Cover Letter
June 21, 2007
I come to this university from the city of Wuhan. An entrance test placed me in one of the advanced English classes, and in there I met a number of excellent students with a good mastery of the English language. Fortunately, the education I received in high school enabled me to attain the same proficiency that my classmates had, but I was still not at the top of the class. However, being in an advanced class offers precious opportunities, and for this reason I continued to enroll in advanced courses. This semester I am taking an Academic Writing Course and, again, I was among a number of excellent fellow students in the course. Though at times frustrated, I usually found great encouragement. I am aware that I am not the best in the class but I feel I have the ability and the perspective to see my fellow students as examples and their excellence as a goal to strive towards. I believe it is admirable to be an ambitious person, to try to create an environment for oneself that enables one to take up the challenge of competing with and, if possible, to exceed the abilities of one’s fellow students. This is what I believe I am doing.
In this class, I have discovered that I can express myself clearly but not vividly. I lack the ability to work out elegant sentences. While reading, I cannot accurately grasp the exact meaning that the author wishes to convey. After deep thought and analysis, I realize that the reasons may be the lack in my vocabulary and the scarcity of opportunities to practice my English. In brief, I believe I should spend more time learning English and using English. I have therefore revised my schedule and am devoting myself to revision. I do not let professional courses hold back my English study time. I carry a big heavy Oxford dictionary and English magazines to the self-study classroom; I learn the usage of the words or phrases that appear in the magazines, and take down notes on them, marking down beautiful expressions to be used in my own essays. Though the process is slow, I am continually working on it because I believe it is worthwhile.
I have listed below the items that I have worked on this semester.
I wrote reading logs about each story, and the “reading log” section contains one of them.
And from the four stories we have read I chose to have a discussion on “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen”. I revised the essay again and again, thus there are three drafts. The development in the course of these three drafts is obvious. In our first peer review, my partner pointed out that the direction of the essay is clear but the language is dull, and stronger paragraph development would be better. My teacher read Draft Two, suggesting that there should be fewer quotations but more discussion in my own words. I took their advice, revised the discussion part a number of times, and polished the language. So Draft Three is more convincing and coherent.
In addition to this we had three special classes for timed-writing, in which we discussed certain topics within a limited period of time. In the very first class, I was not able to balance the time and article development. I was upset after the class and tried to practice writing articles at a faster pace on the computer. So in our second timed-writing class, I did much better, and to my amazement, there were also fewer careless mistakes in my article. Here I have posted my final timed-writing.
In this course, I met friends whose English abilities are excellent. This encouraged me to keep striving for progress. I wrote an essay, which was a true challenge and a significant step along with several timed-writings for which I received useful advice and suggestions from both the teacher and my fellow classmates. I have experienced the thrill of learning as well as using the English language and I will keep on pursuing improvement even though my credits on English courses have now finished.
Essay Draft Three
June 22, 2007
Is Shadrach Cohen Americanized?
In the late 19th century many Jews in the ghettos of Russia fled to America with little money, and they had to struggle to survive. The story of “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen” by Bruno Lessing was written during this period of time. In the story, the father of the family, Shadrach Cohen, moves to America five years after his two sons, Abel and Gottlieb, leave for America. The father and sons have conflicts in the first few months of Shadrach’s arrival, since their habits and attitude towards Judaism have become so different that they cannot understand, or are reluctant to accept, each other’s way of life. But Shadrach gradually gains respect from his sons. The author titles the story to demonstrate how the conflict of this family is resolved. However, further analysis challenges the title of the story – Shadrach is not actually Americanized.
