and consequently has “no dowry, no expectations, no means [of being known by any rich man]”(38) has to “let herself be married to a little clerk at the ministry of public instruction”(38).
Meanwhile, in the late nineteenth-century Paris, woman was submissive to the male. In man’s view, beauty and charm play a more important role than rank does. “With woman there is neither caste nor rank; and beauty, grace, and charm act instead of family and birth”(38). By virtue of beauty, a woman can make herself from “women of the people”(38) and become “the equals of the very greatest ladies”(38). Mme.Loisel is “one of those pretty and charming girls”(38). So in her opinion, she should have leaded a life like those nobilities. But because of the class distinctions, it is actually impossible. As a result, discontent and suspicion grows in the depth of her heart. Is it just because of the immutable, external, predetermined reasons such as birth and family that she can not be known by rich men, that she can not lead a comfortable life? She thinks over them again and again so that she “suffers ceaselessly”(38). “All those thing … make her angry”(39). Obviously Mme.Loisel does not feel content with the status quo. But she has not found her way to change the situation yet. So far, her fight against fate still remains on the spirit level. We can’t find out any effect this kind of fight has made on her fate.
So before the dance, her fight is passive.
2 Mme.Loisel fights for the ball and achieves great success
For a long time, Mme.Loisel has no chance to change her fate. So it is not surprise that when the chance actually comes, she spares no effect to seize it. In order to take part in the ball, Mme.Loisel costs her husband 400 francs to buy dress. In order to make herself prettier, she borrows the necklace from her friend. At the day of the ball, Mme.Loisel makes a great success. “She was prettier than them all elegant gracious smiling and crazy with joy”(41). “All the men looked at her asked her name endeavored to be introduced”(41).If the necklace had not been lost, Mme.Loisel would probably enter the upper class.
3 after losing the necklace, Mme.Loisel’s fight is active and conscious
When Mme.Loisel realizes that she has lost the necklace, she does not have the idea of buying a false necklace to substitute the lost one. She does not take advantage of her beauty to make up to the rich men for money. She does not try to flee from Paris to avoid the debt. On the contrary, “she took her part…with heroism”(43). She makes up her mind to pay “the dreadful debt”(43). This is her second time to fight against fate.
In order to pay off the debt, Mme.Loisel sacrifices her beauty. She washes the dishes, carries up the water, dresses like a woman of the people and goes to market bargaining with butchers. As a result, she “looked old”(43) and became “strong and hard and rough”(43). After ten-year hard working, she succeeds in paying off the debt. Apart from that, in the process of paying debt, her spirit matures. She is no longer a vain girl. She no longer bemoans the state of the universe and pities the fate of humankind. She learns to face difficulties calmly. So when she pays off all the debt, she just says, “at last it is ended, and I am very glad”(43). When she comes across her old friend, she has the courage to tell her ther truth without worrying about being laughed at. Mme.Loisel now really puts on a new face.
Many people think Mme.Loisel’s tragedy results from her vanity. But according to the analysis above, it’s clear that Mme.Loisel does have the chance to enter the upper class. Her dream would have be realized if the necklace hadn’t be lost. Everyone has his right to pursue the goal he thinks is true. And whether their choice is right or not should not be dependent on whether they succeeded or not but on whether their choice contributes to the maturity of themselves. Mme.Loisel losses the necklace and suffers great loss. However, she matures herself through the ten-year hard working. In this sense, she succeeds. Mme.Loisel sets an example for us. She tells us that when facing difficulties we can come over any difficulties as long as we held a belief in our heart rather than bemoaning the state of the universe and pitying the fate! So I view Mme.Loisel as a woman who dares to fight fate rather than a victim of vanity.
Work Cited
Guy de Maupassant, “the Necklace”1884. Rpt. in the International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction. Ruth Spack. New York: St. Martin’s, 1994.6-8
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draft two
In the last nineteenth-century Paris, French society was organized on a class basis. It was difficult for people to change or move from the class into which they were born. Although the French Revolution had made great difference in France, class distinction remained an integral part of French society.
