Introduction

Hello,

I am Hulda Hu, a sophomore in Journalism School, Fudan University.

I love reading and reading is always connected with writing. Writing is pleasure of the mind not only because you are telling others something, but also because it makes your mind work.

Personally, I prefer not sharing my writing with others, thus allowing me to write down whatever I think of without limitation. This kind of writing is more like a talk to me. Certainly, essays take up most of my writings, which provide information about an examinee’s ability to generate and organize ideas on paper.

When I was preparing for the College Entrance Examination, my teacher told me the first thing I should keep in mind was defining audience and sticking to the topic given. The audience was not my classmates but those who did the final evaluation of my composition and decided which grade I could get. I followed my teacher’s instruction and did quite well through the senior year in high school. However, the final results failed me. The unsatisfactory composition score led to my failure to go to the Law School. I was quite upset and lost my confidence in writing.

I was admitted into the Social Development and Public Policy Department of Fudan University in 2005. At the end of the first academic year, there was a chance for every freshman to change his/her major. I seized the chance and applied for the Journalism School. All the applicants were required to finish a commentary on Taiwan issue in one hour. My success in changing my major attributed to this commentary partly. When writing shuts a door, it opens a window for me. From then on, writing has become the most important part of my study. So I take the Academic Writing Course this semester.

The course is a little different from what I have expected. I assumed that the course focused on writing essays to express and support their opinions on some topics such as On Lying and The Road to Success. It turned out to be writing about fiction. But it is Okay with me because I welcome all kinds of writing courses.

As a reporter-to-be, I aim at gaining the ability to present my ideas through clear, well-organized writing this semester. Hope all my classmates and I could achieve the goals.

Cover Letter

Dec.9th, 2006

Dear Portfolio Readers,

The portfolio is a collection of my writings in Academic Writing class this semester. It consists of two drafts and a final copy of the essay on a Chekhov’s short story, “A Trifle from Real Life”. I also pick one reading log and one piece of timed-writing to put into my portfolio.

It took me nearly two months to finish my three drafts of the interpretive essay on “A Trifle from Real Life”. It was time-consuming to complete the process of choosing a story, forming a thesis statement, writing an initial draft and making revisions.

I chose the story, “A Trifle from Real Life”, because it was a typical Chekhovian work----succinct and ironic, which is my favorite. I wrote the paper with the purpose of revealing what the so-called trifle means and brings about to the main character, Aliosha.

I was not comfortable with draft one because I was experimenting with writing an interpretive essay on a story, a style that was new and unfamiliar to me. Yet, it is hard for me to make improvement on my own since a writer is easily restricted to the ideas he/she has already formed. Fortunately, I got help from my instructor, Mr. Corio, and my classmate, Nic. They provided many valuable suggestions to let me know what the problem was and how to make progress. For instance, they both pointed out that I had quoted too much in the first paper. The result turned out to be good after I made some changes accordingly. I really appreciate their help.

In draft three, I focused on editing to correct grammar and mechanical errors. The final copy is still not perfection but a better one. The three papers demonstrate an improvement in my writing skills.

The reading log I select is based on the story “Village”. It was my last reading log this semester, so I was able to avoid some mistakes I had made in previous writing. For example, I used to make plot summary in my log, which was not necessary.

Timed-writing is writing in a given period of time on a subject given by Mr. Corio. What you see is an initial one without any change. I picked the third timed-writing with the topic "How is your country becoming more similar to other places in the world?"

I was a novice in English writing. Writing in English not only requires a good command of this language but also knowledge of overall structure, which is different from writing in Chinese. For example, when we Chinese write, we often give some examples before we summarize a point while the American presents their ideas at beginning. Such difference adds to the difficulties for me to write in English. Nevertheless, I have grown a lot due to the helpfulness of Mr. Corio. I have grasped how to develop thesis statements. From comments on my paper and class lectures, I was able to fix my problems.

Thank you for your time and attention. I hope you enjoy reading each one and any advice is welcomed.

Sincerely yours,
Hulda

Draft One

Nov.18th,2006

Chekhov’s life was short, but neither sweet nor simple. It was marred early by poverty and his father’s abuse. Life in Taganrog held misery for the young Chekhov. Writing about his youth, he put the matter of his abuse about as it can be stated: “My father began to teach me, or, to put it simply, to beat me when I was less than five years old. Every morning as I woke up, I wondered, first of all, would I be beaten today?”