When Shadrach first arrives in America, he is greeted by his two sons the moment the ship docks. From that time on Shadrach encounters a number of differences between his sons and himself. He cannot even recognize Abel and Gottlieb at first, and their “effusive greeting” (46) is also not what he expects either. Furthermore, Abel soon points out that prayer at meals is not quite American so they omit it. Great changes have occurred! The two young men were deeply influenced by the Americans around them during those five years, while Shadrach was staying in his own country and keeping to his old ways. Abel and Gottlieb at times urge Shadrach to go to a barber, but Shadrach persists in his old ways and customs, and never has the slightest thought of trimming his beard or leaving out the prayer. Shadrach’s insistence on keeping to his old ways gives rise to the conflict between his sons and himself. The problem is eventually solved, but not because Shadrach changed his original way of life. At the very end of the story, the description of Shadrach is exactly the same as that in the beginning, with his “long, straggling beard” (51) and a daily prayer. In this aspect, Shadrach is not Americanized in appearance or behavior, and he has his reasons for this.
Shadrach is a persistent person. He has his own way of life, and no matter how eager Abel and Gottlieb are to try to persuade him to make even the slightest change, his strong inner conviction always makes him stick to the original. His response is always strong: “I am a newly arrived Russian Jew” or “it is wrong to omit the prayer” (47). To Shadrach, it is alright to demonstrate uniqueness in this foreign country; keeping a ringlet or praying is never considered a problem. To him, it is not necessary to give up old habits as long as they are proper and do not interfere with the daily life of others. Above all, it is his religion. He holds to his belief in Judaism with unshakeable faith that “the religion is the worship of Jehovah, who has chosen us as His children on earth” (47). He wears a beard, and others naturally recognize him as the Russian Jew that he is. It is Shadrach’s identity, which he firmly maintains at all times. He admits that “religion is quick to fly” (50) when life is easy and carefree, but it is to be firmly held when life is hard, since religion brings people consolation. In Shadrach’s mind, life is always about being earnest; people should earn their life “by the sweat of their brow” (50). Based on this perspective of life and religion, there is no doubt that Shadrach would never do what is not in accord with his religion.
However, as his business begins to prosper, his increasing involvement in this new life gives him the chance to peer into the American culture, and it leads to his changes in opinion – he becomes “broader-minded, more tolerant, and…more flexible in his tenet” (50). These are good things to learn; being in a new environment, change is unavoidable, and the “faculty of adaptability” (50) is also needed. After all, he is doing business with those American people; he should cater to American tastes in order to enlarge his social circle, make profits and for his business to prosper. But before these changes, Shadrach already has “the true money-maker spirit” (50), and the rich experiences and rules that he already gained from previous business endow “some instinct” (50) to guide him to the right path through success. Being an outstanding business man, learning from experience is welcome and admirable. We can imagine that from the first time Shadrach stepped into the business world, there would be a lot to learn, like how to deal with other people of various characteristics, or what to do under such and such circumstances. The process of learning is the path to grow, to mature, gain experiences, and, consequently, to achieve success. Also, principles are constantly formed and accumulated from numerous issues he confronted before and is confronting now, thus it leads Shadrach to be a man of principle. One should not stop learning at any time. Every time Shadrach learns certain keys to success, he applies them to the next battle of business or life issue. In America, he experiences the new and fresh, and learns a lot that is beneficial for him.
By these comparatives, “broader” or “more” (50), the author indicates what Shadrach was like primarily — broad-minded, tolerant, and flexible in his tenets. Moreover, from the first half of the story, it can be gathered from the way he acts that these were the qualities he possessed.
Though distressed and puzzled about the differences between him and the sons and the latter’s desire for him to change – telling him to go and have a change of appearance or that prayer at meals is not quite American to the point of annoyance – Shadrach never loses his temper. At such moments he keeps his lips “shut tightly” (46), and just “[goes] on with his prayer” (47), or “[listens] patiently” (47). Shadrach has a tolerant attitude towards Abel and Gottlieb’s opinion, even though in certain instances his religious beliefs are being undermined by his sons. This family relationship is what he treasures the most. When faced with issues in other valuable relationships with people, he will equally show his tolerance to maintain the relationships.
Yet he is not tolerant to everyone. When met by that impatient clerk in his store, who speaks to him “in a sharp tone” (49), he perceives with his shrewdness that this man is not worth hiring in his store. He has not the least tolerance to this unqualified clerk and drives him away. It shows Shadrach’s variance in his tolerance.
The change of being “more” is not a fundamental change, but enrichment and enhancement of his character.
