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Cover Letter
Dear guests, Thank you very much for your coming to Daisy’s Writing Portfolio, and I hope that your first impression on my blog is nice, which could make you read my following articles. As is written in the description box, this blog is a writing portfolio of me, Daisy, a grade two student of Fudan University in Shanghai, China. In this semester, I took an academic writing course to improve my writing skills in English. To be frank, although I had been confident of my command of English, I still got a bit nervous when I first attend the class; for I was not sure whether I could catch the whole meaning of the foreign teacher and make myself understood when communications were all to be in English and when Chinese could make no help. Anyway, when I gradually got accustomed, I came to like the course very much. During the semester, we were asked to read four interesting stories written by authors from different countries. And after reading each story, we are told to write a reading log, expressing our own responses to the story. Putting the reading logs on the Internet, we could read each other’s responses and make discussions on the stories or the characters, which made our understanding of the stories better and better. Besides, when we finished reading the stories, we were asked to select a topic about one of the stories that we are most interested in, make a thesis statement and write an essay to discuss the topic. Fortunately, we were taught how to write a good essay step by step. And this was also the first time I came to know that a good essay comes after several times of peer reviews. That is to say, to write a good essay, one has to go over it and make improvement for several times. And this has become a good habit when I get down to writing other essays, in Chinese or in English. In the following are my works during this semester, including my three essay drafts, from which you can see clearly my progress, one of my reading logs, and my final in-class timed-writing. Timed writing used to seem a bit hard for me because of the limitation of time, but now, I believe I can do better. Finally, welcome to read my following works and make comments on it. Thank you again for your visit. Sincerely, Daisy Xu
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Essay Draft Three
Name: Daisy Xu Date: June 2, 2007 Draft Three The Cause of the Conflicts between Cohen and His Sons
Nowadays, generation gap is familiar to almost every one. It exists in nearly every family, between every two generations. If we make a further investigation into these families, we may find a great difference: Some families have few conflicts between generations while others have considerably more. What on earth causes these conflicts? Most of people believe that it is the difference in lifestyle that should be responsible. But in The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing, I believe that it is not mainly the differences but the sons’ lack of love for their father that actually causes the conflicts. In the story, the author writes about a Jewish father, Shadrach Cohen, coming to live with his two sons in the United States. The sons have been living in an American lifestyle, dressed as the local people do and given up their old religion, in other words, have been “Americanized” already. Unsatisfied with their father’s typical Jewish appearance, habits and religion, they always try to make him Americanized, only leading to a lot of conflicts. Finally, when Cohen regained his sons’ respects and love by succeeding in his business, conflicts no longer exist. At the beginning of the story, we are told that the sons decided to bring their father to live with him when their business was going to expand. And when the father arrived, the sons did not take their father home for a rest immediately, instead, they suggested that he trim his beard first and “then” they would take him home. When Cohen refused the suggestion, “his sons clinched their fists behind their backs and smiled at him amiably.”(46) They decided to “humor” him because “he held the purse-strings”.(46) It can be implied that the sons did not like their father and his traditional appearance and that they needed his money to run their business, which might be the main reason for their bringing Cohen to live with them. Besides, as is written in the story, the two sons left their father and their motherland five years ago, so it is possible that they had changed a lot in their attitudes and their love towards their father. The strong bond which used to exist between them might have already disappeared. When Cohen intended to talk with his sons about how important their old religion was, one of his sons “promptly changed the subject by explaining to him how badly they needed more money in their business”. (47) Thus, we may conclude that the sons did not love their father much and the bond between them was the mere money. However, someone may still think that although the sons brought their father to live with them mainly for his money to expand their business, they still cared about their father, for they wanted him to be Americanized so that he could live an easier life in this new environment. But actually, as the story goes on, one of the sons wanted to merry an American girl. He did not let his father to see her unless he changed his old habits, for the son thought that the girl would be uncomfortable about his father, which might spoil everything. That is to say, clearly, it is not simply because of the differences in lifestyles and ideology that caused the fierce conflicts, neither is it because they love their father so much that they want to suggest a better life style to him. The sons are ashamed of their father and they looked down upon him. Thus, it is clear that it is not the difference that causes the conflicts, but the sons’ disdain and lack of love that actually result in the situation. Supposing that the sons really loved their father very much, they might not have simply