Cover Letter

Vincent Qian
June 12, 2007
Cover Letter

This is actually the first time for me to write a cover letter. I have never been required to finish a job like this whether in Chinese or in English before. I found it really helpful because it serves as a reflection upon my recent writings, through which I can see clearly where I have improved and what is still not enough.

In my portfolio, a reading log was listed at the bottom because it was the preliminary work I did before getting down to the final essay. Then is the final timed-writing, followed by three drafts of the essay. All three are listed because by comparing with each other, readers can see my progress along this advanced English writing course, directed by Mr. Corio. Personally, I am satisfied with the progress I have made under the guidance of my teacher and with the advice from my peer group. From the first to the final draft, I have revised the thesis, optimized the structure, improved the formality and selected the supporting evidences more carefully.

Also, I learnt some new approaches and skills about writing an essay. For example, brainstorming helps me greatly. When I don’t know how to proceed, by brainstorming, I let my mind flow freely. I don’t have to care about the grammar and spelling, because all I need to do is to focus on the thoughts. Brainstorming actually inspired me of the thesis of my final essay.

In addition, I learnt how to use quotations from the original work correctly and more effectively. What I used to do is simply copy the whole sentences and put my own explanations behind them. But now I have learnt to mingle the key words and phrases into my own thoughts and words. By quoting this way, I have a better understanding of the function of these words in the original work, which also enables me to express my thoughts more skillfully and make the quotations support my thesis more strongly.

My essay analyzes the story of the Americanization of Shadrach Cohen, by Bruno Lessing. Because it is my favorite of the four stories I have read in the course and I am very interested in the clash between different cultures, which manifests itself as the conflicts between Jewish and American culture in this stories. Seeing how Shadrach Cohen adapted into the American life, I was inspired to explore the differences between his and the two sons’ Americanization so as to find out the real sense of being Americanized.

During the time when I worked on the essay, I got a better and more insightful understanding of the story. I dived deep to those details which were neglected before. After completing the final draft, I found I really enjoyed the whole process. Make yourself happy and entertained is the most important thing about writing, isn’t it?

Thank you for taking time reading my works, hope you will enjoy and draw some helpful ideas from my portfolio.

25.5.07 12:14