Edwina's Writing Portfolio

To Whom It May Concern:

It is my great honor to have the opportunity to collect my one-semester papers into my study portfolio. Firstly I would like to appreciate your patience to look through all these documents. Thank you for taking time off your busy work. I am a Chinese student, now freshman in Fudan University. English is my second language and I take great interests in English study. I am enrolled in an Academic Writing class this semester, taught by Mr. Ron.

In this course, I have analyzed four celebrated novels, The Necklace written by Guy de Maupassant, The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen written by Bruno Lessing, Dead Men's Path written by Chinua Achebe and The Grass-Eaters wrriten by Krishnan Varma. With the process of reading, I have finished four reading logs. Among these novels, I choose The Necklace as my major research. This portfolio collects all my documents for The Necklace, including one reading log, three drafts and final-timed writing.

The Necklace is one of my favorite stories. When I read the novel the first time in my high school, I was deeply attracted by its dramatic arrangement of plots. After rereading the story in Ron's class, I intend to talk more about its inner connotation, with associating the novel with social backgrounds and analyzing the relationship between vanity and outcome of the central character. The effect of destiny on human is also discussed in my paper. After several revisions, I finally set my thesis statement as "it is Mathilde's vanity that results in her ten years hard work, yet it is her fate to suffer the toughness".

At first I was totally lost in writing an essay, for I had never learned about it before. Thanks to the immediate help from my instructor, Mr. Ron and the guidance book, "The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction", I gradually learned how to produce an essay. I grasped the format of a formal essay, that it should contain instruction, body and conclusion. I began to know how to write a brief plot summary and how to conclude clear and strong thesis statement. I also learned to find evidences to support my point of view and use quotations and punctuations in a proper way. The reading log and three drafts witness the improvement in my writing proficiency.

In the reading log when I was still a beginner, I wrote something about my initial feelings, where I touched upon with her amour-propre and her fate. In Draft One, I was able to abstract main ideas and conclude a plot summary. I put forward my thesis statement as "Mathilde's ten-year hard work is a reflection of her vanity". The mistaken use of "ten-year" was revised as "ten years" in my later paper. In this paper, I successfully structured my essay into three parts. I tried to say something about Mathilde's vanity and what it resulted in. However, it was a pity that my ideas wondered around. Too many quotations and too long summary was the most obvious shortcoming.

Draft Two was finished on a basis of peer reviewing. I polished my thesis as "Mathilde's vanity bore her ten-year hard work". More analysis was implemented to illustrate my thesis. It should be noticed that discussion on fate came to part of my illustration, which showed my deepening extent of thoughts and had an influence on rewording my thesis in later edition. To my pity, I talked too much in my own position using the first person pronoun. In addition, though there were many quotations, they could not be strong evidences in supportive of my ideas. As a result, this edition did not make sense to the readers.

Taking my instructor Mr. Ron's advice into account, I was glad to see a greater progress in my Draft Three, or final essay. I reworded my thesis statement and dealt with Mathilde's vanity and fate. I tried to tell the readers that it is her vanity that brings about the heavy burden, and though the truth is chilly she had to accept the grievous end because of uncontrolled fate. Associated with social background I was able to understand the intention of Maupassant. The significance of The Necklace was not only to show Mathilde's dramatic life but also to reflect on the social phenomenon of that time.

One of the most important things I have learned in this writing course is a proper use of quotation. I did not know how to quote and cite until the third paper. Quoting and documenting sources not only helps readers to make sense, but shows our respect to the original works as well. What's more, not citing resources can be regarded as an act of piracy.

My instructor Mr. Ron is the one I have to mention. I would like to sincerely appreciate Mr. Ron's adequate and conscientious help on my research paper. Without his well-prepared and responsible instruction I will not be able to start my first step, no mention of getting improvement in my writing proficiency.

Thank you for looking through my portfolio. I hope you will enjoy my essay and share my views. If you feel any doubt or have any suggestion, please feel free to contact me. All comments are welcomed.

Sincerely yours,
Edwina Zhang