disagreed with all their father’s old habits, trying to change him all the time, but have given him some suggestions to adapt to the new environment while still letting him make his own choice whether to change or not, so that they would have more bonds than the mere money. And when more communications were possible, there would not be so many conflicts. At the end of the story, when Cohen took over the business and succeeded, bringing back religion to his two sons, he also regained his sons’ respects. At that time, we may find that Cohen still kept his typical Jewish appearance and lifestyle, but this time it no longer caused conflicts because they could understand each other and began to love each other again. Therefore, we may conclude that it is not mainly the differences of lifestyles that cause conflicts between Cohen and his sons, but is the lack of love of the sons and mutual understanding that is responsible. When the sons do not love their father much and are ashamed of him, they are unsatisfied with anything that their father does. They can see no good point of their father except for his money. Thus, they want to change him eagerly, resulting in a lot of conflicts. But when they see the success their father has made, they come to respect him again. They find that there are still a lot to learn from their father. And when respect and love come back again, differences that used to be dissatisfactory now seem acceptable. In short, differences in lifestyles and ideas may not necessarily cause conflicts between generations as long as there exists love. But when there is a lack of love, it is still possible to cause conflicts even both generations live in the same lifestyle.
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Essay Draft Two
Name: Daisy Xu Date: May 10, 2007 Draft Two Title Nowadays, generation gap is not something new. It exists in almost every family, between every two generations. But if we make a further investigation into these families, we may find a great difference: Some generations have few conflicts while others have considerably more. As more and more people have become aware of the significance of generation gap, they become concerned of what actually causes the conflicts. Most of people believe that it is the difference in lifestyle that should be responsible. Conflicts are also believed to be easily solved when there exist communications between generations, who thus both wish to avoid conflicts. But what if there is a lack of love and very week bonds between parents and their children? Such things happened in The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing. In the story, the author writes about a Jewish father, Shadrach Cohen, coming to live with his two sons in the United States, who have been living in an American lifestyle, dressed as the local people do and given up their old religion, that is to say, who have been “Americanized” already. Unsatisfied with their father’s typical Jewish appearance, habits and religion, they always try to make him Americanized, only to cause a lot of conflicts. Finally, Cohen regained his sons’ respects and love by succeeding in his business. At the beginning of the story, we are told that the sons decided to bring their father to live with him when their business was going to expand. It might occur to us immediately that the sons were so kind that they wanted their father to live a better life with them as soon as they succeeded a little in their business. But later on, the sons did not take their father home for a rest as soon as they met him, instead, they suggested that he trim his beard first and “then” they would take him home. And when Cohen refused the suggestion, “his sons clinched their fists behind their backs and smiled at him amiably.” They decided to “humor” him because “he held the purse-strings”. As is written in the story, the two sons left their father and their motherland five years ago, so it is possible that they had changed a lot in their attitudes and their love towards their father. The strong bond which used to exist between them had now disappeared. When Cohen intended to talk with his sons about how important their old religion was, one of his sons “promptly changed the subject by explaining to him how badly they needed more money in their business”. Thus, we may conclude that the sons brought their father to live with them not because of love, but mainly for the sake of his money. However, we may still think that although the sons brought their father to live with them mainly for his money to expand their business, they still cared about their father, for they wanted him to be Americanized so that he could live an easier life in this new environment. But actually, as the story goes on, one of the sons wanted to merry an American girl. He did not let his father to see her unless he changed his old habits, for the son thought that the girl would be uncomfortable about his father, which might spoil everything. That is to say, clearly, it is not simply because of the differences in lifestyles and ideology that caused the fierce conflicts, neither is it because they love their father so much that they want to suggest a better life style to him. The sons are ashamed of their father. Thus, this time we may not simply due the generation gap to the differences in ideas about life between the father and the sons, but it is actually the sons’ lack of love that causes the fierce conflicts. Suppose that the sons really loved their father very much, they might not have simply disagreed with all their father’s old habits, trying to change him all the time, but have given him some suggestions to adapt to the new environment while still letting him make his own choice whether to change or not, so that they would have more bonds than the mere money. And when more communications were possible, there would not be so many conflicts. On the contrary, at the end of the story, when Cohen took over the business and succeeded, bringing back religion to his two sons, he also regained his sons’ respects. At that