To Whom It May Concern,
I am Tiphanie, a sophomore majoring in Public Administration, in the school of International Relations and Public Affairs, in Fudan University. I fancy learning foreign languages. I have a command of English, French, Japanese, and a little German. And I have attained the certificate of the advanced interpretation of English and scored high in the TOEFL IBT. I am proud of my language talents and I strongly believe that the languages, as a tool of communication, are one of the key factors of one's success, for the forthcoming era is one with a more tremendous explosion of information.
This semester I attend a course delivered by an American professor, Ron. I have reaped more than I expected in the course, Advanced English Writing. I am more than willing to share with you in my harvests and my experiences in this course.
The first time I was in the class of the Advanced English Writing，I was surprised for I had never expected to attend a class of an American teacher. Ron, my new English professor, is an approachable man, always wearing an affable smile. He comes from Virginia, a very beautiful city in my impression. In a word, he left a very good impression on me the first time I saw him.
I am full of expectations to see if Ron could make a difference in pedagogical methods, and the effect of teaching. Actually, Ron really gives me a succession of surprises in teaching methods. To my great joy, I gradually discover that I have learnt more than I anticipated, including not only the writing skills but also a learning attitude.
Specifically, I am fond of Ron’s Free-Writing, Writing Portfolio, and the task of creating a blog for the wring portfolio.
They are new to me. Usually, the learning of English writing in China is learning a structure first of all, gives priority to grammar. The contents and explanations of the points, instead, are not as important.
That’s why I fancy the free writing. I can focus on my thoughts and understanding of a topic instead of a “perfect” structure with no grammar mistakes and no concrete contents. Let me give an example.
Vanity, as a topic given by Ron, aroused my wish to put down all I thought about, positive and negative comments, examples, and comparisons between Mathilde and the successful women nowadays. However, I remember writing about this topic in my senior high school, and it was really just an assignment which could not present any enjoyment of writing.
At that time, my English teacher's advice was that, to avoid complex explanations which could bring about many grammar mistakes, we students are supposed to write at most 3 simple points and organize a “beautiful” structure.
What a difference I am experiencing now. I harvest a joy of writing in free writing. Writing is no more a burden but a reflection of life. I wrote whatever is related to vanity. I argued that vanity was not bound to be a bad thing after citing many people’s negative comments on vanity. I compared the main character in The Necklace with the current women elites. They embrace many similarities. In fact, we Chinese students can not risk writing these stuff in senior high schools in order to get a decent score in English exams for these arguments are not welcome to some teachers and they are sure to cause many grammar mistakes.
As to the ICA, writing portfolio and the blog for the writing portfolio, what's my feeling about them? It is also totally new to me. I knew nothing about them before I attended Ron’s class.
All my friends know clearly that I am weak in my computer skills. I can not count how many times I failed to blog my compositions onto the internet as required, and how many times after I finished my comments of other students’ reading logs, I was not able to save them because of my laptop’s problems. All that is concerned with the internet operations is time-consuming to me. And that is why I leave the settings of my blogs to the end of my work. What I concentrate on is to perfect my compositions.
Frankly speaking, I am worried that Ron would doubts my diligence and involvement in this course, for what I wrote were not updated on the internet and my blog is always with some problems. The technical problems bring about my anxieties and self-doubt.
However, after many frustrations and tries, I must admit that the process of obliging myself to create blogs, and to surfer the internet to see other students’ compositions in the conferencing benefit me a lot. Now I find it quite interesting to blog my pieces of writing and share my thoughts and life with friends. What's more, updating the information in my blog can expose me to daily English writing exercise. Now it is my habit to compose free writings as long as I am not so occupied, and I am not only fond of writing but also crazy about updating my blog.
What’s more, the task of blogging a writing portfolio exposes me to different genres of writing. Through the guidance given by Ron in class, discussions with classmates, and repeated revisions after class, I acquaint myself with rules and points of different writing genres. Actually, reading log, essay, and cover letter are supposed to be handled with various tones, styles of writing, or even uses of words. I maintain it will be helpful one day!
Moreover, I am so grateful to Ron and the course. It is Ron’s continuous assignments of the course that make me immersed in English writing this semester and thus help me maintain my linguistic sense of English.