“The faculty of adaptability” (50) is what Shadrach has gained through interacting with the American business men. However, this does not prove that he is Americanized. Adaptability does not signify that he has been assimilated to become more American. Adaptability is an essential requirement when immigrating to a foreign country with a totally different culture.
What Shadrach learns in America and the changes he undergoes benefits him a lot. However, these changes cannot be called Americanization. To this proud and persevering Russian Jew, he can never allow himself to be Americanized. Though there are evolutions and enhancements, it is “the same Shadrach Cohen” (50). The most distinctive features that set him apart from Americans are by no means diminished. He rigidly carries on his old way of life, while what he acquires in America enriches and strengthens his lifelong principles.
Lessing, Bruno. “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen.” 1903. Rpt. in The International Story: An Anthology with Guidelines for Reading and Writing about Fiction. Ruth Spack. New York: St. Martin’s, 1994. 45-51.
Essay Draft Two
May 15, 2007
Was Shadrach Cohen Americanized?
In the late 19th century, a large number of people moved from their hometown to another place, which is called the mass immigration. During this period of time, many Jewish in the ghettos of Russia fled to America with little money, and they had to struggle to survive. However, in the story of “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen” by Bruno Lessing, the mass immigration serving as the background, the father of the family moved to America five years later than his two sons, Abel and Gottlieb, did, but had a conflict with his sons in the first few months after his arrival, since he was “clinging to the habits and customs of his old life” (47), which made his sons feel strange and ashamed, and it leads to a conflict between the family. But Shadrach gradually gained respect from his sons. The story seems to present that the conflict-solving is the result of Americanization of Shadrach Cohen. In my point of view, however, it is the result of Shadrach’s learning, acceptance, and adaptability to the American culture and his genuine capability in handling a business. And he was not really Americanized at all.
When Shadrach first came to America, he was greeted by his two sons at the moment the ship landed. Just from that time on, Shadrach discovered a series of differences between his sons and himself. His sons were “dapper-looking” and “wore a flaring necktie with a diamond in it” (46), while he “wore a gabardine-the loose, baglike garment of the Russian Ghetto-and had a long, straggling grey beard and ringlets that came down over his ears” (46) as a typical Russian Jew. And his sons “had never been demonstrative in their affection for him” (46), or meet him with “an effusive greeting” (46). The word “never” indicates that Abel and Gottlieb’s manner towards their father was no way the same as they did before in Russia. What’s more, when Shadrach “began to recite the grace after meals” (46), Abel pointed out that prayer at meals was not quite American. We can deduce it from the above that their dressing style or many behaviors used to be similar, and the family used to get along well with each other, as they lived together and could easily understand others’ ways, but Shadrach, at the day of his arrival at America, felt a “wall” between him and his sons then. Abel and Gottlieb, having been in America for five years, were more or less influenced by the American people around them. They made themselves look like American and did no long do what was “not quite American” (47) such as prayer at meals. They urged their father to go to a barber, because Shadrach presented like a “perfect type of the immigrant whose appearance they had so frequently ridiculed” (46). Though Abel and Gottlieb were “as children compared with their father” (50), their suggestion of a change in appearance was not unacceptable, since Abel and Gottlieb could not possibly be the only two young men in America that made jokes about newly landed Russian Jews, at least first impression is necessarily considered when two strangers first meet, thus to make himself more like an America would be helpful with Shadrach’s new life in this country. But at the end of the story, Shadrach was still “with a long, straggling beard, and ringlets of hair falling over the ears, and clad in the long gabardine of the Russian Ghettos”, and also “donned his praying cap, and with bowed head intoned the grace after meals”. These descriptions, the same as the ones at the beginning of the story, reveal that Shadrach was not Americanized by appearance or behavior, and he had his reasons.