time, we may find that there were still differences in lifestyles between the father and the sons, but this time the differences no longer caused conflicts because they could understand each other and began to love each other again. Therefore, we may conclude that it is not mainly the differences of lifestyles that cause conflicts between Cohen and his sons, but is the lack of love and mutual understanding that is responsible. When the sons do not love their father much and are ashamed of him, they are unsatisfied with anything that their father does. They can see no advantages of their father except for his money. Thus, they want to change him eagerly, resulting in a lot of conflicts. But when they see the success their father has made, they come to respect him again. They find that there are still a lot to learn from their father. Therefore, they no longer want to change their father, but try to learn from him, and everything used to be dissatisfactory now seem acceptable. In short, differences in lifestyles and ideas may not necessarily cause conflicts between generations as long as there exists love. But when there is a lack of love, it is still possible to cause conflicts even both generations live in the same lifestyle. |
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Essay Draft One
Name: Daisy Xu Date: April 30, 2007 Draft One Title Nowadays, generation gap is not something new. It exists in almost every family, between every two generations. As more and more people have become aware of its significance, they became concerned of the actual causes of the generation gap. Most of people believe that it is the difference in lifestyle that should be responsible for the conflicts raised. Conflicts are also believed to be easily solved when there exist patience and communications between generations, who thus both wish to get into peace. But what if there is a lack of love and very week bonds between parents and their children? Such things happened in The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing. In the story, the author writes about a Jewish father, Shadrach Cohen, coming to live with his two sons in the United States, who have been “Americanized” already. Unsatisfied with their father’s typical Jewish appearance, habits and religion, they always try to make him Americanized, only to cause a lot of conflicts. At the beginning of the story, we are told that the sons decided to bring their father to live with him when their business was going to expand. It might occur to us immediately that the sons were so kind that they wanted their father to live a better life with them as soon as they succeeded a little in their business. And things appeared to happen like that- they welcomed their father warmly and made an offer to make their father more like a local people. But a further read suggested that things were not that simple. The sons did not take their father home for a rest as soon as they met him, instead, they suggested that he trim his beard first and “then” they would take him home. And when Cohen refused the suggestion, “his sons clinched their fists behind their backs and smiled at him amiably.” They decided to “humor” him because “he held the purse-strings”. Thus, it is clear that the sons brought their father to live with them mainly for the sake of his money. After the arrival, everything happened continued to confirm the former statement. As is written in the story, the two sons left their father and their motherland five years ago, and they had changed a lot in their attitudes and their love towards their father. The strong bond which used to exist between them had now disappeared. When Cohen intended to talk with his sons about how important their old religion was, one of his sons “promptly changed the subject by explaining to him how badly they needed more money in their business”. And when such things happened again and again, Cohen “began to feel that this (namely, money), after all, was the only bond between him and his sons”. However, we may still think that although the sons brought their father to live with them mainly for his money to expand their business, they still cared about their father for they wanted him to be Americanized so that he could live a more easy life in this new environment. But unfortunately, this is still not what the story tells. As the story goes on, one of the sons wanted to merry an American girl, and he told his father about it. But he did not let his father to see her unless he changed his old habits, for the son thought that the girl would be uncomfortable about his father, which might spoil everything. That is to say, clearly, it is not simply because of the generation gap that the sons disagree with their father’s old habits, neither is it because they love their father so much that they want to suggest a better life style to him. They are ashamed of him. Thus, this time we may not simply due the conflicts to the generation gap and the differences in ideas about life between the father and the sons, but it is actually the lack of love that causes the hurting result. After that crash, Cohen turned significantly. And as he took over the business and succeeded, he finally gained respect of his sons again. Furthermore, when he brought back religion in his two sons’ soul, the family gained peace and love at last. At that time, we may fine that there were still differences in lifestyles between the father and the sons, but this time the differences no longer caused conflicts because they could understand each other and began to love each other again. Therefore, we may conclude that it is not mainly the differences of lifestyles that cause conflicts of generation gap, but is the lack of love and mutual understanding that is responsible. |
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Final Timed-writing
Date: June 21, 2007 Timed-writing Three
Directions: In Dead Men’s Path the priest says “let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch.” Discuss what you think he means and what this saying reveals about him.