This semester witnessed the fulfillment of my dream along with painstaking efforts for further accomplishments. I got the offer from Sciences-Politiques, one of the most prestigious universities in Europe, where 80% of French officials and 40% of French CEOs graduate. That means I have to spend most of time in learning French from scratch. Now through 6 months’ diligent work on French, I can manage the daily communication with my French friends.
Leaning French causes a confusion with English, and less time in English learning. Fortunately, I attend Ron’s class. Every time when I am less familiar with English, Ron’s American accent evokes my memory and feeling of English and my New York accent which I devoted long time to gaining comes back. His interesting assignments keep exposing me to the frequent contact with English.
Last but not least, I want to refer to learning attitudes. From my view of point, learning attitudes outweigh everything. Though I am engaged in the application for my dream university for master degree, in dealing with some stuff for my summer internship, in organizing a grand feast for receiving dean of my school, in taking care of several associations and in other courses this semester, I still one hundred percent involve myself in this course because I like it. And I always say to myself no matter how busy I am, I should attend every class, take notes, listen carefully, finish the assignment earnestly and only in this way can I learn what I expected to gain from the course, and I make it!
A thousand thanks to my respected teacher, Ron!
A thousand thanks to my communicative classmates!
A thousand thanks to all my efforts devoted in the course!
It is you that make me gain writing skills, taste the enjoyment of writing, and more interested in my English learning.
Yours sincerely,
Tiphanie
Tiphanie
June 22, 2007
Essay Draft Three
How Was Shadrach Cohen Americanized?
Bruno Lessing, author of “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen” presents the main character, Shadrach Cohen's process of being Americanized. Cohen, upon the request of his two sons, comes to the Untied States to invest further capital in their business; however, he suffers a cultural shock when realizing his two sons’ big change of appearance and habits, abandoning treasured religion customs. To win his two sons’ respect, he gets down to fostering the growth of his sons’ business. Accompanied by the revival and prosperity of the business, Cohen’s persistence in old life is gradually replaced by flexibility in tenets and a faculty of adaptability because of his frequent contact with the outer world and shrewd businessmen. In the end, Cohen is recognized by the American society and resumes his son’s respect but still he insists upon a strict observance of every tenet of their religion.
Americanization is a neuter word, and its values depend on an individual’s behaviors. Cohen’s Americanization is supposed to be recognized and approbated. It is a involuntary process but with a strong consciousness of retaining the integrity of his character and the nobility of his heart. How was Cohen Americanized?
In brief, it consists of a fresh feeling in the beginning, followed by a cultural shock; a turning point comes and then a long term of adaptation and integration into the new environment, taking in good values, while retaining precious original cultural characteristics. Noteworthy of Cohen’s Americanization is the last stage. He assimilates good sides of the American culture and keeps precious traditions as well, contrast to his two son’s deviation from the religion.
So what indicates Cohen’s Americanization is an involuntary process? And in the process, what are the clues of his consciousness of retaining his integrity and nobility?
First of all, we can see clearly from the beginning of the story that the reason why Cohen sets foot on the United States is just to support his two sons in their business. So, what matters to Cohen at the beginning is only the happiness of the reunion with his two sons. He has never foreseen the forthcoming Americanization. From the motivation of his trip to the United States, we can reason that his process of Americanization has an involuntary beginning.
After Cohen’s two sons, Gottlieb and Abel welcomes him to the new land with open arms, the warm but short atmosphere of reunion and fresh feeling of this new land are encountered with a cultural shock. It takes Cohen some time to realize who these two “dapper-looking” men are while “Abel and Gottlieb looked at each other in dismay” (46) because their father’s typical appearance of the immigrant.
It is unexpected to Cohen that his two sons had undergone such a big change and it had never occurred to him that he would change to win his son’s respect back because of such difference between them. It develops involuntarily and we can always see Cohen sticks to the religious tenets.
For example, when the sons persuade Cohen to trim the beard to look more like an American, he responds, “I will keep my beard as it is” (46). Cohen holds that he should maintain his conservativeness, traditionalism, and integrity as a Jewish even though his sons are proud of themselves being Americanized. He can tolerate their change, but not conform to it.
After the strong shock in the beginning, Cohen and his sons reach a stalemate of the cultural shock. A cultural shock inevitably leads to many cultural conflicts.
