Phrase 1: Cover Letter

I have never view language as such an important tool; it has always been something for me to communicate or whatnot, to read. However, this FIQWS class is helping me a lot in developing critical thinking in the topic of “Language.” The readings from Lippi Green, Amy Tan, and June Jordan was marvelous. One of the most memoizable passages in the reading(s) was the imaginary situation in Lippi Green. The class was given a quote and got to discuss a society where everyone’s physical appearances are the same and then furthermore expanded into everyone speaking English, or any other language, correspondingly. This made me wonder if there are so many activists on LGBTQIA, Women suffrage, Civil rights, and etc. Why is language activist is not as exposed to the general public?

            There is an exceeding amount of good readings that is eye-catching and hooking to the audience. And one commonality among them is the methods applied. For example, the rhetorical situation (ethos, pathos, logo.) It convinces the audience by providing a common ground, statistics, and well-reasoning purpose; this composed the main component of writing, by having a moral for the readers to take away or diversify. My high school teacher has mentioned ethos, pathos, logos before, but I was more on the “show me don’t tell me” side. I liked to describe an event thoroughly by recollecting little details that form a picture. Because of this, it caused me to miss out on the big part in producing the main thesis.

            Thankfully, the extensive research on the rhetorical situation on both speech and writing has helped me improve on generating a better moral. That is a meaningful and not-cliché conclusion. Additionally, throughout the researching phase, I managed to discover fascinating patterns by completing the rhetorical worksheet. At the beginning of filling out the worksheet, I was confused; “Why do I need to cite? Why do I need to get to know the author?” And these questions were answered precisely in the FIQWS class. The exploration of the author provides insight on what other possibilities are making the author in pursuing this specific topic; as well as a citation, which tells you the year of publication and the kinds of the audience will be reading the piece.

            The course outcomes on the syllabus were what the class read on the first day, and obviously, it will impact our grades on future assignments. As mentioned in the last paragraph, I managed to “Locate research sources […] in the library databases or archives and on the internet and evaluate them for creditability, accuracy, and bias.” I figured out that Amy Tan’s Mothers Tongue was initially published in The Threepenny Review in 1990. The literacy magazine is mainly read by educators, students, and professionals; and the year 1990 have a lot of early immigrational problems.

Moreover, I achieve “develop strategies for reading, draft, revising, and editing” with the help of Mr. Andrew. On the weekly tutoring (luckily, I was the first one,) I learn more strategy of how to show don’t tell and expanding simple phrases. Mr. Andrew also carefully read through the entire narrative and fixed a few of the sentence clauses and grammar issues. Thank You!

Advantages

“Cough, Cough” The homeroom teacher, Mrs. Villegas, cleared her throat. “Listen up class, this is our new student—why don’t you introduce yourself, dear?” The teacher turned to me with a kind smile. “Umm… hi, my name is Vivian, I am from China,” I said with a munchkin voice, and of course, my pale face turned as red as a rose. My family moved to Las Vegas from Hong Kong just two weeks ago, and there I was, trying to introduce myself to a class full of unfamiliar faces and the new environment where I do not even recognize its native tongue.

I transferred to the class at the very end of the semester. By then, every child had already become friends; Shy was the last word I would use to describe the class. Surprisingly, I did not become an outcast. Most of the students were friendly and interested in my background. “Hi, Vivian! I’m Vanessa, want someone to show you around?” The girl asked politely, and I thought the new chapter of my journey had begun.

Not long after, my father returned from a business trip in Hong Kong and brought back five beautiful lead pencils as a late birthday gift for me. I was a big fan of collecting different kinds of stationery materials. Among the lead pencils, there was this pinkish one with cat patterns that its cap can be used as a roller. The usage was similar to what is recently popular, the fidget spinner, as a boredom reliever or self-distracting tool.

The following day, it was math and science class in the morning. I raised my hand continuously and shouted, “I know, I know!” For math being my strongest subject, I was delighted. The lunch announcement started, and it was time for lunch. The students rushed out of the classroom like a racing game. From meters, I can smell the sweet scent spreading from the school snack shop. I flipped over both of my pockets and realized I left my wallet in my backpack.

I proceeded to the classroom to find my wallet, and I saw Vanessa sneaking my pencils into her table cabinet. “Hey, that is mine!” I raised my voice and broke the ice. “What’s yours?” Vanessa looked as if she was perplexed, confused by my accusation. It seems like Vanessa took a liking for the lead pencils.

The bell rung and English class started. Meanwhile, I kept biting my lips to keep the angry thoughts away from buzzing in my mind; like the kind of mosquito that distracts you from sleeping at night. As the teacher dismissed the class, I went up for a small conversation. “Vanessa, could you please stay for a moment?” Mrs. Villegas called, and few of the curious classmates came along. The teacher could not find anything in her desk and spoked, “there must be some confusion she doesn’t have your pencils.” I could not believe my ears and hoped desperately to have a dictionary to translate every word in my mind precisely to English.

When the classmates and I were approaching the exit of the school, I saw the pencils through her half-zipped backpack. I tapped the girl next to me, “I see it! I see it!” She showed a look of sympathy and responded, “But the teacher checked, she doesn’t have it.” Once again, I lacked the words, and my body language could not help. Vanessa smirked.

Once the school bus arrives home, I rushed through the hallway to enter my room. I threw my backpack on the floor then sat down, beginning to question my ability and stupidity of not knowing how to justify myself; The classmates thought I was making up stories.  Suddenly, my mother entered my room and noticed the grumpy look I had on all afternoon. “What’s up? Hungry?” she said utterly. My replies followed up by words and emotions blurted out in Chinese       like a sealed waterway. My mother laughed, yes, laughed and muttered, “All this for a pencil? It’s not worth it.” For a split second, her face eyebrow raised, and continued, “but do remember this, don’t let people take advantage of what you lack.” 

I can see the shadow of my experiences in Amy Tan’s essay, where the oppression exists because of Standard English. In my case, my classmate easily kept my cherished pencil because I was new to the language. Applying this to a more serious situation; Amy Tan’s mother speaks “broken” English, so the doctor did not take her seriously. Which ultimately, can be catastrophic to Tan’s family because a brain tumor is not a joke.

That was when I realize some people will take advantage of you when they know your weakness. Since the incident, I started improving my English dramatically and make sure all my pencils will stay safe.