The shadow of his childhood affects his writing. His story “A Trifle from Real Life” reveals the relationship between the adults and the children. People always assume that it is the adult whose experience is important, not the child. Most of the story restricts itself to Belayeff’s point of view. The narrator describes through Belayeff’s angle mostly. For example, the narrator describes Aliosha’s appearance through Belayeff’s eyes: Now, in the dusk of evening, Aliosha’s pale face and fixed, dark eyes unexpectedly reminded Belayeff of Olga as she had appeared in the first pages of their romance. (9) However, the true protagonist is Aliosha, not Belayeff, for he is the character who undergoes a complete process of change.

At the beginning of the story, Aliosha is presented as a clever, pretty and lively little boy. And like most of the kids, Aliosha feels attachment to adults and cares for them. Although “he (Belayeff) had never bestowed any consideration upon the boy or noticed his existence at all,” Aliosha still notices the slight change of Belayeff. “You have cut your beard！”（15） “So I noticed. It is shorter than it was. Please let me touch it—does it hurt?” (17) Aliosha also gives advice to Belayeff: “You ought to wear whiskers! You could shave here on the sides, here, and here you could let the hair grow—” (19) What a sensitive mind and sharps eyes does a child have! Beyond our expectation, children often give all their attention to adults.

Aliosha is also a boy innocent and naive enough to tell others everything. He knows the consequence will be serious if his Mom finds out the secret. But he still tells Belayeff because of Belayeff’s promise. “You won’t tell mamma?” (29) “Honor bright?”(31) “Promise!” He takes Belayeff’s promise for serious because he trusts people.

The first change presented in the story, which is hard to recognize, occurs in paragraph 40-43. The change is brought by the boy’s Papa. Aliosha asks Belayeff to tell him if it is true that they are unfortunate. When Belayeff wants to know why he asks, he says:

Because Papa says we are unfortunate children and that he is unfortunate, and that mamma is unfortunate. He tells us to pray to God for her and for ourselves.

His Papa’s words really confuse him: “Aliosha fixed his eyes on the figure of a stuffed bird, and became lost in thought.”(44) It has never occurred to him that they are unfortunate and he is too young to figure out why. So he turns to Belayeff for help. I guess it is the first time he gets touch with the adult world.

This is not the only confusion his Papa brings to him. His Papa says: “it is your (Belayeff’s) fault that mamma is unhappy, and that you (Belayeff) have ruined mamma.”(52) while Aliosha thinks Belayeff is kind. It is the very sentence that drives Belayeff out of his mind. His Papa should not have blamed Belayeff to Aliosha because the relationship of his Papa, his Mom and Belayeff has nothing to do with kids. Kids should not be involved in.

Greater changes occur when Belayeff breaks his word. It is undoubtedly a terrible shock to the little boy. The author uses a series of expression and language description to prove it. “Yes, but-you promised not to be angry!” (57) “The boy tore himself from Belayeff’s arms and ran out of the room.” (59) “Aliosha flushed and then grew suddenly pale and his face became distorted with fear.” (65) “‘Nikolai Ilitch!’ he whispered loudly, ‘Hush!’” (66) “‘Nikolai Ilitch!’ groaned Aliosha. ‘You gave me your word of honor!’” (69) “But Aliosha did not hear her, his eyes were fixed with horror on Belayeff.” (72) “‘But Nikolai Ilitch, you give me your word of honor!’ cried Aliosha trembling all over.” (76) We can see that Aliosha mentions the word of honor many times. It is clear that he can not believe the adult will break his promise, not feeling guilty at all.

It isn’t until the story’s final sentence that Chekhov closes the distance between his narrator and Aliosha enough to tell us the boy’s thoughts: “This was the first time in his life that he had come roughly face to face with deceit; he had never imagined till now that there were things in this world besides pasties and watches and sweet pears, things for which no name could be found in the vocabulary of childhood.” (77) By abruptly shifting to Aliosha’s point of view, Chekhov reveals that the story is not really about Belayeff but about Aliosha and his devastation discovery of an adult’s capacity for duplicity and betrayal.

We find that we have underestimated the importance the trifle means for Aliosha. We may have made the same mistake as Belayeff does: thinking the adult’s experience is more important than the child’s.

Draft Two

Nov.18th,2006

Chekhov’s life was short, but neither sweet nor simple. It was marred early by poverty and his father’s abuse. Life in Taganrog held misery for the young Chekhov. Writing about his youth, he put the matter of his abuse about as it can be stated: “My father began to teach me, or, to put it simply, to beat me when I was less than five years old. Every morning as I woke up, I wondered, first of all, would I be beaten today?”

