Cover Letter

Date: June 17, 2007

To Whom It May Concern:

    Welcome to read my selected essays in Vera’s writing portfolio. This portfolio is an authentic record of my most important and representative works written for the Academic Writing Class of Fudan University in the spring of 2007. During this semester, I have finished reading a book entitled “The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction”, and tried my best to comprehend the writing methods introduced by the book. The majority of my essays pasted in this writing portfolio deal with my reflections on several short stories in this book. One of the most valuable lessons I have learned is that a perfect writer must be a penetrating reader, for time-honored reading material may not only evoke a person’s emotion, but also train a person into a critical thinker, thus providing glittering muses.

    Since childhood, I have developed my love for writing and tasted an abundance of world-class literary works, with my several Chinese essays published. However, when speaking of writing in English which is not my mother tongue, I occasionally felt frustrated and discouraged, for I was not confident enough to interpret and convey my exact feelings in my second language. In addition, although I strived to enrich my vocabulary, sometimes I was at a loss with my diction. During this course of academic writing in English, my teacher, Mr. Corio, really provided me with many constructive comments and suggestions, and he helped me develop my English writing to a more understandable as well as coherent level. To be frank, the workload of this course was not light, for it always took me the whole afternoon of Saturday on average to sit in front of the computer, reviewing the information of the class in the Internet Classroom and racking my brain to type the assignment. However, I enjoyed the process to a great extent, while supplementing my essays with effective newly-learned writing strategies, savoring the highlights of the teacher’s lectures, adding replies on my peers’ works after earnestly reading them… Throughout the whole course, I have learned an abundance of writing skills, including creating a strong and clear thesis, incorporating quotations into my own idea, paraphrasing the original text properly, to name but a few. Thanks to this rewarding course, I have generally outgrown an immature and unconfident writer.

    The first three drafts in my writing portfolio deal with my impressions created by the short story “The Necklace”, written by Guy de Maupassant. Having read the story intensively, I kept asking myself: what is the function of Maupassant’s ironic tone in the story? During the process of accomplishing my drafts, I consulted the particular book (“The International Story” ) about the definition of irony and other effective reading and writing strategies. I found it tough when completing the trial draft; fortunately, Mr. Corio’s professional comments and my peer’s critical suggestions motivated me to make improvements. I used to neglect some details, such as punctuating quotations and using the standard format, but I successfully revised my errors and refined the paragraphs. Moreover, I found proofreading a rewarding way to polish my essay and make it more persuasive. It is delightful to see my final draft completed, and now I have a deeper understanding of the original short story.

    The final timed-writing is also enclosed in my writing portfolio. The routine practice of free writing was effective, which assisted me in developing a smooth flow of thoughts and alleviate my tension when accomplishing the three timed-writing tasks. After certain times of trainings, I realize that a peaceful mind and a positive attitude will help me perform the best of myself during a limited period of time. Furthermore, a logical way of thinking is a crucial factor to create a cohesive and unified essay.

    The reading log is my favorite item in this writing portfolio. After reading the story “The Grass-Eaters” written by Krishnan Varma, I was deeply touched and regarded the story as a realistic portrayal of the poor people’s predicament. I believe that different people may hold diverse viewpoints on the same story due to their disparate backgrounds, prejudices, experiences and aspirations. I consider my reading log as the personal stage to release my initial reactions to the story, my deep and unique thoughts and my own world outlook.

    Joining in the academic writing class this semester is sure to be one of my fruitful experiences. I cherish this writing portfolio, and I earnestly hope to share my viewpoints with you.

Sincerely yours,
Vera Zhang

27.5.07 07:09