As far as I know, a hawk or an eagle is a kind of bird that has a high spirit and an ambitious and sharp mind. So I think by saying “let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch,” the priest means that even the most ambitious person should rest himself for some while. Because, first of all, the priest says it when he is having a talk with Obi, who is a really ambitious young man willing to do something significant but against the villagers’ will. And if Obi succeeded, the situation and his relation with the local people would be worse and worse. Also, the purpose of the priest’s visiting Obi is to stop him from blocking the dead men’s path. Therefore, I believe that the priest says the saying to persuade Obi to “rest” himself, to stop blocking the dead men’s path and even to persuade him not to be too ambitious. According to the saying, I think the priest is lenient in treating Obi, even though Obi is determined to do something against the whole villagers’ will. As far as I can remember, the conversation between Obi and the priest is not that smooth. Obi is so determined and ambitious that he listened to none of the priest’s advises and he even does not respect the priest at all. Anyway, as a priest, he showed no anger and is still patient with Obi, saying “let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch,” willing to let the spirit of Obi “perch”. Besides, I believe that in the local culture, it is not a bad thing to compare a person to an eagle, for eagles always symbolize a high spirit. In the story, even though Obi wants to block the dead men’s path, looking down upon the local religion, the priest still think that Obi’s ambition to do things well is no fault, and that Obi is just a bit too ambitious and needs some rest. So the priest compared Obi to an eagle and wishes him to have a rest, which also shows the generosity of the priest. Finally, to persuade Obi to give up his plan and to stop his action, the priest first says directly what should not be done according to the local religion. When his suggestions are not accepted by Obi, he can do nothing but finally says the saying shown above. We can even imagine that the priest says the saying as he sighs. I believe that the priest not only feel sorry for the dead men’s path, which is to be block soon, but also for Obi, as Obi is too high spirited and ambitious that he cannot take anyone’s advise and is doomed to be given a lesson by the local people, as is described in the end of the story. Therefore, I think the priest is praying for Obi by saying “let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch,” hoping that Obi can take consideration for others and let his spirit perch for a while.
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Reading Log
Reading Log of "Dead Men's Path" Reading The Dead Men’s Path by Chinua Achebe, I feel that it focuses on the same topic as The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing, which both discussed the issue of cultural differences and what one should do when he is in a new environment where the culture is quite different from that of his own. But a further reading makes me aware that there are actually some differences between the two stories. While the latter one emphasized the fact that one, in order to fit into a new environment, should not give up his own culture but uphold it and pursue his success by hard working, the former story tells the opposite that one should not make comments on a different culture only based on his own background but should he respect the local people and their beliefs. As a student majoring in Sociology, I know how bad it could be if we comment things only based on our own cultural background, which could only make us consider other different cultures strange and incredible. Since the people are in different places in the world, live in different environments and enjoy different histories, the cultures developed can not be exactly the same. Sometimes we may find some customs of a certain culture entirely wrong according to science, but we should still respect the custom because this is one part of the local culture, which has its own history and enjoys local peoples’ believes. For example, in the story, for Michael Obi the dead men's path is only a plain path crossing the school, for we know that dead men could never come back. So it should, of course, be blocked so that students in the school will not be interrupted by the local inhabitants passing by. But if we consider things from the perspective of the local people, we may easily find that the path is something related to their belief in their ancestors, and the block of the path is considered something unlucky. Therefore, if one wants to break the local rule and make a change in the local custom, such as what Obi did, he may find it extremely hard to conduct because of the objections of the local people. And sometimes if he really commits the action, he might be revenged by the local people and “their ancestors”, that is to say, by the local culture. Daisy
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