Cover Letter
To who comes to my world of writing,
Once it occurs to me the interesting story of a rabbit and a tortoise’s racing game. The tortoise walks far more slowly than the rabbit, so when they participate in a match, the rabbit is over proud of itself and falls in sleep halfway. The tortoise wins the game at last due to its persistence.
I have ever learned this lesson when I was a little girl, but from time to time I just put it in my textbook and forget to apply it to my daily life.
Today, I really see the magnificence of this old story.
As I stepped into the class for the first time four months ago, I started my wonderful journey on the river of continuous splendid literary reading-input and extended writing-output. The inviting international stories take me to a fantastic world. I have fun in finishing my reading logs, talking to the characters in the stories and expressing my feelings in whatever way I like. The ten-minute free writing every week opens a window for me to wing my heart and my brain. Moreover, it influences me more than the ten minutes. Time-writing is quite demanding, for each time I merely finish it before the deadline. Anyway I enjoy the process, in particular the accomplishment when I hand it in.
As I was required to work for various tasks in class, I feel my progress step by step. How to write the plot summary, what to do with the evidence, how to quote or to paraphrase, how to organize my essay, and how to cooperate with others, all these skills have been developed during this semester’s study. It is amazing. I couldn’t imagine I would finally present you with the final draft and the whole portfolio.
Writing in English used to be a hard task for me. It will be more understandable if I compare it with writing in Chinese. Started at an early age, I noted down with a short pencil everything I saw, I heard or I thought, with no grammar or language structure rules puzzling me. I wrote just because I like to. However, at the very beginning when I was taught to use the English language, I was asked to pay more attention to the strict principles in using the language. It seemed to abstract me from the things I wrote to the way I wrote. Gradually, it became hard for me to express accurately and smoothly. Imagination was blocked.
This is one of the weak points of the education I have received, but thanks to Advanced Writing Class and also my teacher Mr. Corio. In this class, I realized what the most important thing in writing is my feelings and thoughts. My wings of imagination flutter again. I just sit down and write freely what occurs to me, and then review it to correct the error. I find great fun in writing and I feel rewarding when reread all the articles I wrote during the whole semester. Mr. Corio inspires me with my potential motivity of writing, cultivate and solidify my writing ability with various helpful methods. Due to his strict teaching principle and his respectable patience, my progress is visible. More important, it is no longer a work that I have to finish. Writing is fun, rather than misery.
There are three essay draft, the final timed-writing and a reading log in my portfolio as follows. They are just some excerpts of all my works in the past four months. All the chosen ones concern Chinua Achebe’s Dead Men’s Path. I like the story and I supposed to present my portfolio as an album. The reading log reflects my original thoughts on it. The three essay drafts are my interpretation of the fiction. Draft One is far less than mature for the language, the organization and the clue of the article is a little terrible. Some paragraphs have little relation with my statement. In Draft Two, I found more persuasive evidences from the reading resources and developed my interpretation. However, there remained some problems, such as first-person pronunciation and too many detailed quotations. I improved it in Draft Three under guidance of Mr. Corio and help of Sophia and Jascha. I am deeply grateful for all your concern and suggestion.
Now, whether all the works here are satisfactory, I am very pleased that I can have the opportunity to invite you into my world. Thank you for taking time to read my papers. I hope you will enjoy and I am also looking forward to further discussion with you.
Yours sincerely,
Claire
Essay Draft Three
Claire Huo
June 5, 2007
Draft Three
Innovation vs. Tradition：Dilemma or Balance
In the era of information exploration, changes are taking place in every corner of the world in every minute. While we are enjoying the convenience and comfort that numerous inventions have brought us, we are also faced with the inevitable and sustainable conflicts between innovation and tradition. It is not wise to take a blind eye to it. On the contrary, we have to take it into consideration. However, it remains a question how to handle the problem. As a matter of fact, such imbalance is not merely the product of modern times. Arguments about it can be traced back into the history of mankind.
