Introduction

Introduction X-Files of Lorry's Writing Portfolio
Name: Lorry Luo
Home Town: Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Occupation: Sophomore of the School of Economy, Fudan University.

Writing Background

I don’t have much to say about my writing background actually as I just don’t write well whatever in Chinese or English. No compliment has any thing to do with my writings before. Nevertheless, I won’t give it up. I’d like to record all the touching moments in my life. Maybe essay writing is a hard job for me, but I will make progress in it. I have two blogs on the internet. One is written in Chinese, and the other in English. I did lots of free writing there. For my favorite automobiles, I wrote massive passages about it.

Portfolio Selection

I selected a reading material the “Village” in academic writing class to do my essay, for this story is the most attractive one to me among the six. And the author has excellent techniques of portraying unique features of different characters. I would try my best to explain some typical actions and words extracted from the story under the background of the war itself and the international environment back to those days.

Cover Letter

Cover Letter
Lorry Luo
December 26, 2006



To Whom It May Concern:

I would first like to thank you for taking the time to read my writing portfolio of Academic Writing Class.

The works in the portfolio, including a final essay, two draft essays, a selected reading log and a timed-writing passage, represent what I have been up to this semester and the progress I have made.

I started this course by reading six marvelous stories with comprehensions. After reading and discussing each story I wrote a reading log about the article, recording what I thought about the plots or the characters. Here I picked up one reading log for the story the “Village” because my essay is talking about this story and its character, Rico. Except writing reading logs, we had three chances to do timed-writings which we were asked to finish a passage about a certain topic in 45 minutes. One of those is also requested to post in the portfolio, and I chose the last one as I like the topic most that is, the similarities brought by the developed communication and transportation.

During the whole semester we are trying to write a high quality essay about one of the stories. First I have to form a thesis statement to represent my opinion about the character or the plot. I wrote my thesis statement about the solider Rico. Then I started to write the first edition, the Draft Essay One which you will read in the following contents here. Later after exchange ideas with my partners and received my teacher’s comments, I went the second edition, the Draft Essay Two. In the procession of writing this edition, I learned how to make an outline of an essay and how to fill the outline with blood and flesh. Finally, I reached the last step to finish the essay which requires a very careful proofreading to find out the spelling and grammar mistakes. After that, most the elements needed for a complete portfolio are ready. Now, I’m editing the introduction and writing this cover letter to finish my portfolio.

After went through such a procedure of writing a portfolio, I've made some improvements and changes in my writing ability. Above all, the knowledge of writing an academic essay would help a lot in the future. After changing my thesis statement for three times, I understood that a thesis statement should be strong and clear. Then while writing the draft essays, I knew any thing has nothing to do with the thesis should be abandoned. The language must be clear and understandable, as I have to remember the first function of language is communication. And timed writing experience helped me greatly in organization and correctness of my language fast. I finally get to know that to write a good passage in 45 minutes requires carefulness and clear thinking all the time while writing. And generally speaking, I have to make sure every piece of work I wrote is understandable. And before working on this portfolio, I almost wrote passages that organized under the mind of Chinese not English that made my passages hard to be understood.

In the Introduction, I will tell something about myself with the writing background and the portfolio selecting. The focal point of my essay is that “Rico is no soldier but a man should be honored with humanism beyond all” and I’ll demonstrate this by analyzing several language points. The reading log mainly explained the Vietnam War’s relationship with the story.

I always have problems to explain my feelings and opinions clearly and sometimes my evidence even doesn’t for the point exactly. That is really annoying. However, my teacher and my partners would point out this to me the moment this situation happens. And several times later I can do that a little by myself. Like what my teacher’s comments on my timed writing two:”…you did not answer the first questions.” because I confused “I think” with “people think”.

Hope you can enjoy reading my works, find something interesting here.