The shadow of his childhood affects his writing. His story “A Trifle from Real Life” reveals the relationship between the adults and the children. Belayeff finds out his lover’s son, Aliosha, seeing his Dad secretly and gets angry at what Aliosha’s Dad said. Despite his promise to Aliosha, he tells Aliosha’s Mom everything. People always assume that it is the adult whose experience is important, not the child. Most of the story restricts itself to Belayeff’s point of view. The narrator describes through Belayeff’s angle mostly. For example, the narrator describes Aliosha’s appearance through Belayeff’s eyes: Now, in the dusk of evening, Aliosha’s pale face and fixed, dark eyes unexpectedly reminded Belayeff of Olga as she had appeared in the first pages of their romance. (9) However, the true protagonist is Aliosha, not Belayeff, for he is the character who undergoes a complete process of change.

From the beginning of the story, Aliosha is presented as a clever, pretty and lively little boy. And like most kids, Aliosha feels attachment to adults and cares for them. Although “he (Belayeff) had never bestowed any consideration upon the boy or noticed his existence at all,” (8) Aliosha still notices the slight change of Belayeff that he has cut his beard. His caring toward Belayeff also demonstrates by the advice to Belayeff: “You ought to wear whiskers! You could shave here on the sides, here, and here you could let the hair grow—” (19) What a sensitive mind and sharps eyes does a child have! Beyond our expectation, children often give much attention to adults.

Aliosha is also a boy innocent and naive enough to tell others everything. He knows the consequence will be serious if his Mom finds out the secret. But he still tells Belayeff because of Belayeff’s promise. He asks for Belayeff’s promise for three times and he takes them for serious because he trusts people.

The first change presented in the story, which is hard to recognize, occurs in paragraph 40-43. The change is brought by nobody but the boy’s Papa. Aliosha asks Belayeff to tell him if it is true that they are unfortunate. When Belayeff wants to know why he asks, he says:

Because Papa says we are unfortunate children and that he is unfortunate, and that mamma is unfortunate. He tells us to pray to God for her and for ourselves. (42)

It is proved that his Papa’s words really confuse him by “Aliosha fixed his eyes on the figure of a stuffed bird, and became lost in thought.”(44) These details reveal to us for the first time that some changes are under way. I guess it has never occurred to him that they are unfortunate and he is too young to figure out why. So he turns to Belayeff for help. it is probably the first time he gets touch with the adult world.

This is not the only confusion his Papa brings to him. His Papa accused Belayeff of making Olga unhappy and ruining her while Aliosha thinks Belayeff is kind. It is that drives Belayeff angry. His Papa should not have blamed Belayeff in front of Aliosha because the relationship of his Papa, his Mom and Belayeff has nothing to do with kids. Kids should not be involved in this kind of complicated things.

Greater changes occur when Belayeff breaks his word. It is undoubtedly a terrible shock to the little boy. The author uses a series of expression and language description to prove it .This can be seen in the lines “Yes, but-you promised not to be angry!” (57) We can see Aliosha mentions the word of promise again. We connect it with the previous part that Aliosha tells Belayeff the secret only because of his promise. The boy assumes that nobody will break his word without hesitation. It is apparently a shock to him to be sold out.

There is more mental description of Belayeff than that of Aliosha. So it is easier for us to understand Belayeff’s thoughts. We know that he betrays Aliosha because he thinks “a serious, grown-up person like him could not be bothered with little boy”. (77) However, we could only sense Aliosha’s feelings from some indirect description of his acts or expression. “Aliosha cried tembling all over” (76) reveals that he is totally scared. Why? I think on one hand, the situation in which Belayeff loses his temper is horrible. On the other hand, it is scary for a little boy to face betrayal.

It isn’t until the story’s final sentence that Chekhov closes the distance between his narrator and Aliosha enough to tell us the boy’s thoughts: “This was the first time in his life that he had come roughly face to face with deceit; he had never imagined till now that there were things in this world besides pasties and watches and sweet pears, things for which no name could be found in the vocabulary of childhood.” (77) By abruptly shifting to Aliosha’s point of view, Chekhov directs us to reconsider the whole thing from a kid’s angel. We find that we have underestimated the importance the trifle means for Aliosha. It is such a big blow on the boy’s heart and perhaps causes great changes in his whole life. But we don’t realize it until the narrator tells us. We may have made the same mistake as Belayeff does: thinking the adult’s experience is more important than the child’s.

So the story is not really about Belayeff but about Aliosha and his devastation discovery of an adult’s capacity for duplicity and betrayal. The author feels deep sorry for Aliosha, the character reflecting him. He writes the story to make people how and why to understand children better.