At the beginning of the story, Obi is presented as an ambitious and energetic young man, a representative of modern methods. Like many newly-appointed leaders, he has many wonderful ideas, and he desires strongly to donate all his time and energy to his job of changing the school into a modern one with a high academic standard and a place of beauty as well. The first paragraph’s description builds up the initial comparison between the old traditional society and the modern headmaster, which tells the wedge of the story and implies the possibility of the following conflicts. Obi’s outspoken “condemnation of the narrow views of these older and often less-educated ones” (52) and his over-confidence, on the other hand, lead to his ignorance of seeking the balance and all the conflicts are caused by this imbalance.
In addition to the direct description of the appearance, the expression and the language of the main character Obi, Obi’s wife’s remarks also reflect his initiative and enthusiastic personality as well as his shallow understanding of innovation. In her reply to Obi’s great ambition, she suggests that they “shall have such beautiful gardens and everything will be just modern and delightful…” (52) The author expresses his attitude ironically to innovators’ ignorance by means of setting such a role, which seems to be a bit vain and skin-deep. The author’s critical perspective toward their regardless of the existing traditional society when they suppose to realize their great dream of carrying out some transformation, is best extended in the setting of Nancy, while the entirety of the character Obi is still well preserved. Such an ingenious design of the story also contributes to the smooth advancement of the plot and helps to convey Obi’s ignorance.
Moreover, the fascinating scenery description of “Nancy’s dream-gardens” with “Beautiful hibiscus and allemande hedges in brilliant red and yellow” (53) indicates their dream of the brilliant future of the school, a modern place of dependence and democracy, and also a paradise where blind religious beliefs are to be eradicated. However the beautiful dream severely conflicts with the tough reality. In the end of the story, author shows us a tragic scene of the eventually ruined school. “The flowers trampled to death and one of the school buildings pulled down…” (54) Obi is punished by the whole village. It is shocking enough to rouse readers’ deep thinking of the reason why it is so sharp a turn from the beautiful dream to the perdition. That is Obi’s improper handling the relation between tradition and modern methods. It never bothers Obi to think about ordinary villagers’ feeling. They have already taken the path as the symbol of their unshakeable belief. The disaster may be avoided if Obi has chosen a milder road of innovation or taken more care of the conservative villagers.
A fierce battle is unavoidable as the crisis gradually transforms into a face-to-face conflict. The author draws a vivid image of the village priest of Ani, “an old man and walking with a slight stoop” (54) He usually “tapped a stout walking-stick on the floor, by way of emphasis, each time he made a new point in his argument”(54). By no means, he is the representative of the conservative and the traditional society. He will never give way on the crucial issues such as pulling down the path through which dead men go and children come in to be born. The dialogs between Obi and the priest are cold. Both of them firmly adhere to their own principles and will never reach any compromise. They both go to extremes. In my opinion, though it is not all Obi’s faulty, he should take active action to look for an effective way to build up communication, instead of just being stick to his own thoughts. As he is the innovator and it is him who intends to make some changes, he has the responsibility to make himself understood. This kind of effort must be based on his understanding and respect of the existent tradition world. However, it is exactly what Obi lacks. If he can pursue more balance, giving some way or pushing his plan step by step, the conflicts may be overcome.
At last, the overnight damage is carried out by all the villagers who gather and ruin the newly-built structures in the school. The supervisor’s report sentences Obi to death. His clear identification declares that Obi receives absolute failure at last. Thus Obi’s dismal career future pushes the story to the peak. The story ends with an ironic echo to all the details previously stated. The plot of the whole story is reasonable and impressive and the ending is sharp and oppressive. The tragedy is doomed as Obi’s persists in blind innovation.
People like Obi often have definite goals and will stick to the path to fulfill them. They are energetic and ambitious. No matter the difficulties and the frustration they may meet with, they adjust their direction but never give up halfway. Nevertheless, I feel so sorry that due to the ignorance, Obi has no chance to realize his dream and rescue the school and save all the students from the dark control of the religion power and the stupid beliefs. The theme behind words is the soul of a story. Such an ending arouses readers’ deep thinking.