Shadrach was a persistent person. So many times did his sons suggest him to make himself more “like the other men of your (Shadrach’s) age in this country” (47), but his reaction was “clinging to the habits and customs of his old life with a tenacity” (47). “The more they (Abel and Gottlieb) urged him (Shadrach) to abandon his ways the more eager he seemed to become to cling to them” (47). Shadrach had his own way of life, and his strong inner world made it hard to change. If anyone shows his doubts or gives an advice about alternation, he would firmly respond that it was just right in keeping his old ways, like once when his sons told him “no one wears a beard like yours except the newly landed Russian Jews”, indicating that he should trim his beard, he replied “then I will keep my beard as it is. I am a newly landed Russian Jew”. To Shadrach, it is alright to demonstrate uniqueness in this foreign country, never considering keeping a ringlet or prayer as problems, believing it not needed to give up old habits as long as they were proper and there was no interference in others’ daily life. It was his own business. He did wear a beard, and who would care? Others might recognize that he was a Russian Jew, and then he was. It was Shadrach’s certain identity, which he was firmly maintaining. What he said to Abel and Gottlieb represented his deep thought about religion: “the religion is the worship of Jehovah, who has chosen us as His children on earth” (47). Because of these, Shadrach kept his ringlet and the prayer at meals, which are “references to the Jewish religion” (45). However, appealed by “the charm of American life, of liberty, of democracy” (50), he admits that “when life is light and free from care, religion is quick to fly; but when the sky grows dark and life becomes earnest, and we feel its burden growing heavy upon our shoulders, the we welcome the consolation that religion brings, and we cling to it” (50). But he taught the tenet of life to Abel and Gottlieb that “they were earning their bread by the sweat of their brow” (50)--he always deeply believed that “life was earnest”, rather than “light and free from care”, thus he “welcomed the consolation” and “insisted upon a strict observance of every tenet of their religion” (50).
However, as he gradually “became more and more in contact with American business men” (50) and more involved in this new life, he peered into the American culture and was “undergoing a change” (50). ”He became broader-minded, more tolerant, and, above all, more flexible in his tenet” (50), and he also learned “faculty of adaptability” (50). These are good things to learn; having been in a new environment, a change is unavoidable, and the “faculty of adaptability” is needed. After all, he was doing business with those American people; he should conduct himself to American appetite in order to make profits and prosper his business. But before these changes, Shadrach already was “the true money-maker spirit” (50), and the rich experiences that he already gained from his previous business “failed him some instinct” “to guide him aright” (50). Being an outstanding business man, learning from experiences is welcome and admirable. We can imagine that from the first time Shadrach stepped into the business world, there would be a lot to learn, like how to deal with other people of various characteristic, or what to do under such and such circumstances. The process of learning is the path to grow, get mature, gain experiences, and achieve success consequently. Shadrach was a man of principle, and these principles were accumulated from numerous issues he had confronted before and was confronting then. Learning should not be stopped at any time. Every certain time, he learned certain values of success, and applied them to the next battle of business or issue in usual life. So, in this experience in America, Shadrach felt freshness, and learned a lot, becoming “broader-minded, more tolerant”, and “more flexible in his tenet”.
By these comparatives, the author indicated what Shadrach had been like primarily—broad-minded, tolerant, and flexible in his tenets. Moreover, from the former half part of the story, these can also be reflected from the way he acted. Though distressed and puzzled about the differences that had happened between him and the sons, and was urged to go and have a change of appearance, or was told prayer at meals was not quite American, which offensively annoyed him a lot, Shadrach never lose the temper. Every time at such a moment, he would keep his lips “shut tightly” (46), or “looked from one to the other, and went on with his prayer” (47), or “listened patiently” (47), or again “looked from one to the other and keep his lips tightly pressed together” (47). Shadrach had such a tolerant attitude towards Abel and Gottlieb’s opinion, which strongly resisted his belief in religion, because he very much treasured this relationship. And when facing other valuable relationships with people, he would equally show his tolerance to maintain them. Yet he was not tolerant to everyone. When met by that “pale-faced clerk” (49), who spoke to him “in a sharp tone” and “frown impatiently” (49), he perceived with his shrewdness that this man was not worth to hire in his store. He had not the least tolerance to this unqualified clerk and “sent him away at once” (49). It is his flexibility of tolerance. So the change of being “more” is not a real change, but an enrichment and an enhancement of his character.