Living in such a society, the French writer named Guy de Maupassant described a woman’s fight against her unfair fate in his story “the Necklace”.
As an ordinary woman born into the lower class in France, Mme.Loisel didn’t give up her dreams to enter the upper class and fought for it persistently. She seemed to have succeeded at the dance, but a little thing changed her life. On her way home, she lost the necklace which she thought was very experience. She could have bought a false one to replace it, but she chose to take the responsibility and fight against the fate again. After ten years’ hard work, she paid off her total debt by herself. We can do nothing but to admit that how life is strange and changeful, how little a thing a person needed to be lost or to be saved. Faced with such powerful fate, Mme.Loisel realizes the unfair of life, and isn’t content with the status quo. So I think Mme.Loisel is a woman who dares to fight fate.
Mme.Loisel’s fight against fate can be divided into three stages:
1. Before the dance, her fight is passive Mme.Loisel was “born in a family of clerks”. During the time in which the story is set, it was expected that a husband would receive a dowry from the family of his future bride. A man often chose a wife on the basis of how large her fortune was. Mme.Loisel had no dowry, no expectations no means of being known understood, loved wedded by any rich and distinguished man. So she “let herself be married to a little clerk at the Ministry of Public Instruction” However, in the last nineteenth-century Paris, woman is just a toy for man. Beauty and charm play a more important role than rank. “With woman there is neither caste nor rank; and beauty, grace, and charm act instead of wit”. Mme.Loisel was “one of those pretty and charming girls”. In her opinion, she should have leaded a life like those nobilities. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries”. “She loved nothing but that, she felt made for that.” She didn’t feel satisfied with the status quo. “All those things tortured her and made her angry.” So far, her fight against fate still remains on the spirit level. We can’t find out any effect this kind of fight has made on her fate. So before the dance, her fight is passive.
2. Mme.Loisel fights for the dance and achieve great success In order to take part in the dance, Mme.Loisel cost her husband 400 francs to buy dress. In order to make herself prettier, she borrowed the necklace from her friend. Mme.Loisel made a great success. “She was prettier than them all elegant gracious smiling and crazy with joy.” “All the men looked at her asked her name endeavored to be introduced.” 3. After losing the necklace, a active and conscious fight
When Mme.Loisel realized she had lost the necklace, she didn’t try to escape by buying a false necklace to substitute the lost one. On the contrary, “she took her part, moreover, all of a sudden, with heroism”. “That dreadful debt must be paid.” In order to pay off the debt, Mme.Loisel sacrificed her beauty. “Mum.Loisel looked old now. She had become the woman of impoverished households----strong and hard and rough.” After ten years’ hard work, she succeeded to pay off the debt. What’ more, in the process her spirit matured. She no longer bemoaned the state of the universe and pitied the fate of humankind. She learned to face difficulties calmly. When she paid off all the debt, she said, “at last it is ended, and I am very glad”. When she met her friend, she went to tell her the truth She now led a solid life. We can feel a woman’s inner beauty.
Many people think Mme.Loisel’s tragedy resulted from her vanity. But according to the analysis above, it’s clear that Mme.Loisel did have the chance to enter the upper class. Her dream would have be realized if the necklace hadn’t be lost. “How life is strange and changeful!” “How little a thing I needed for us to be lost or to be saved”. Maybe this is the writer’s point of view. It is the necklace that changed Mme.Loisel’life. We can do nothing but to accept the accidents. So we take pity on Mme.Loisel.
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draft one
In the last nineteenth-century Paris, French society was organized on a class basis. It was difficult for people to change or move from the class into which they were born. Although the French Revolution had made great difference in France, class distinction remained an intergral part of French society. Living in such a society, the French writer named Guy de Maupassant described a woman’s fight against her unfair fate in his story “the Necklace”. As an ordinary woman born into the lower class in France, Mme.Loisel didn’t give up her dreams to enter the upper class and fought for it persistently. In order to take part in the dance, she cost her husband 400 francs to buy dress. In order to make herself prettier, she borrowed the necklace from her friend. She seemed to have succeeded at the dance. But a little thing changed her life. On her way home, she lost the necklace which she thought was very experience. She could have bought a false on to replace it, but she chose to take the responsibility and fight against the fate again. After ten years’ hard work, she paid off her total debt by herself. We can do nothing but to admit that how life is strange and changeful, how little a thing a person needed to be lost or to be saved. Faced with such powerful fate, Mme.Loisel realizes the unfair of life, and isn’t content with the status quo. So I think Mme.Loisel is a woman who dares to fight fate.