Why is Obi, a person who might bring the earth-shaking innovation to the old world, eventually defeated? What causes that all his plans are obstructed by the opposite faction and vanish like bubbles? Obviously the main reason is that Obi’s ignorance to the balance between respects to traditional religion and beliefs and the innovation of civilization, while other minor ones are also relevant, as that the conservative religion power is so strong and so infrangible or that the special background of the times baffles such kind of innovation. To carry out a reform means to abandon old methods and to adopt new ones. However, Rome is not built in a day. This progress might be slow and step by step. To pay more attention to the tradition part and the practical conditions will enable the innovation to be carried out more smoothly. In order to build a harmonious society, we should pursue a balance between audacious innovation and respect to tradition. I am deeply convinced that this concept could also be applied to a wide range of fields, from management system of a company to economical or political reform of a country.
Work Cited
Chinua Achebe. “Dead Men’s Path.” 1953. Prt. in The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction. Ruth Spark. New York: St. Martin’s 1994. 52-55
Essay Draft Two
Claire Huo
May 17, 2007
Draft Two
Innovation vs. Tradition：Dilemma or Balance
In the era of information exploration, changes are taking place in every corner of the world in every minute. While we are enjoying the convenience and comfort that numerous inventions have brought us, we are faced with the inevitable and sustainable conflicts between innovation and tradition. It is not wise to take a blind eye to it. On the contrary, we have to take it into consideration. However, it remains a question how to handle the problem. As a matter of fact, such imbalance is not merely the product of modern times. Arguments about it can be traced back into the history of mankind.
“It had always been an unprogressive school, so the Mission authorities decided to send a young and energetic man to run it.” (52) The story begins with Michael Obi’s being appointed as headmaster of a school which has been long governed by conservatives. However, Obi represents the opposite in running the school. He is an ambitious and energetic young man, who is the representative of modern methods. He has many wonderful ideas, and he strongly desires to donate all his time and energy to his job, changing the unprogressive school into a modern one with a high academic standard and a place of beauty as well. “He was outspoken in his condemnation of the narrow views of these older and often less-educated ones.”(52) The first paragraph’s description builds up the initial comparison between the old traditional society and the modern headmaster, which tells the wedge of the story and implies the possibility of the following conflicts. Obi’s over-confidence, on the other hand, will lead to his ignorance of seeking the balance.
In addition to the direct description of the appearance, the expression and the language of the main character, Obi’s wife’s remarks also indirectly reflect his initiative and enthusiastic personality as well as his shallow understanding of innovation. Is there any sense of the existence of Nancy? (This question was once discussed on the ICA) I say yes. “We shall do our best,” she replied. “We shall have such beautiful gardens everything will be just modern and delightful…” (52) She is a little vain and her thought is skin-deep to some extent. The author expresses his attitude ironically, to innovators’ ignorance by means of setting such a role, which seems to be a bit silly and tacky. The author’s critical perspective, toward their regardless of the practical situation when they adopt great ideas to reality, is best extended in the setting of Nancy, while the entirety of the character Obi is still well preserved. Such an ingenious design of the story also contributes to the smooth advancement of the plot and helps to convey Obi’s ignorance.
The brilliant description of Obi’s wife’s dream-gardens in the story is still very impressive, though the language of the story is quite clear and sententious. “Nancy’s dream-gardens came to life with the coming of the rains, and blossomed. Beautiful hibiscus and allemande hedges in brilliant red and yellow marked out the carefully tended school compound from the rank neighbourhood bushes.”(53) The fascinating scenery description indicates their dream of the brilliant future of the school, a modern place of dependence and democracy, and a paradise where blind religious beliefs are to be eradicated. However it severely conflicts with the tough reality. In the end of the story, author shows us s tragic scene of the eventually ruined school, “The beautiful hedges were torn up not just near the path but right round the school, the flowers trampled to death and one of the school buildings pulled down…” (54) It is shocking enough to rouse readers’ deep thinking of the reason why it is so sharp a turn from the beautiful dream to the perdition. That is Obi’s improper handling the relation between tradition and modern methods.