“The faculty of adaptability” (50) is also what Shadrach learned from the business men he contacted with. But this does not prove his change as an Americanization, for adaptability can not represent the character of American, yet this is an essential while in a different culture, or he would also learn this faculty of adaptability if he immigrates to another foreign country.
What Shadrach learned in America and the changes he had undergone benefited him a lot. However, these changes can not be called the Americanization. To this persistent Russian Jew, he would never have a think about Americanizing himself. Though there were changes, “it was the same Shadrach Cohen”. The most distinctive features that tell him apart from Americans by no means diminished. He sternly carried on his old way of life, while what he learned in America enriched and strengthened his life principles.
Essay Draft One
May 7, 2007
Was Shadrach Cohen Americanized?
In the late 19th century, a large number of people moved from their hometown to another place, which is called the mass immigration. During this period of time, many Jewish in the ghettos of Russia fled to America with little money, and they had to struggle to survive. However, in the story of “The Americanization of Shadrach Cohen” by Bruno Lessing, the mass immigration serving as the background, the father of the family moved to America five years later than his two sons, Abel and Gottlieb, did, and had a conflict with his sons in the first few months after his arrival, since he was clinging to the habits and customs of his old life, which made his sons feel strange and ashamed. But he gradually gained respect from his sons. The story seems to present that the conflict-solving is the result of Americanization of Shadrach Cohen. In my point of view, however, it is the result of Shadrach’s acceptance and adaptability to the American culture and his genuine capability in handling a business. And he was not really Americanized at all.
Americanization of a person means that he appears to be an American-has the same dressing style as the Americans, eats American food, and conducts activities as Americans do-and, at the same time, thinking in an American way. That is an externally and internally change into an American. And besides, a typical American would not figure out this person is a newly-landed foreigner, at least not at the first sight.
So what about Shadrach?
When Shadrach first came to America, he was greeted by his two sons at the moment the ship landed. Just from this time on, Shadrach discovered a series of differences between his sons and himself. His sons were “dapper-looking” and “wore a flaring necktie with a diamond in it” (46), while he “wore a gabardine-the loose, baglike garment of the Russian Ghetto-and had a long, straggling grey beard and ringlets that came down over his ears” (46) as a typical Russian Jew. And his sons “had never been demonstrative in their affection for him”, or meet him with “an effusive greeting” (46). What’s more, he “began to recite the grace after meals” (46), but Abel pointed out that prayer at meals is not quite American. We can deduce it from the above that their dressing style or many behaviors used to be similar but Shadrach felt a “wall” now. The word “never” indicates that Abel and Gottlieb’s manner towards their father was no way the same as they did before in Russia. Abel and Gottlieb had been in America for five years, and were surely influenced by the American people around them. They made themselves look like American and did no long do what was “not quite American” (47) such as prayer at meals. Therefore, their attitude towards way of dressing and prayer at meals can represent that of American’s. And at the end of the story, Shadrach was still “with a long, straggling beard, and ringlets of hair falling over the ears, and clad in the long gabardine of the Russian Ghettos”, and also “donned his praying cap, and with bowed head intoned the grace after meals”. These descriptions, the same as the ones at the beginning of the story, reveal that Shadrach was not Americanized by appearance or behavior.
But was he Americanized internally?
First, we should know something about the characteristics of him.
He was patient and kind, especially when he dealt with his sons, and was experienced in every respects of life.
