Cover Letter Welcome to my writing Blog! Hello, I’m Tom Lee, a student of Fudan University in Shanghai. Though my major is Computer Science, I love writing a lot. Now and then I use to write some small articles. However, I have confidence in my Chinese ones' popularity among the class, not English ones. So with a heart of improving my English writing complement, I chose Mr. Corio’s course of academic writing, and determine to have a try. Till today, this trial never lets me down. Every time I have a view with this Blog, my heart is full of pride and delight. My career as a writer starts from six year old, or earlier. But it takes me a little longer time to become an English one. I’ve written numerous passages, and quite a lot of them won the favor of my teacher and classmates, and spread widely. Once I entered for an English test for the Admission Examination for Hang Kong University, the result is still quite pleasure (I got a A.D., one of 250 among 5000 competitors!). It seems nothing prevent me from being content with my English writing. Though not look luxury, it could be a breeze of flowers. However, the more famous works I read in my spare time, the more shame I am in my English writing. Hemingway’s is short and tough; Shakespeare’s is mild and romantic; O Henry’s is amazing and profound. Compare with them, it comes to my mind strongly that I should improve my English writing ability. Luckily, I come across this course, to me, which is a lifeboat in the vast English sea. As a matter of fact, it is really a sheer of luck for me to choose this course. When the time for selecting courses has come in my university this semester, it was full for the first two weeks! And just in the last few minutes of the selection, I found one site available and got it. In the very first class, I know why the situation is like that. My teacher, Mr. Corio, is a kind and patient gentle man, who is a master in English Writing for more than twenty years. His comments for the articles, which I wrote, always hit the point, which clear and careful reminds me the weakness in my writing. It makes me improve very fast. Also, like reading log, essay, timed writing and this cover letter, every students in the class got substantial things to write! The way approaching perfect in English writing is unbelievable interesting in class! Also this class provides a free and open environment, in which all classmates share their writing with each other in the Class Assistant on the Internet. It is a great pleasure for me to read my peers’ articles in the same topic, with an opposite thesis statement! Though not very familiar with my classmates at first, I found that they did a really good job, which made me feel more pressure to enhance my own ones. Share is one of the best virtues that human possess, is not it J? As a whole, my English writing improved a lot and I create this Blog. Above all, I find my priceless treasures in this course, and put them all in this Blog. Now you know the secret for the birth of this Blog; in return, I ask you to try to believe that, what I treasure here will make you enjoy reading and writing.
Tom Lee
June 5, 2007
Draft Three
Worked Cited
1, Chinua Achebe, “Dead Men Path.”1953. Rpt. In “The International Story.” Page 52,
Paragraph One.
2, Chinua Achebe, “Dead Men Path.”1953. Rpt. In “The International Story.” Page 52,
Paragraph Two.
3, Chinua Achebe, “Dead Men Path.”1953. Rpt. In “The International Story.” Page 53,
Last Paragraph.
4, Chinua Achebe, “Dead Men Path.”1953. Rpt. In “The International Story.” Page 54,
Paragraph Seven.
Tom Lee
2007.5.21.
Draft Two
A Excellent Fighter
A good fighter needs two things: ambition, and courage.
There are such a great number of good fighters in the human history. Because of their endless struggle against the backward force, people get civilized, and the society moves forward. There are barely any virtues inappropriate for them. To honor them, we give them the title Prometheus, the God who sacrificed himself to bring fire to the world, and their sagas-legends will be internally remembered from generation to generation.
In the story of Dead Men Path, by Chinua Achebe, the protagonist Mr Obi is just characterized as one fighter of this kind. It is a story about Obi, who’s an ambitious and progressive headmaster, after bravely closing the old tribal path for the dead men across the school, got his work ruined by the violence of the superstitious villagers at last. Though not a success, he keeps his honour by his fight. People can easily find ambition and bravery from his trial. In a word, he performs a same excellent fighter.
He is a man of great ambition. From the words of Mission Authority and the Narrator in the start of the story, readers get to know that Obi has a long history behind him against the superstition, which proves his everlasting ambition of eradicating it. In this particular field, “he has many wonderful ideas”, “enthusiasm” and even “designated him a pivotal teacher in the official records”. His ambition of his work in the new school can also be easily told from his joyful talk with his wife. “We shall make a good job of it, shan’t we?” When he comments that the colleagues’ unmarried family situation is a good thing, readers can learn without effort that all he concerns is the school. As we may notice, “she is complete infected by his passion for modern and his denigration of these old and superannuated people”. Through this tiny detail, it shows us what magical effect his ambition has.