As the crisis gradually transforms into a face-to-face conflict, a fierce battle then become unavoidable. The appearing of the village priest of Ani brings silent threats. The author draws a vivid image of him. “He was an old man and walked with a slight stoop. He carried a stout walking-stick which he usually tapped on the floor, by way of emphasis, each time he made a new point in his argument.” (54) By no means, he is a sincere representative of the conservative and the traditional society. He will never give way on the crucial issues such as pulling down the path through which dead men go and children come in to be born. The dialogs between Obi and the priest are cold. Both of them firmly adhere to their own principles and will never reach any compromise. They both go to extremes. In my opinion, though it is not all Obi’s faulty, he should take active action to look for an effective way to build up communication, instead of just being stick to his own thoughts. As he is the innovator and it is him who intends to make some changes, he has the responsibility to make himself understood. This kind of effort must be based on his understanding and respect of the existent tradition world. However, it is exactly what Obi lacks. If he can pursue more balance, the conflicts may be overcome.
At last, the overnight damage is carried out by all the villagers and thus Obi’s dismal career future pushes the story to the peak. In the supervisor’s report “tribal-war situation developing between the school and the village, arising in part from the misguided zeal of the new headmaster.” (54), his clear identification declares that Obi receives absolute failure at last. The story ends, with an ironic echo to all the details previously stated. The plot of the whole story is reasonable and impressive and the ending is sharp and oppressive. The tragedy is doomed as Obi’s persists in blind innovation.
Personally, I love persons who are energetic and have initiative. New ideas occur to them from time to time. People of this kind also have definite goals and will stick to the path to fulfill them. No matter the difficulties and the frustration they may meet with, they adjust their direction but never give up halfway. Nevertheless, I feel so sorry that because of his ignorance, Obi has no chance to realize his dream and rescue the school and save all the students from the dark control of the religion power and the stupid beliefs. The theme behind words is the soul of a story. Such an ending arouses my deep thinking.
Why Obi, a person who might bring the earth-shaking innovation to the old world, is eventually defeated? What causes that all his plans are obstructed by the opposite faction and vanish like bubbles? Obviously the main reason is that Obi’s ignorance to the balance between respects to traditional religion and beliefs and the innovation of civilization, while other minor ones are also relevant, as that the conservative religion power is so strong and so infrangible and the regard of the special background of times, etc. To carry out a reform means to abandon old methods and to adopt new ones. However, Rome is not built in a day. This progress might be slow and step by step. To pay more attention to the tradition part and the practical conditions will enable the innovation to be carried out more smoothly. In order to build a harmonious society, we should pursue a balance between audacious innovation and respect to tradition. I am deeply convinced that this concept could also be applied to a wide range of fields, from management system of a company to economical or political reform of a country.
Essay Draft One
Claire Huo
May 6, 2007
Draft One
Innovation vs. Tradition：Paradox or Balance
In the era of information exploration, changes are taking place in every corner of the world in every minute. While we are enjoying the convenience and comfort that numerous inventions have brought us, we are faced with the inevitable and sustainable conflicts between innovation and tradition. It is not wise to take a blind eye to it. On the contrary, we have to take it into consideration.
However, how to handle it remains a question in my mind. As a matter of fact, such imbalance is not merely the products of modern times, and arguments about it can be traced back into the history of mankind. Chinua Achebe, a Nigeria writer, has conveyed such conflicts vividly in his story, Dead Men’s Path (1953). In the story, Michael Obi, an energetic young headmaster, who desire to pull down the beat-up path and to launch his innovation on education, was finally being punished by the whole traditional society. What caused Obi’s failure at last? Ignorance of balance between the two factors seems to be the main reason. In my opinion, the relation between innovation and tradition may be a paradox, but they are surely not opposites. Obi should pursue a balance between his audacious innovation and respect to tradition.
