Throughout the worksheets we analyzed in the beginning of the semester, I was able to “examine how attitudes towards linguistic standards empower and oppress language users”. I was always interested in talking to people who spoke different languages but after reading “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, I saw just how much the language and dialect a person speaks supposedly dictates a lot about their worth and their education. This is something that I was always aware of but it proved to be even more prevalent than I thought it would be. While reading the essay, I found myself getting very angry at the way others treated Tan’s mother. It confused me because since I am always surrounded by people with differing accents, it was troubling to me that such a small thing about them decided so much about the treatment they get from other people. Knowing this also made me hyper-aware of all the times either I or someone I knew was at the receiving end of language-related microaggressions. I also realized that it is very easy to be the one giving those microaggressions as most of the time, it is not intentional. Whether it is based on “fact” or not, learning not to curate a person’s life story based on the way they speak became something very important to me after reading “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan.

             In phase 2, I mostly focused on “recogniz[ing] and practicing key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations”. This was during class when we had to write a 300-word paper analyzing the author’s rhetorical situation. I had to think deeply about the author’s vocabulary, his selection of detail, and the ways he got the readers invested in his story. This meant I had to think about and notice details I would not have noticed if I were just a casual reader. I realized that even if I did not actively notice these things, they still contributed to the way I felt reading his essay and the takeaway that I was ultimately supposed to get from it. Mostly, I focused on the author’s use of pathos to evoke an emotional connection with the audience. I described how by explaining that the opportunity to make a speech suddenly sprung on him, the author was able to make the audience empathize with his situation by expressing how unlucky he felt. Knowing about the rhetorical strategies and situations my peers used also provided me with ideas about how to incorporate them into my writing. It gave me a broader and deeper understanding of each rhetorical strategy used and the best ways they are used. I also worked to “explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations”. Writing the student profile for my classmate Jonathan Chung helped me to delve even deeper into the strategies I mentioned in the rhetorical precis. I was able to explain how and why the author made the decisions he did and how those choices worked to improve the overall message the author was trying to convey. At the beginning of the semester, we also analyzed a variety of authors, their writings, and their rhetorical situations. I learned that writing is not the only way people try to get their point across through rhetorical situations. This can range through various forms of media each equally as important and effective to the idea the author was trying to convey.

            I was also able to “Compose texts that integrate [my] stance with appropriate sources using strategies such as summary, critical analysis, interpretation, synthesis, and argumentation”. While writing my phase three research essay, I tried to incorporate sources that directly contradict the arguments I was making. This might seem a little bit counterproductive, but it allowed me to refute those claims with sources that supported my argument. I think this allowed me to deepen my stance for a more complex argument rather than only giving one side. As I was doing my research for this essay, I fought back and forth between doing a persuasive essay and one that was purely informational. I ultimately decided on staying persuasive but I still wanted to provide the readers with the nuance this subject needed. This was another reason I chose so many sources that went against my claims. I still showcased my ideas about the subject and while my essay is still meant to be persuasive, in the end, I still want the readers to make their stance while considering mine. With that being said, I still had a hard time finding sources for my paper, as many of them were either too long, behind a paywall, or hard for me to fully grasp. I was able to find almost equally as many sources that supported my argument as sources that contradicted my argument. Most of these sources however were not reliable enough for me to use. Finding reliable credible sources was always the hardest and most tedious part of doing research.

Overall, throughout this semester, I was able to “develop strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing”. This was something I did not have much experience doing as I often found it to be extremely redundant and unnecessary. While those sentiments did not fully go away, I am starting to understand and employ those strategies in my writing. The most I’ve done while editing my essays in the past was cutting a few sentences, replacing overused words, and proofreading for grammar and spelling mistakes. Now, I try to expand on points I could have written more on and also try to incorporate more sources and ideas into my writing.