Before the sons took their father home, and several times in the following few months, they urged their father to go to a barber and make himself more like an American, but Shadrach never listened. To Abel and Gottlieb, their father “was a perfect type of the immigrants whose appearance they had so frequently ridiculed” (46), thus they showed such an eager to try to persuade Shadrach to go to a barber, so that local people would not “ridicule” Shadrach’s appearance. Despite of realizing “that there was a wall between him and his sons” (46) or “taking no interest in their business affairs”, “he responded, almost cheerfully, to all their requests for money” (47). It suggests that he loved his sons very much, and tried hard to be nice to them. However, just as the author said, “there is no rule for the turning of the worm. Some worms, however, turn with a crash” (48). As Gottlieb informed his father of his marriage, Shadrach felt happy for Gottlieb and was anxious to see his future daughter-in-law, but to his shock, Gottlieb did not think it was the right time, saying ”she is an American girl. She-she won’t-er-understand your ways-don’t you know? And it may spoil everything” (48). Even at this moment, Shadrach tried not to be mad, for he “was red in face with suppressed rage” (48). Anyway, it definitely aroused Shadrach’s anger that his son was ashamed of him! He burst out, shouting furiously at his sons. Shadrach had always been nice to his sons, and controlled himself many times when he got confused, disappointed, or angry. He was not easily raged, but lose his temper with a crash this time, which infers that he thought it extremely wrong that being American-like was of such importance as his sons believed, and he was very much disappointed with Abel’s and Gottlieb’s idea. What Abel and Gottlieb cared about was only the appearance of people, including their father’s, of course. They emphasized all the time that their father should be made LOOK more like an American. They judged people by appearance. But from Shadrach’s perspective, as a father who was rich in life experiences, it does not matter what a person appears to be. And the following facts show that what Shadrach believed was true.
The author presented different perspective from the sons’ and the father’s, and also a result that shows the father, rather than Abel and Gottlieb, was right.
The father is described as experienced while the two sons not. Abel and Gottlieb judged things by first impression, while Shadrach would consider the inside parts and handle things well. For five years, Abel and Gottlieb managed the store fairly well. When Shadrach walked in for the first time, “he looked around him with great satisfaction at the many evidences of prosperity which the place presented” (49). The store seemed prosperous. However, after Shadrach “familiarized himself with the details of the business” (49), he found that Abel and Gottlieb ”have both been making as complete a mess of this business as they could without ruining it” (49). But Shadrach was “the true money-maker spirit” and managed to “grasp the most intricate phases of trade” (50). Shadrach can perceive the business of the inside parts, and on the contrary, Abel and Gottlieb were only able to run a store which appeared to be prosperous but actually not. It is just like that Shadrach didn’t care about whether he looked like an American or not, but focused on the talent to run a business, and his sons, on the other hand, concentrated on people’s appearance only. And finally it is Shadrach that succeeded. After Shadrach took over the job to manage the store, “to the amazement of Abel and Gottlieb, the business of Shadrach Cohen began to grow” (49). “They began to look upon their father with increasing respect” and “perceive that all these business men whom, in former days, they had looked upon with feelings akin to reverence, seemed to show to their father an amount of deference and respect” (50). Shadrach didn’t trim his beard or stop prayer at meals, but he was never laughed at by local people, and in opposition, gained respect from other excellent and successful people.
After realizing Shadrach’s success-not only in running a business, but in winning respect from fellow business men and his sons, who “in the mercantile realm were as children compared with their father” (50)-resulting from his rich experiences and talent, we can draw a conclusion that Shadrach’s ideas and methods of solving problems were more proper and effective than his two sons, then we should prefer and trust Shadrach, and believe that he had his own right principles to cope with any issue in life, knowing what to do and what not to do under various circumstances. He succeeded because he had stuck to these principles, which, therefore, he oughtn’t to give up. And he did not. “He became broader-minded, more tolerant, and, above all, more flexible in his tenets”, and “as the field of his business operations widened he came more and more in contact with American business men, from whom he learned many things-principally the faculty of adaptability” (50). As we know, one becomes sophisticated because he has learned many things from previous experiences. It is those successes of failures that provoke a person to think deeply about everything and acquire useful experiences or form a valuable outlook on life. Shadrach’s moving to America was a certain experience in his life: a broader mind, tolerance, flexibility in his tenets and the faculty of adaptability were what he learned from this experience, and thus his principles were enlarged and strengthened by them. Actually, he still believed in what he, before learning these new principles, had considered right. “When life is light and free from care, religion is quick to fly; but when the sky grows dark and life becomes earnest, and we feel its burden growing heavy upon our shoulders, then we welcome the consolation that religion brings, and we cling to it. And Shadrach Cohen had taught his sons that life was earnest” (50). Shadrach regarded life as earnest all the time, and “welcome the consolation that religion brings” all the time, even when “the charm of American life, of liberty, of democracy, appealed to him strongly” (50). His state of mind mentioned above does not prove that he was Americanized, but show that while still holding his original principles he accepted the American culture and finally found the “explanation that would account for the change that had come over his sons” (46), which used to distress and puzzle him on the first day of his arrival. So, Shadrach was not Americanized internally either.