“It had always been an unprogressive school, so the Mission authorities decided to send a young and energetic man to run it.” (52) The story begins with Michael Obi’s being appointed as headmaster of a school which has been long governed by conservatives. However, Obi represents the opposite type of personality. He is an ambitious and energetic young man, who is the representative of modern methods. He has many wonderful ideas, and he strongly desires to donate all his time and energy to his job, changing the unprogressive school into a modern one with a high standard of teaching and a place of beauty. “He was outspoken in his condemnation of the narrow views of these older and often less-educated ones.”(52) The first paragraph’s description builds up the initial comparison between the old traditional society and the modern headmaster, which tells the wedge of the story and implies the possibility of all the following conflicts.
In addition to the direct description of the appearance, the expression and the language of the main character, Obi’s wife’s remarks also indirectly reflect his initiative and enthusiastic personality and his shallow understanding of innovation. Is there any sense of the existence of Nancy? (This question was once discussed on the ICA) I say yes. “We shall do our best,” she replied. “We shall have such beautiful gardens everything will be just modern and delightful…” (52) Her thought is to some extent skin-deep and she is also a little vain. The author expresses his attitude to innovators’ ignorance ironically by means of setting such a role, which seems to be a bit silly and tacky. The author’s critical perspective toward their regardlessness of the practical situation is best extended in the setting of Nancy, while the entirety of the character Obi is still well preserved.
The language of the story is quite clear and sententious. However, the brilliant description of Obi’s wife’s dream-gardens in the story is still very impressive. “Nancy’s dream-gardens came to life with the coming of the rains, and blossomed. Beautiful hibiscus and allemande hedges in brilliant red and yellow marked out the carefully tended school compound from the rank neighbourhood bushes.”(53) The fascinating scenery description indicates their dream of the brilliant future of the school, a modern place of dependence and democracy, and a paradise where blind religious beliefs are to be eradicated. However it severely conflicts with the tough reality. In the end of the story, author shows us s tragic scene of the eventually ruined school, “The beautiful hedges were torn up not just near the path but right round the school, the flowers trampled to death and one of the school buildings pulled down…”(54) This sharp turn from the beautiful dream to the perdition is shocking. It is strong enough to rouse readers’ deep thinking.
As the crisis gradually transforms into a face-to-face conflict, a fierce battle then become unavoidable. The appearing of the village priest of Ani brings silent threats. The author draws a vivid image for him. “He was an old man and walked with a slight stoop. He carried a stout walking-stick which he usually tapped on the floor, by way of emphasis, each time he made a new point in his argument.” (54) By no means, he is a classic representative of the conservative and the traditional society. On the crucial issues such as pulling down the path through which dead men go and children come in to be born, he will never give way. The dialogs between Obi and the priest are cold. Both of them firmly adhere to their own principles and will never reach any compromise. They both go to extremes.
At last, the overnight damage is carried out by all the villagers and thus Obi’s dismal career future pushes the story to the peak. In the supervisor’s report “tribal-war situation developing between the school and the village, arising in part from the misguided zeal of the new headmaster.” (54), his clear identification declares the absolute failure of Obi. The story ends, with an ironic echo to all the details previously stated. The plot of the whole story is reasonable and impressive and the ending is unexpected and oppressive.
As a matter of fact, I really love such kind of persons like Obi. They are energetic and have initiative. New ideas occur to their quick minds from time to time. They also have definite goals and will stick to the path to fulfill them. No matter the difficulties and the frustration they may meet with, they adjust their direction but never give up halfway. Nevertheless, I feel so sorry that Obi has no chance to realize his dream and rescue the school and save all the students from the dark control of the religion power and the stupid beliefs. The theme behind words is the soul of a story. Such an ending enables us to hear the voice of his appealing for dependence. It arouses my deep thinking as well.