In the cultural conflicts, Cohen does his utmost to be patient and his two sons try to put up with Cohen’s traditional habits which they had done away with. Cohen is “distressed and puzzled” about his sons’ pride of their Americanization but still tolerant of all their deviation from the religion while his two sons want to infect their father with the passion of being Americanized but do not dare to risk their father’s displeasure. There is a “wall” between them. Cohen can do nothing but tolerate for they are his sons and he adores them. It is a father’s nature. So, the tolerance in the stage of cultural shock is also involuntary, which will be exhausted and thus leads a big explosion of rage and impatience as a turning point in the process of Cohen’s Americanization.
We can cite an example in the story to show Cohen’s patience out of a father’s nature. Cohen’s reciting the grace after meals and donning the praying cap causes his son’s consternation. The two sons put it this way, “It’s not quite American.” Cohen doesn’t get angry but states in a gentle and educative manner, “Religion is the worship of Jehovah…Jehovah rules supreme over America even as He does over the country that you came from.” (47) And then his two sons change the topic and distract his attention.
Cohen always keeps carrying out those religious customs and habits and points out his son’s fault in abandoning these treasures. And gradually, the two sons begin to realize that their father cling to the habits and customs of his old life with a tenacity that fills them with despair. “The more they urged him (Cohen) to abandon his ways the more eager he seemed to become to cling to them.”(47)
As remarked before, there is no rule for the turning of the worm. Some worms, however, turn with a crash.
“Shadrach never lost his temper; never upbraided them”, he suffers the conflict, but keeps silent, but then explodes with a crash of turn. What is the turning point?
At the news that Gottlieb had contemplated getting married, Cohen is on top of the world. However, Cohen’s suppressed rage breaks out seconds later because Gottlieb does not allow Cohen to see his girl-friend out of the worry that his girlfriend will not accept Cohen’s old life style.
The turning point can be understood on account of Cohen’s motivation for setting foot on this new land. He adores his sons and looks forward to a warm reunion and a happy life. However, in reality, he suffers a culture shock, the estrangement between his sons and him, and uncertainty of the future. Under such circumstances, his determination to change and to be Americanized can be figured out. It is to resume the authority as a venerable figure and it is part of the involuntary process of Americanization.
From then on, he demands from his sons’ implicit obedience and profound respect. Many details in the story witness his dramatic changes of treatment to his sons, along with his managerial styles, including the intonation, his attitudes, and behaviors.
“Remember, this is my house” (48) says Cohen, to his sons to show his authority in home. He says, “Honor your father and your mother” (49) when dressing down a clerk; he requires, “Throw the cigar away” (49) when managing the lazy and inefficient staff.
What’s more, Cohen embarks on the task of familiarizing himself with the details of the business. Meanwhile, “He was slowly undergoing a change. A new life was unfolding itself before his eyes, he became broader-minded, more tolerant, and above all, more flexible in his tenets.” (50)The contact with the outer world quickly impresses him with the vast differences between his present surroundings and his old life in Russia. It is a involuntary process of knowing the new environment better though he had just planned to manage the business and had not expected that he would discover the tremendous difference between his old traditions and this new world.
When his sons see “vistas of prosperity beyond their wildest dreams”, they begin to look upon their father with increasing respect. It is what Cohen looks forward to attaining. However, what he attains is more than that.
Cohen is attracted by the charm of American life, of liberty, of democracy. He comes more and more into contact with American business men, from whom he learns many thins—principally the faculty of adaptability. He accepts a number of good values of the Americans. But he always “insists upon a strict observance of every tenet of their religion” (50). In other words, he clings to his traditions.
Their business booms, Cohen changes, his sons marvel. Cohen had expected that the business would prosper, had anticipated that his sons would respect him again, but he had never foreseen that he would undergo such a change, the so-called Americanization.
On one hand, the contact with the American society exerts a subtle influence on Cohen’s life style. When observing religious tenets, he becomes more flexible in tenets. On the other hand, the integration into the American culture is required by doing business. Cohen should realize that if he wants enhances the business, it is essential to know the American culture and integrate into it. Therefore, the last stage of Americanization, the adaptation, is also involuntary.