Essay Draft One

Essay Draft One
The Character of Rico in “Village”
Lorry Luo

Most people who have experiences in this brutal war which took place in the Vietnam must have a great many scenes and episodes to recall if they want to. Rico in the story “Village” by Estela Portillo Trambley is one of them, and is one of the typical soldiers during the Vietnam era. Rico’s kind of soldier is featured sensitive thoughts with humanity, is definitely not the sort of a machine only executes commands. Estela wrote the story in 1989 during the post-Vietnam era and 'Vietnam Syndrome' is still alive and thriving.

It is human nature to treasure life. And that is exactly what Rico did that night. Obviously, in the anti-war film,”Platoon”, Sergeant Elias and Sergeant Barnes really are the driving force behind. They both have nominally the same enemy, but it doesn't take long to realize that Elias is good, and Barnes is evil. It has the same situation in”Village”. Finally, it could be realized that Rico is the one who played good as a human when he has to choose to execute or resist the order of destroying the village. Sergeant Keever in the opposite is the evil one. Estela sets up an issue of good vs. evil in her story, to let people know her attitude towards the war and the soldiers, that Rico is the man who should be honored as real man with humanity.

Rico is no soldier through this story, from the very beginning to the very ending, whatever in his own conscious or in his companies’ on his platoon. In the story, after Rico and Harry’s scout, Rico has already admitted himself that he is no soldier at all. And Estela carefully used “transformed into a soldier” here, implied that Rico was just a soldier from the outside. Hours later, this nature was confirmed by Rico’s companies. While scolding Rico, Harry said this again and again, showing how disgusting Rico’s deeds were. However, Rico didn’t care about weather he is a soldier or not, and the rescue of the village is just out of his humanity, totally opposite of that as a soldier.

Rico is a very sensitive people, as he thought much about the surroundings, and he though frequently about his hometown, comparing the village here to his own. “The village of Mai Cao was no different than Valverde, the barrio where he had grown up”, with “the same scent”, “the same warmth”,”the same mother” and so on, all of this were so apparent to this young private who is so sentimental to the whole. The similarity and the sensitivity combined, which surely make Rico’s humanity inside his heart overwhelming.

Rico has a sort of universal affection for the good of every human being. In his point of view, that all the villages here and his own back in the US, they’re just has the same nature, that all the people in the village is just what he could encounter back home. “Every human life in the village mattered.” Further more, this affection was followed by his heart, an instinct, and it was out of his nature with humanity. Rico’s determination and courage to stop Keever giving the signal count on his belief in his heart. “…this is not only with the mind but with the heart.” It is the power of faith which relied on humanity.

Rico takes nothing of himself into consideration but the rest of them. People would say that Rico finally gets relief after all and he feels free in mind while he leaves all of his business to his companies, making them suffer from the so-called Vietnam Syndromes. However, before his shooting at the signal arm, Rico has suggested Keever to evacuate the villagers three times. Unfortunately, no one responded. As a result, many people would’ve pass away without Rico’s block. And consequently, the one who shoot would get the Vietnam Syndromes after the war’s ending. It’s also his humanity in nature pushing him doing these.

Rico has no resistance, no regret, no sophistication after his capture. He just holds his belief sitting there, only supported by his nature of humanity. He have tears nevertheless nobody there can figure out the tears are out of relief, not the pain, not the fearfulness, not even his possible being locked up. That Rico’s deed was right or wrong has two side which could never reach an agreement in the eyes of soldiers and in the eyes of anybody who has a conscious of humanity.

Rico should be honored as a great warrior with the most powerful weapon ever, the humanity. What is waiting for him no doubt should be a trial in the military court. According to Rico’s feedbacks towards the people around him, it is convincible that Rico would not submit his heart to laws. And he knows it quite clear that, if the Judgment Day came he would stand at the first line to be judge for he has a strong heart with humanity. This must be the most precious prize he could gain as an honored saint human.

Essay Draft Two

Essay Draft Two
The Character of Rico in "Village"
Lorry Luo


The Vietnam War broke out in 1961, and ended in 1971 as the US forces took a full scale retreat form the battle field. Most people who have experienced this brutal war must have a great many scenes and episodes to recall if they would like to. Many of the young men who were forced to be transformed into soldiers never knew what they were fighting for. However the policy of the war against Viet Cong later received more and more oppositions from the whole country.