Why Obi, a person who might bring the earth-shaking innovation to the old world, is eventually defeated? What causes that all his plans are obstructed by the opposite faction and vanish like bubbles? Obi’s ignorance to the balance between respects to traditional religion and beliefs and the innovation of civilization is the main reason, while other minor ones are also relevant, as that the conservative religion power is so strong and so infrangible and the regard of the special background of times, etc. To carry out a reform means to abandon old methods and to adopt new ones. However, Rome is not built in a day. This progress should be slow and step by step. To pay more attention to the tradition part and the practical conditions will enable the innovation to be carried out more smoothly. In order to build a harmonious society, we should pursue a balance between audacious innovation and respect to tradition. I am deeply convinced that this concept could also be applied to a wide range of fields, from management system of a company to economical or political reform of a country.
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? Mme. Loisel loses the necklace in the ball, and she gets pain to pay for it for ten years. Apparently, it is a misery for her. In fact, however, it is a certain baptism to her heart and soul. If she had not lost the necklace, she might live a more comfortable life without suffering the punishment on her body, but her vanity would still lead to his unhappiness. I am deeply convinced that she would not have a better quality of life. In the short story The Necklace, Mme. Loisel spends a huge amount of francs to buy a pretty dress and still cries for not having a gorgeous jewel to suit it. She thinks that she shall look like distress is she doesn’t have and an ornament. Vanity has deeply planted in her soul. It is the vanity that ruins the following ten years of her life. She “washes the dishes and the dirty linen”, “carries the slops down to the street every morning”, and she “dresses like a women of the people”. The decade costs her of her youth, her beauty and her vanity. Let time go back. If she had not lost the necklace, what her life would be? Her inflating desire will just lead to a higher spending on the dress or the jewel, which do nothing but to meet her endless I unsatisfiable needs. Her life will continue like her previous one, without any change. Her vanity will bring a heavier and heavier burden to her husband, probably threatening their marriage. Her demands for a upper-class life will eventually push her and her family to the edge of life. I am deeply touched by the ending of the story. When Mme. Loisel meets Mme. Forestier, and tells her the pains and the punishment that she suffered all these years, I believe she has awakened. She takes her part to pay for the bill with her work. The future seems promising. Without vanity, I think, she will live more happily.
Reading Log
The Struggle of a Pioneer, the Sorrow of His Destined Failure
Michael Obi is an ambitious and energetic young headmaster. He has many wonderful ideas and strongly desires to donate all his time and energy to his job, changing the unprogressive school into a modern one with a high standard of teaching and a place of beauty. He is the representative of modern methods.
I really love such a character, or such type of persons in real life, as I myself am not and can hardly transform into such a type of personality. They are energetic and initiative. New ideas occur to their quick minds from time to time. They also have definite goals and will stick to the path to fulfill them. No matter the difficulties and the frustration they may meet with, they adjust their direction but never give up halfway.
The brilliant description of Obi’s wife’s dream-gardens in the story impresses me very much. “Nancy’s dream-gardens came to life with the coming of the rains, and blossomed. Beautiful hibiscus and allemande hedges in brilliant red and yellow marked out the carefully tended school compound from the rank neighbourhood bushes.” The whole thing is so wonderful that there seem to imply a bright future of the school, a modern place of dependence and democracy, and a paradise where blind religious beliefs are to be eradicated.
However, things always go like that, the more you expect, the more disappointed you will get. The conservative religion power is strong and infrangible. Obi’s failure is destined due to the time when he is living. All his plans are obstructed by the opposite faction and vanish like bubbles at last.
It’s by no means a sad story. Obi, a person who might bring the innovation to the old world is finally defeated. I feel so sorry that he has no chance to realize his dream and rescue the school and all the students from the dark control of the religion power and the stupid beliefs. Such an ending enables us to hear the voice of appealing for dependence, as well as to remember such heroes throughout the history of mankind, Nicolaus Copernicus as an example.