Painful Changes in Aliosha

Dec.19th, 2006

Painful Changes in Aliosha

Chekhov’s life was short, but neither sweet nor simple. It was marred early by poverty and his father’s abuse. Life in Taganrog held misery for the young Chekhov. Writing about his youth, he put the matter of his abuse about as it can be stated: “My father began to teach me, or, to put it simply, to beat me when I was less than five years old. Every morning as I woke up, I wondered, first of all, would I be beaten today?”

The shadow of his childhood affects his writing. His story “A Trifle from Real Life” reveals the relationship between the adults and the children. Belayeff finds out his lover’s son, Aliosha, seeing his Dad secretly and gets angry with what Aliosha’s Dad said. Despite his promise of keeping the secret, he tells Aliosha’s Mom everything, without giving any thought to the poor boy’s feelings at all. People always assume that it is the adult whose experience is important, not the child. Therefore, most of the story restricts itself to Belayeff’s point of view, i.e. it describes from Belayeff’s angle mostly. For example, Aliosha’s appearance is portrayed through Belayeff’s eyes: “Aliosha’s pale face and fixed, dark eyes unexpectedly reminded Belayeff.” (54) However, the true protagonist is Aliosha, not Belayeff, for he is the character who undergoes a complete process of change.

From the beginning of the story, Aliosha is presented as a clever, pretty and lively little boy. And like most kids, Aliosha feels attachment to adults and cares for them. Although “he [Belayeff] had never bestowed any consideration upon the boy or noticed his existence at all,” (54) Aliosha still notices the slight change of Belayeff that “[he has] cut [his] beard”. (54) His caring toward Belayeff is also demonstrated by the advice to Belayeff: “You ought to wear whiskers! You could shave here on the sides, here, and here you could let the hair grow—” (54) What a sensitive mind and sharps eyes does a child have! Beyond our expectation, children often give much attention to adults.

Aliosha is also a boy innocent and naive enough to tell others everything. He knows the consequence will be serious if his Mom finds out the secret. Belayeff’s three promises to keep mouth shut work only because the boy has faith in what people say.

The first change presented in the story, which is hard to recognize, occurs in paragraph 40-43. Nobody but the boy’s Papa brings the change. Aliosha asks Belayeff to tell him if it is true that they are unfortunate. When Belayeff wants to know why he asks, he says:

Because Papa says we are unfortunate children and that he is unfortunate, and that mamma is unfortunate. He tells us to pray to God for her and for ourselves. (55)

It is proved that his Papa’s words really confuse him by the line “Aliosha fixed his eyes on the figure of a stuffed bird, and became lost in thought.”(55) These details reveal to us for the first time that some changes are under way. I guess it has never occurred to him that they are unfortunate and he is too young to figure out why. So he turns to Belayeff for help. It is probably the first time he gets touch with the adult world.

This is not the only confusion his Papa brings to him. His Papa accused Belayeff that “it is [his] fault that mamma is unhappy and [he has] ruined mamma” (56) while Aliosha thinks Belayeff is kind. It is that drives Belayeff angry. His Papa should not have blamed Belayeff in front of Aliosha because the relationship of his Papa, his Mom and Belayeff has nothing to do with kids. Kids should not be involved in this kind of complicated things.

Greater changes occur when Belayeff breaks his word. It is undoubtedly a terrible shock to the little boy. The author uses a series of expression and language description to prove it such as “Yes, but-you promised not to be angry!” (56) We can see Aliosha mentions the word of promise again. We can connect it with the previous part of promise not to tell. It is undoubtedly a shock to Aliosha to find out his assumption is wrong that nobody will break his word without hesitation and feeling guilty.

There is more mental description of Belayeff than that of Aliosha. So it is easier for us to understand Belayeff’s thoughts. We know that he betrays Aliosha because he thinks “a serious, grown-up person like him could not be bothered with little boy”. (57) However, we could only sense Aliosha’s feelings from some indirect description of his acts or expression. “Aliosha cried trembling all over” (57) reveals that he is totally scared. Why? I think on one hand, the situation in which Belayeff loses his temper is horrible. On the other hand, it is scary for a little boy to face betrayal.

It isn’t until the story’s final sentence that Chekhov closes the distance between his narrator and Aliosha enough to tell us the boy’s thoughts: “This was the first time in his life that he had come roughly face to face with deceit; he had never imagined till now that there were things in this world besides pasties and watches and sweet pears, things for which no name could be found in the vocabulary of childhood.” (57) By abruptly shifting to Aliosha’s point of view, Chekhov directs us to reconsider the whole thing from a kid’s angel. We find that we have underestimated the importance the trifle means for Aliosha. It is such a big blow on the boy’s heart and perhaps causes great changes in his whole life. But we don’t realize it until the narrator tells us. We may have made the same mistake as Belayeff does: thinking the adult’s experience is more important than the child’s.