Cohen once comments on his sons’ behavior, “If becoming Americanized means becoming stupid, I must congratulate you upon the thoroughness of your work.” (49)Compared to the sons, Cohen knows his own strengths, “the true money-maker spirit, and the swiftness with which he grasps the most intricate phases of trade”(50) , the characteristics of the Jewish. He retains his strong points and combines these with the Americans’ positive values, which is reason why he succeeds in establishing himself as a venerable figure in American society.
Though the story doesn’t describe the process of Americanization of Cohen’s two sons, they should have experienced the same stages as Cohen does. In fact, the only difference between Cohen and his two sons is that Cohen embraces integrity of character and nobility of heart. Cohen knows what the traditions and the religion mean to him, what he should always insist on, and what his strengths are. Instead, his two sons only keep imitating the Americans without thinking carefully over their own identities, cultures and strong points.
Becoming Americanized doesn’t mean fast food, wearing jeans, dancing hip-hop, neither means sacrificing original traditions to integrating into the mainstream. Americanization should the result of adaptation rather than an objective.
Who can win respect when being Americanized, who can really establish himself in the mainstream in the trend of Americanization? It is those who shelve cultural diversity rather than conform to a new culture and are clear about what is right to do and do the right!
Tiphanie
June. 13 2007
Draft Two
Shadrach Cohen's Americanization
Bruno Lessing, as the author of “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen” demonstrated a vivid process of the main character, Shadrach Cohen to be Americanized in a positive way， but not just on surface. Shadrach, under the request of his two sons, came to the U.S.A to help them out of the biz difficulty, however suffered a cultural shock when encountering with his two sons’ big change to appear more like an American, abandoning most of treasured religion customs. To win his two sons’ respect back, and prove own values, he helped to recover his two sons’ business, and through his efforts to make business boom, he remained cultural diversity when absorbing the good values of Americans’ democracy, liberty, the efficiency of performance-oriented management and the faculty of adaptability.
The author provided two ways of being Americanization, why and what are they? Through the writing, the author wanted to convey what kind of values? How the description of Shadrach contributed to author’s tendency to one of these two ways of being Americanization?
Bruno compared Shadrach with his two sons, to show a natural, positive adaptation into a new culture, while absorbing good sides of new cultures, retaining treasured original cultural characteristics. Being Americanized seems preferred to to be Americanized in view of Bruno. That’s to say, Americanization should just be a way of adaptation instead of transforming oneself deliberately to behave like the mainstream，and only in this way, one can really win respect of people in the new environment, the way Shadrach survived the cultural shock in the U.S.A and won respect from all walks of life.
Evidences go as follows: “Two dapper-looking young men took him(Shadrach) some time to realize who they were.” (46)By comparison, “Abel and Gottlieb looked at each other in dismay.” And when the sons questioned Shadrach’s beard, “Shadrach looked from one to the other in surprise” and said, “Then I will keep my beard as it is. I am a newly landed Russian Jew.” (46) is a set of responses of when two sons first meet their long-time-no-see father.
From the story, we see clearly that, after a short warm atmosphere of reunion and fresh feeling of this new land, Shadrach encountered so called “cultural shock” caused by the virtual “Americanization” of his 2 sons. It is the first phase of Shadrach’s Americanization.
Shadrach bore the characteristics of conservativeness, traditionalism, and integrity. It went against two sons’ trend to integrate into American style. Culture shock always occurs when cultures meet, conflict and be felt, and that’s what Shadrach suffered and what everyone who culture-shocked experiences.
As the passage goes, “He realized immediately that there was a wall between him and his sons. He was distressed and puzzled.” Yes, there is “a wall”! What is the wall? What was Shadrach puzzled and distressed about? What’s the wall between him and his sons? Let’s go back to the passage.(46)
“We-er-have grown out of-er-done away with-er- sort of fallen into the habit, don’t you know, of leaving out the prayer at meals. It’s not quite American!” said by Abel. What was Shadrach’s answer?(47)
“It is wrong to omit the prayer after meals. It is part of your religion.” put by Shadrach.(47)
The sons thought, “After he gets used to things, he will become Americanized like us.”(47)
The two sons held that their father would change just as they did. They forgot their religion tradition, they didn’t pray before meals, and they even did their utmost to get away with their original habits!He was raged by his dear son’s behaviors, and words. And he chose to show his personal charm and capability and for sure the authority as a father to win back these 2 “Americanized” son’s respect. Embracing this objective, not trying to be “Americanized” deliberately, he underwent the forth phase and gradually “Americanized” positively with a change in intonation in his voice, in ways to take care of 2 sons, in attitudes to manage his sons’ business, accompanied by the increased biz of Shadrach, the sons saw vistas of prosperity beyond their wildest dreams; they began to look upon their father with increasing respect.