Rico in the story “Village” by Estela Portillo Trambley is one of the young men who became soldiers and were sent to the front line unwillingly. Rico’s kind of soldier is featured sensitive thoughts with humanity, is definitely not the sort of machines only executes commands. Estela wrote the story in 1989 during the post-Vietnam era when 'Vietnam Syndrome' is still alive and thriving.

It is human nature to treasure life. And this is why Rico blocked the order of wiping the village off that night instead of executing it. Rico was incarcerated later after that while he felt he was totally free from inside. Obviously, in the anti-war film, ”Platoon”, Sergeant Elias and Sergeant Barnes really are the driving force behind. They both have nominally the same enemy, but it doesn't take long to realize that Elias is good, and Barnes is evil. It has the same situation in ”Village”. Finally, it could be realized that Rico is the one who played the role of the good while Sergeant Keever in the opposite played the evil one. [Facol Point]Estela sets up an issue of good vs. evil contradiction in her story, telling people that she is opposing the war and that soldiers like Rico is the man who should be honored for his humanity.

Rico is no soldier from the very beginning to the very ending, whatever in his own conscious or in his companies’ eyes on his platoon. Under the definition of “Soldier” from the website “www.zh.Wikipedia.Org”, a soldier should be featured as a fighting unit that takes the order as the first priority. In the story, Rico has already admitted himself that he is no soldier at all after the scout. Estela carefully used “transformed into a soldier” here, to imply that Rico just has soldier’s appearance, and indicate his betrayal which happened later. Hours later, this nature was confirmed by Rico’s companies. While scolding Rico, Harry said that Rico was “no soldier” again and again, presenting the view of soldiers. However, Rico didn’t care about weather he was a soldier or not, the only thing that mattered to him was that the village was rescued and life were rescued. The betrayal was just out of his humanity, which replaced of executing orders as a standard soldier.

Rico is a very sensitive people. He thought frequently about the surroundings related to his hometown, comparing the village here to his own. “The village of Mai Cao was no different than Valverde, the barrio where he had grown up”, with “the same scent”, “the same warmth”, ”the same mother” and so on. All of these were so apparent to this young private who is so sentimental to the whole. The similarity and the sensitivity combined, which surely make Rico’s humanity inside his heart overwhelming. People say that war is cold and brutal. Nevertheless, Rico’s thoughts of humanity just warmed the story up, indicating that the power of humanity was irresistible.

Rico has a sort of universal affection for the benifits of every human being. In his point of view, which all the villages here and his own in the US just have the same nature, and all the people in the village are just whom he could encounter back home, for “Every human life in the village mattered.” Further more, this affection came out from his heart, his instinct, and most important his nature with humanity. Rico’s determination and courage to stop Keever giving the signal counted on his belief in his heart, for “this is not only with the mind but with the heart.” It was the power of faith which relied on humanity.

Rico took nothing into consideration for himself but only for the rest of people. People would say that Rico finally got relief after all and he felt free in mind while all of his business were left to his companies, making them suffer from the so-called Vietnam Syndromes. However, before his shooting at the signal arm, Rico has suggested Keever to evacuate the villagers three times. Unfortunately, not a time was responded. As a result, many people would’ve passed away without Rico’s block. And consequently, the one who shoot would get the Vietnam Syndromes after the war’s ending. It was also his humanity pushing him doing these.

Rico has no resistance, no regret, and no sophistication after his capture. He just holds his belief sitting there, only supported by his nature of humanity. He had tears shed though but nobody there can figure out the tears were out of relief, not the pain, not the fearfulness, not even his being restricted of physical freedom as he said to Harry, “I’m free inside, Harry.” That Rico’s deed was right or wrong had two sides which could never be reached an agreement in the eyes of standard soldiers and in the eyes of anybody who has a strong consciousness of humanity.