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timed-writing three
0540028
Warren Ge
June 21, 2007
Timed-writing three
Directions: If you were to create a filmed advertisement (“a trailer&rdquo for a movie based on the grass-eaters, which scene would you select? Why? Discuss ways in which you might film the scene.
If I were to create a filmed advertisement for a movie based on the Grass-Eaters, I will select scene that Misrelal asks Ajit Badu to living on the roof of his house.
The reason for which I choose this scene is because this scene is in the middle of the whole story and acts as an turning points of the story.
Before the scene, Ajit Badu’s life is of course very hard. He used to live in the crowded and dirty footpath of Chittaranjian Avenue full of refuges like the Ajit Badu and ended up losing one ear. He used to live in an abandoned-looking wagon fearing one day waking up seeing a strange man standing beside him, fearing one day waking up finding they were in a totally different place, fearing one day thieves would break into his “house” and stole all his poverty though his poverty is limited. He used to live in a pipe with one end stuffed with wasted cloth and suffered from cold in the winter hotness in the summer rain in the rainy day and wind in the windy day. He used to live in the end of corridor of the classroom building suffering from the noise from the corridor. Despite of the difficulties Ajit Badu faced, he still put up with the status quo and is optimistic to the future because he believe other people are suffering the same torture as he does, because he think it is not for the lack of men in society who are willing to come to his aid but for the lack of enabled people in the society who are rich enough to help him, because he believes his life will become better and better through his hard working.
However, when the story comes to this scene, all things are changed. As a rich man with luxury house in the suburb of the city, has the full ability to find a comfortable place for Ajit Badu to live in. Ironically, rich as is, he is willing to offer the roof of the house to Ajit Badu as his house. It dawns to Ajit Badu that rich man are entirely careless of the Poor’s life. He no longer figures on the rich men’s mercy. He no longer believes anything. To him, British imperialism, American neo-colonialism, the central government, capitalism and socialism are of no meanings to him. He even does not care about his handicap any more. Now optimistic as Ajit Badu is, he is no longer has any hope on the future life. He is only content with the status quo. So this scene is the turning point of the whole story. It is because of Misrelal’s faults that Ajit Badu’s belief and life is changed.
If I were to film the scene, I will select a fat but ill man acting as Misrelal and choose a thin man wearing old clothes acting as Ajit Badu. Misrelal who is sitting in a comfortable armchair and playing with his pet cat speaks to Ajit Badu in contempt. Ajit Badu’s face changes from lighting up to gray representing the process of Ajit Badu’s hope turning to vanish.
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reading log
As is said in the stories, Matholve Loisel was born into an ordinary family without much money and fame in eighteen-century France where social position is everything. So despite her appearance is perfect, she had little chance to get herself known to the upper class let alone being married to a rich man. However, she didn’t get stuck with the status quo and give up her dreams. In the depth of her heart, she held a belief that one day she would stand out. In the daily life, she seized tightly every chance she could found. To take part in the dance hold by the ministry, she tried out every means she could possibly have. She asked her husband for money and borrowed jewel from her friend. And in the end she succeeded. Every man in the dance looked at her and talked about her.
When Matholve Loisel found she had lost the necklace, she didn’t try to escape her responsibility by buying a false one. On the contrary, she faced the reality bravely. She used ten years to pay off the debt. At the end of the story, she lost her beauty while her spirit matured. She was a hero.
I like Matholve Loisel because she set an example for us. She told us that when facing difficulties rather than bemoaning the state of the universe and pitying the fate, we can come over any difficulties as long as we held a belief in our heart.
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