Then, what was Shadrach like in an American’s eyes?
When Miriam, Gottlieb’s fiancée, finally came to see the Cohen family, she still “looked in surprise at the venerable figure that stood before her” (51). Miriam, an American girl, did not understand Shadrach’s way.
Now go back to the real meaning of Americanization, and compare it with what happened to Shadrach after he moved to America-he did not go to a barber to make himself look more like an American, did not give up the old habit of prayer at meals, still regarded life as earnest though in America, where the life is liberate and democratic, and an American felt surprised and strange when first met him, it shows clearly that Shadrach Cohen was not really Americanized.
Final Timed-writing
June 21, 2007
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%)
In this trailer, I would like to select the scene that happened at the end of the story of The Grass-Eaters.
Though the author of the story wants to tell the readers that people in the bottom class of the society led an extremely miserable life at the time, I do not feel like to make the advertisement in a sad tone. As I see it, no matter what one’s life is like, poor or sufficient, the attitude towards life is the most important thing. In other words, one can still feel the happiness of life even if he actually has little money or no place to live just as Ajit Babu does. What I want to show in this trailer is something light up, which will probably encourage people to go on their life, regardless of the real living condition. I will feel happy that, with the help of my trailer, a number of people who are suffering difficulties in their life will manage to keep up making efforts and get over the difficult time. So showing the last scene of the story will help me reach my goal.
In this certain scene, Ajit Babu and his wife are doing some daily housework, with children around, in the place they live. They clean the table, sweep the floor, and wash clothes. They do all these things together, and stop to kiss or smile to each other every few minutes. It is clear that they are very happy despite the poor condition. This poor living condition, however, should be presented to the audiences through the staff they use, like old dirty plates, worn out clothes, and something like that. What’s more, the light must be dim so that the darkness of the society can be indicated. And their children are excited playing with each other, which is the most wonderful scene that the couple would like to see. After they finish the cleaning job, they look outside, and happen to witness a woman dropping her child in the garbage can. On this heart-breaking sight, they hug each other, and then eat some grass with great content to celebrate their satisfying life.
Here is the scene that I want to film, and I hope it will attract more people to watch the film and gain the power to go on their life.
Reading Log
March 15, 2007
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
It is an astonishing story. While reading, my thoughts floated.At first, I would laugh at Mme. Loisel's idea of the unfairness about life. She is wondering being rich and charming, which I pay some sympathy that she is really not luckily born. She, however, should not wonder so much, and I think it is her fault to ask her husband that much money for a dress in order to attend a party for merely once. It is a face issue.
Reading on, I found that the above is just a small part of the story, and the unfortunate fate fell to them afterwards. No one should be blamed of losing the necklace, but it does have changed the Loisels' life. They have paid so much to replace the missing necklace, which we can figure out from what happened at the occasional reunion of Mme. Loisel and Mme. Forestier. Mme. Forestier could hardly recognize Mme. Loisel, for Mme. Loisel's appearance and spirit have been greatly changed after 10 years' heavy work. It is not easy for a poor family to pay the price. If she did not lose that necklace, she would not have led such a miserable and exhausting life even if they are still poor.
I do not know what to say when I read of the last sentence. It is surprising and unbelievable! What a huge joke! How could it be a paste necklace? How could Mme. Loisel keep working so hard just because of a paste necklace? She should not have paid that much price. It is not worth her tremendous cost! It is a ridiculous and sarcastic story, maybe the author just want to tell us that the lower-classed family, in those days, led an unimaginable difficult life all through their lives.