For all those reasons the above, Rico should be honored as a great warrior with the most powerful weapon ever, the humanity, to warm the world in the Cold War Era. What was waiting for him, without question, would be a trial in the military court. According to Rico’s feedbacks towards the people around him, it is convincible that Rico would not submit his heart to laws. And he knew something quite clearly that if the Judgment Day came he would stand at the first line to be sentenced for he has a strong heart with humanity. He should believe that weather being in prison or doing social labor work the punishment would be was not a judgment but a sentence. Rico must be honored for his great humanity. This story is plain but deep, entertaining but also oppressive. And it is educative by expressing the significance of humanity in the war.

Essay Draft Three ----Final Essay

Essay Three
December 24, 2006
The Character of Rico in “Village”
Lorry Luo

The Vietnam War broke out in 1961, and ended in 1971 as the US forces took a full scale retreat form the battle field. Most people who have experienced this brutal war must have a great many scenes and episodes to recall if they would like to. Many of the young men who were transformed into soldiers never knew what they were fighting for. However, the policy of the war against Viet Cong later received more and more oppositions from the whole country. Estela wrote the story in 1989 during the post-Vietnam era when 'Vietnam Syndrome' is still alive and thriving. These feelings and the atmosphere are vividly presented in the story.

In the story, Rico, as a transformed soldier, was sent to the Battle Field of the Vietnam War. There he developed an affectional feeling for the village of Mai Cao where he was reminded of his own barrio. And he blocked the order to erase the village after trying to persuade Sergeant Keevr to abandon the order times. And finally, the village was kept from being destroyed. However, still no people can understand his heroic deed.

Every war is cruel and inhumanitarian and most soldiers lost their humanity and became a sort of machine that only executes commands and kill. Unlike those people, I would say that Rico is no soldier but a man should be honored with humanism beyond all.

Rico is no soldier from the very beginning to the very ending, whatever in his own conscious or in his companies’ eyes on his platoon. Under the definition of “Soldier” from the website “www.zh.Wikipedia.Org”, a soldier should be a fighting unit that takes the order as the first priority. In the story, Rico has already admitted that he is no soldier at all after the scout. Estela carefully used “transformed into a soldier” (177) here, to imply that Rico just has a soldier’s appearance, indicating his betrayal which happened later. Hours later, this nature was confirmed by Rico’s companies. While scolding Rico, Harry says “You’re no soldier. You’ll never be a soldier.” (182) again and again, which presented the view of the other soldiers on the platoon. However, Rico didn’t care about weather he was a soldier or not, the only thing that mattered to him was that the village was rescued and life were rescued. The betrayal was just out of his humanity, guided by his innocent soul, which replaced of executing orders as a standard soldier.

Rico is a sensitive people, and he thought a lot of the war, because he started to quest the righteousness of the war subconsciously. And meanwhile, sensitivity is a burden in the necessary qualities of a standard solider. He thought frequently about the surroundings related to his hometown, comparing the village here to his own, that “The village of Mai Cao was no different than Valverde, the barrio where he had grown up” (177), with “the same scent…the same warmth…the same mother” (178) and so forth. The similarity and the sensitivity combined, make Rico’s humanity inside his heart overwhelming. People say that war is cold and brutal. Nevertheless, Rico’s thoughts of humanity just warmed the story up, intimating that the power of humanity would be irresistible.

Rico has a sort of cosmopolitan affection for the benefits of every human being. But as a soldier one should have a clear and firm position for his own side. In his point of view, all the villages here share the same nature with his own in the US, and all the people in the village are just whom he could encounter back home. “Every human life in the village mattered.” (178), this is why Rico choose the opposing side of his army. Further more, this affection came out from his heart, form his nature with humanity. This affection is what should be honored and memorized there in the war.

Rico took nothing into consideration for himself but only for the rest of people. People would say that Rico finally got relief after all and he felt free in mind while all of his business was left to his companies, making them suffer from the so-called Vietnam Syndromes. However, before his shooting at the signal arm, Rico has suggested Keever to evacuate the villagers three times. Unfortunately, not a time was responded. As a result, many people would’ve passed away without Rico’s block. And consequently, the one who shoot would get the Vietnam Syndromes after the war’s ending. It was also his humanity pushing him doing such honorable actions.

