Cover Letter

Welcome to my blog space

It would be my great honor to share my experience in English writing here. In my case, I have learned English for almost ten years. Since I had learned English in a typical Chinese way, I did not have a good master in organizing words in an appropriate way to express myself. To some extent, passing the English exam was the only purpose for me to learn English in the past. I only wrote English compositions in tests and my compositions were rigid. While after the superior English writing course in this semester, the situation has changed. I get accustomed to express my mind in English. The most important thing is that I become interested in English writing. It is a kind of fresh experience which is quite fascinated to me.

My teacher, Mr. Corio, has taught me something which is essential in English writing. During the course, I have tried to write English compositions without worrying about whether it would get a poor mark.. I have learnt to grab the key factors in appreciating an English composition, such as characters, environment and tone of authors. A comprehensive comment on other’s works should be based on the understanding of the author’s mind. My attitude on English writing has been changed after I have written my first essay. Composing a essay is a charming task which needs care, patience and hard work. After finishing the essay, I have gained a sense of achievement in return. Composing an English composition is not a task which aims at getting a high score in test anymore, but a course to express myself, an opportunity to tell readers what I think. Mr. Corio has also taught me to pay more attention to small mistakes in my articles and to modify my article in a period of time to make it better.

My first work in my writing portfolio involves in the quality of life. It is also my first attempt to compose a complete essay which includes three drafts. In The Necklace by Guy de Manpassant, the author depicts a person who experiences several events and changes a lot. In the course to compose an essay, I met a bottleneck in finding a strong statement to discuss the thesis which I was interested in. After I communicated with Mr. Corio for several times, I got the proper statement. A strong thesis statement requires much evidence to support. In my first draft, I did not identify the source of the quotation. In the three drafts, I have discussed the quality of life sincerely. I have also corrected a lot of small mistakes and removed personal pronouns to make the article more convincing under the instruction of Mr. Corio. The course in finishing the essay has impressed me a lot and stimulates my interest in English writing more or less.

The second work is the result of final-timed writing composition. In Dead Men’s Path by Chinua Achebe, the priest says “let the hawk perch and let the eagle perch.” Mr. Corio requires me to explain the meaning of the sentence and discuss what the saying has revealed about the priest. This is the third time for me to compose a timed-writing composition. Therefore, I am quite confident to finish it. In the course to finish the article, I met difficulty to express the meaning of the saying. It is not an easy question to answer, while I think I did it well after I had taken all the exercises of the writing course in the semester. I become familiar with the structure of the composition and I know how to organize words to express my mind properly. I do not make many grammatical errors in the article.

My final paper deals with several eternal topics, belief, wisdom and love. In The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen by Bruno Lessing, the author writes a story which can show the value and importance of these precious virtues. Making comment on other’s work is totally unfamiliar to me at first. Mr. Corio made me realize the importance of understanding the mind and tone of the author before making any comment. I have taken advantage of quotation to make my composition more persuasive with the help of teacher first time. And I have found some small grammatical errors after I have taken the courses for a period of time.

That is the introduction of all the works appeared in my portfolio. These articles reveal the progress I have made in the semester and I also want to show my gratitude to Mr. Corio for his help in my English writing. It is my pleasure to share my experience in English writing with you and I would be very glad to know if you have ever learned anything in my portfolio.

Yours faithfully, Jiamin Bao 0570057

21.6.07 10:18