So the story is not really about Belayeff but about Aliosha and his devastation discovery of an adult’s capacity for duplicity and betrayal. The author feels deep sorry for Aliosha, a character reflecting him. He writes the story to make people know how to understand children better.

Word Cited
http://college.hmco.com/english/kalaidjian/understanding_lit/1e/students/drama/chekhov.html
Anton Chekhov. “A Trifle from Real Life.” 1888. Rpt. in The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction. Ruth Spark. New York: St. Martin’s, 1994.6-8

Reading Log on "Village"

Dec.19th, 2006

Just as I was reading the first several paragraphs, I had had the feeling that it was an anti-war work. I guessed the peacefulness, stillness in the opening part served as a sharp contrast to the horror of wars which I assumed would be presented in the following part.

I naturally thought that way because the Vietnam War was the longest and the most unpopular military conflict in U.S. history. I thought the story was to some extent predictable. But as I moved on, I found it was not like other novels with anti-war themes. Without direct description of the horrific scenes of combats, it represented a new perspective, focusing on a single soldier struggling with his conscience.

I found the character had a lot in common with me. For us, the war was nothing but sheer torture. As the author stated, “Rico was no soldier”. But it was the unqualified soldier that touched me. I admired his humanity and respect for lives.

When the order to destroy the village came, I felt as horrified as Rico. I couldn’t wait to see whether the order would be carried out or not. In my opinion, the village’s chance to survive was slim because the order from headquarters said loudest. I felt right there inside the story. I was biting my low lips just like Rico when I came to the line “Once the arm came down, there was no turning back.” My heart was raised to the throat.

You can imagine how relieved I was when I saw Rico had saved the village. And then I was worried about Rico. I knew how serious it was to betray the order in army. How much would Rico pay for his act and would he regret?

The end of the story was the most significant. I was deeply touched by Rico’s concern about the village regardless his hopeless future. Harry didn’t regard Rico as a hero. Neither did others. But in my eyes, Rico was a real hero. I love the line Rico said at last most: “I’m free inside, Harry. Free…”

After reading the whole story, I thought of a sentence that fit the story: For those who fight for it, Freedom has a flavor the protected will never know. Those who have fought for freedom, and have lost it, know a sadness and sense a loss beyond bearing.

I enjoyed reading the story “Village” and I thought it was a worth-reading story. What I did not get is the part about the character’s Mexican background. I sensed the author implied that the Mexican background had something to do or contribute to his action of disobeying. And I thought the author also intended to compare the character with other “city dude”. It was just a feeling. I could not understand that very well.

Timed Writing

December.21st, 2006

Direct flight enables you to travel from Shanghai, China to New York in a couple of hours. And you can hardly find great difference between the two cities. The skyscrapers in Pudong are just like those in Manhattan. China’s Reform and Open Up Policy has brought tremendous changes to this country and made it more and more similar to other places since globalization has influenced every aspect of our life.

Ladies who love fashion now are able to find nearly every worldwide well-known brand like Gucci and L.V in shopping centers in Shanghai such as Xujiahui and Nanjing Road. It is undeniable that China has become a very important market target of many international corporations. Shopping in Shanghai is as easy as in Paris or Tokyo. The days have gone that we had to fly to Hong Kong to do the shopping.

As more and more multinational corporations set branches in China, our way of work has also globalized. We learn a lot of management experience from international firms like Intel and P&G. It is a trend that our local firms are becoming more and more efficient and people-oriented.

Globalization can also be seen in Chinese’s life style especially young people. They tend to live a more western life. It is common for them to have afternoon tea in the work break or go to pub after dinner, while their parents’ generation is more likely to watch TV at home. Speaking of TV, there is also a globalizing wave. Almost everyone in China has watched, or at least heard about a TV show named Super Girl. Everyone is crazy about the girls who attend the play. And as we all know, Super Girl imitates a show in the U.S.A named American Dreams.

Shanghai is becoming another New York or Tokyo while other cities in China are becoming another Shanghai. It seems that nobody could avoid globalization in the Internet era. New China is accepted by the world and meanwhile, Chinese people are leaning more about the world outside. We have accepted the idea that the whole world will become a global community. Although a lot of people insist that we should maintain our own uniqueness, there is no reason that we stop modernization. The theme of EXPO 2010 in Shanghai is “Better city, better life”. It is predictable that more and more farmers will move to cities in the near future.