Rico did no resistance, no regret, and no sophistication after his capture. He just holds his belief that those villagers should not be slaughtered, sitting there, only supported by his nature of humanity. He had tears shed though but nobody there can figure out the tears were out of relief, not the pain, not the fearfulness, not even his being out of freedom. Because he said to Harry “I’m free inside, Harry.” It is still hard to tell right from wrong of Rico’s deed for an absolutely answer. Standard soldiers and anybody who has a strong consciousness of humanity would continue this argue for a long time. However, there is one thing for sure, that is, beside of the right or wrong issue, he should be honored as a humanitarian even he is not aware of his himself.


For all those reasons the above, Rico should be honored as a great warrior with the most powerful weapon ever, the humanity, to warm the world in the Cold War Era. What was waiting for him, without question, would be a trial in the military court. According to Rico’s feedbacks towards the people around him, it is convincible that Rico would not submit his heart to laws. And he knew something quite clearly that if the Judgment Day came he would stand at the first line to be sentenced as he has a strong heart with humanity. He should believe that whatever the punishment would be is not a judgment but only a sentence. He should be honored for his great humanity. This story is plain but deep, entertaining but also oppressive. And it is educative by expressing the significance of humanity in the war.

Timed-writing

Lorry Luo

December 21, 2006

Timed-Writing 3

Firs of all, I’m wondering if the premise of today’s topic is a little narrow. Because I think the reason so many similarities appeared in some aspects of social life our country these years probably is the procession globalization which obviously also is taking place in the field of communication and transportation. However the significant changes happened during the past 28 years are impossible without the aid of the highly developed communication and transportation systems.

Secondly, I have point out that China has great many similarities in some aspects of social life which nowadays people has already gotten used. They occurred in a variety of ways. Take the business for example. In order to get an access to the international finance and merchandise markets, banks and commerce companies had to accept the standards made by the main developed countries—G7 or several international organizations, and that is called “if you want play a game, you’d better follow the rules, even sometimes, you cannot be the rule makers.” This how we get the similarity in the game of money.

In addition, when we are talking about the aid from the communication and transportation systems to bring up the similarities, I consequently think of the internet. Internet is the most up-dated technology and is creating opportunities for instant communication and transfer massive “0-1” information. And on this field China shares a lot of similarities with the America. Why? Because we are learning from the Americans. We established the same system as the Americans did and made the same computer processor also. Even our leading company Lenove bought the personal computer department form IBM. Those are how come we are the same with the US in this area.

Reading Log of the "Village"

Lorry Luo

November 17, 2006

Reading Log of the “Village”



I think I like this story.

I’ve read some books and watched lots of movies about that period of history that the Americans have suffered so much. And at the same time most normal Vietnamese, was struggling for just a living by whatever they could do, even to end their fellowmen’s or the American soldiers’ lives .

Lots of writers and directors said about how the Vietnam War heartbreaking was and how many families were torn up by the war. And how the feeling of death and horror penetrated the air in the wet jungle in the whole country, how dreadful was the scene when villages were on fire with people lying down on the ground.

The story definitely didn’t jump out of the fundamentals above, but the tender and complicated mental struggles described in some episodes of the story attracted me so much. When I was reading those details in Rico’s mind, I recalled of several well made and designed scenes in some movies. Though it wasn’t a good time to put comment on the facts themselves, I think I was willing to say that as the story reminds me of those movies, I like it and its lines.

The village finally was saved by Rico, however as he’s being made of a soldier, he would receive the penalty from the military court for not taking the order. He should have some kind of shame as a soldier, but the village avoided being flattened. Yes, I’m in favor of his action. I can’t help thinking about the result of Rico’s idea; whether he will be in charged of any guilt and whether the villagers would escape the fate of being eliminated.

I would say frankly, I admire the action of Rico as a man, not from the stand of a soldier.