Then, Obi stands for the excellent fighter, not only for his ambitions, but also for his admiring courage against the superstition. It is widely known that “he is outspoken in his condemnation of the narrow views of these of these old and often less-educated ones”. After knowing there was a big row for the dead men’s path in the past, he still made his decision without hesitation, ”It was sometime ago. But it will not be used now”. It’s hard to image a cowardly man will do the same. Though his strength is limited, he still chooses to challenge the backward force of the village, which is shown especially in the visit of the tribal priest, who stands for the superstition of the village. The words from the priest are stern and severe, like “this path was here before you were born and before your father was born”, “If you reopen the path, we shall have nothing to quarrel about”, but Obi “listened with a smile on his face” with his dignity. Facing the cow of the priest, he said directly ”The whole purpose of our school is to eradicate just such beliefs as that”. Because of his courage, he stands erectly for what he believes right, and he is fearless towards failure.
As a whole, though not a success, Obi is an excellent fighter, for he contains two spirits, the most important ones: ambition and courage.
0572163 Tom Lee 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.
This is an interesting saying, which shows readers a vivid picture to present the meaning behind it. Directly, it means to let both hawk and eagle have its own place to rest. But more profoundly, I suppose that it suggests settling quarrel by keeping distance from each other, without any contact as before. In another word, “if you stop doing harm to us, there will be nothing; but if going on, we will act.” It is usually used when one side’s interest is threatened by the new-comer or unfamiliar one, as the warning of the starting war.
Here in Dead Men’s Path, the words reveal the intention of the priest’s visit. He wants to get the old path reopened, without a fight between the village and school. Before, there was no quarrel happened, and the priest wants that the situation comes back. He especially wants Mr. Obi can keep the former relationship with the village, by reopening the path, like “let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch”. The words also reveal something else, and it’s that the priest heart is some ignited by the close of the path. He tried to warn Mr. Obi the coming of certain revenge from the village. The words show that though he doesn’t want a fight to happen, it would come out in case of the necessity.
My Reading Log For The Necklace
After reading the whole story again, one thought occured to me deeply, that the author treated the feminine lead --- Mathilde too hard.
Why? Because she is a just ordinary woman who cares fortune and beaty, which is a commonplace for anyone, but got a real big crash. I don't consider the word "vanity" as a suitable word to describe her.
The article reminds me a case that several month ago my friend praised my newly-bought famous brand clothes, yet at that time I found no guilty for getting flattered for his words. Indeed, I was delighted from bottom of my heart.
Even pupils in the primary school know, that the more standard a person wears in public, the more respect he shows to others around him. Let's imagine, what would happen, if Mathilde wore in an old dress with no jewelry on her in the ball? And what a silly scene it would be, if the U.S. president in slippers and old clothes which only tramp wear appeared in the Congress? They mean the same.
Is it a sin for a person longing for his appearance becoming a more bright figure, or for getting more fortune? If it's wrong, why do Chinese People wear in more and more colorful cloths in the recent twenty years, and we still call it a great progress? Should Bill Gates, the owner of 53 billion dollars, who has been the richest man in the world for forteen years till now, get a punishment for the desire of earning more and more money?
So in a word, when the civilized France army do many cruel crimes like beast in the Far East in the year of 1884 without any punishment, should a woman get penalty for she loves the thing nearly everyone loves? And as every reader konw, she is still a woman of many virtues, such as honest and staunch in mind. Even if the author sentensed her to poverty and a bitter life in the novel, readers should have forgiven her in heart. Her desire is the human's right and is a part of humanity.
Then a question comes , that if not vanity, what the writer want to warn the readers, by such a sad story?
Mathilde indeed did something wrong. The most important mistake she made is not losing the necklace ,but losing something in mind, which the writer mean more profound then any other kinds of mistake a human will act, hiden deeply under lines. The KEY word for it is "struggle". Mathilde has a big dream for a happier life, but did little to achieve her dream. It's the point.
One should never try to understand a story without an scrutiny for a more complicated and huger background behind it. The 19th century many France people lived in poverty. However, instead of doing their upmost to achieve their dream, they hope fortune would come to them by a sheer luck, like Mathilde's dream--- marry a rich man. The author expressed his worry and hatred in these kinds of ideas in this story: without efforts, how could one acquire his own
happiness? Without struggle, how can one savor the joy of life? For those who want fortune but don't want to struggle againt fate, there is only bitterness await for them in the future. It is exactly what the writer wanted to show to readers.
The sincere readers of Maupassant may know, that he is a follower of Beethoven, the greatest musician in the Europe who has never surrendered to fate. As a matter of fact, through Mathilde, Maupassant gave readers a warning, just like a Chinese old saying, "The splendid odor of wintersweet comes from the bitter winter".