My class discussed different aspects of literary and linguistic traits during this Phase. The concept of “broken” English was one of the main topics that we dwelled into. We analyzed a few artists, such as Amy Tan, Safwat Saleem, June Jordan, who explored their experiences of facing bigotry due to their inability to speak “perfect” English. These artists were proficient in their native languages and were very skilled at doing their jobs. Yet, they were looked down upon due to their poor literacy skills in English. It was brought into light that a lot of people in our class, including myself, had faced similar problems.

          At some point in our lives, we had been discriminated against because our English stemmed away from the “standard” English in the current society. This phenomena stirred feelings of anger within me because my intelligence levels do not directly correspond to my fluency in English. This lesson taught me to abandon the notion of what is considered “normal” because just because something is the standard doesn’t mean that it is right.

          I wanted to examine other topics that aided one’s language and literacy besides speech for my essay. I read a lot of books as a kid that aided my literacy skills and I wanted to expand that point. I intended my classmates to be the audience of my essay. I wanted to appeal to an audience of individuals that may or may not have found themselves situated in a similar situation as me. That is why as opposed to just simply stating what happened, I gave each situation a vivid description that helps explain my experiences effectively. I started the essay with a humorous anecdote to draw the readers in. I was aware that Divergent was a commonly read book among my peers during their middle school days and I hope that my description of Tris establishes relatability among my audience.

          The context of the essay impacted my writing practices the most during this Phase. I incorporated the ideas of rebellion and oppression that I learned from my books and paralleled them to the social injustices happening in the world today. I used stark contrasts with the phrases, “unicorns and rainbows” vs “cracks and defects.” to further establish this theme. I further expanded my piece about how reading has helped me become a better person as a whole and I wanted to share my story with my classmates.

          During this Phase, I understood the importance of engaging in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes. Having someone with a different perspective look into my essay helped me better my essay because I gained new insights on how to make my essay more appealing. They also helped me reduce my mistakes. I also learned how to be a better reviewer after receiving the evaluations on my essay. I learned how to critique kindly and to not just offer any opinion but the ones that actually help their essays. Overall, working with my peers helped me develop better strategies for revising and editing.