Meanwhile, “He was slowly undergoing a change. A new life was unfolding itself before his eyes, he became broader-minded, more tolerant, and above all, more flexible in his tenets.” And “contact with the outer world had quickly impressed him with the vast differences between his present surroundings and his old life in Russia.” (50)
“not a word”,” tomorrow we become Americanized—you and I”, “throw the cigar away” “tomorrow, my sons, you will begin to lead a new life”, “let him go. Abel will take his place over the sales”(48), these sentences indicate the changes in intonation in his voice, in ways to take care of 2 sons as well as in attitudes to manage his sons’ business.
The sentence impressed me most when I first read the story goes, “If becoming Americanized means becoming stupid, I must congratulate you upon the thoroughness of your work.” (49)Compared to the sons, the true money-maker spirit, the swiftness with which he grasped the most intricate phases of trade and the faculty of adaptability make Shadrach a Americanized success, but not an “Americanized” foreigner.
After the analysis of the four phases of Shadrach’s Americanization, we can see one thing clearly that he maintained the religion and customs from beginning to end, never change. And it is this point that makes me more respectful to this truly Americanized man, and distinguishes him from his two sons and all those Americanized like them.
In conclusion, becoming Americanized is a process covering fresh feeling, cultural shock, turning point and adaptation, which is a natural response to a new environment, seen clearly from Shadrach.
Becoming Americanized doesn’t mean fast food, wearing jeans, dancing hip-hop, neither means sacrificing original traditions to the mainstream of the new culture. It is manifested clearly, especially through the comparison and interaction between Shadrach and his two sons, who can win respect in the end, who can really establish himself in the mainstream, and who can lead a life noteworthy and worthy living? It is those who can retain diversity, carry forward self-strong-points and see clearly what is the right thing to do and do the right things!
Tiphanie
June.6 2007
Draft One
Shadrach Cohen's Americanization
[RC1]The source of all quotes must be identified with the page number in parentheses.
0517142
Tiphanie
June 21, 2007
Timed-Writing Three
Directions: If you were to create a filmed advertisement ( a “trailer" )for a movie based on The Grass-Eaters, which scene would you select? Why? Discuss ways in which you might film the scene. (100%)
I would like to select the last scene of the story The Grass-Eaters.
Mathilde, She Is Not Wrong
Mathilde, If She Were in This Age…
Provided Mathilde were in this age, what would happen to her?
The comments of the story say, “She is one of those pretty and charming girls who are sometimes, as if by a mistake of destiny, born in a family of clerks.”
Yes, it was really a mistake of destiny in late nineteenth-century. At that time, French society was organized on a class basis. It was extremely difficult for people to change or move from the class into which they were born. It is exactly the settings of the story The Necklace, which features Mathilde.
She is a sacrifice of that society. She has no dowry, and no means of being known. Women nowadays can make a difference through diligence and intelligence; they can win respect because of wisdom and knowledge, can ask for right of education, of independence and of equality with men. Women’s fate is taken the reins by themselves but not in the control of the men or the destiny.
She is pretty, charming and elegant; she is hard-working and keeps promise. She has ambitions and dreams to lead a decent and luxurious life. So, what would happen to her if she lived in the twenty-first century?
Let us turn our attention to another woman, Hilary. She, of elegance and beauty, with ambitions and wisdom, keep working diligently no matter when she was in law school, or when she acted as a senate or when she acted as a senate. She campaigned for becoming the new President of the United States, the first woman President in the history! Actually, Mathilde, in my mind, has a lot of similar strong points and as Hilary, Rice and Royal. If she were in this age, maybe she would be one of the women candidates for the presidency in some country. At least, she could choose her way of life and steer her boat in a direction she prefers.
Mathilde, Only Does What Everyone Might Do!