Phase 1:

The first phase of the course focused on constructing a well-developed narrative essay. To be
quite frank, this had to be the easiest out of the 4 phases as I had been writing stories since I was
a kid. However, I was still nervous as I did not write anything in a while. In this phase, we read
some wonderful and beautiful essays such as “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, and “Ghosts of The
Future” by Sarah Kaplan, and “Only Daughter” by Sandra Cisneros. They dealt with many deep
and interesting themes such as feminism, discrimination, and global warming. By doing the
discussion posts and reflecting on them, I learned to address controversial topics more deeply
and head-on. I tried to fit into those themes and incorporate those into my essay. My intended
audience for this essay was my professor and peers, so I tailored my narrative to sound more like
a story and make it more engaging for them. Another very important thing I learned from this
phase was the use of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. I had no idea about those before. However, by
identifying them in the text Prof. Crowe provided, I was able to understand them more clearly. I
also used Pathos in my narrative essay to make it more personal and thought-provoking. This
phase’s assignment was able to successfully achieve what it was trying to accomplish. For
example, it was able to effectively check out goal number 11. “Find joy or meaning in the act
and practice of writing.” This phase was really fun for me and it evoked a newfound passion for
writing in me. It successfully accomplished goal 1 too which is, “Recognize the role of language
in empowering, oppressing, and hierarchizing their users, and be open to communicating across
different languages and cultures.” Stories such as “Mother Tongue” and “Nobody Mean More to
Me Than You” tackled those issues and showed me that the way a person speaks should not be
the reason why they should not be taken seriously.

Phase 2:

The intended audience for my Research paper in Phase 3 is my instructor. I tailored my language and tried to present this paper as professional. I tried to read all of the handouts from the google doc for phase 2 and use those as references. In this phase, I tried to detect all of the rhetorical choices the author made while writing this story. I tried very hard to think why the author wrote what they wrote and what it meant. Most importantly I tried to notice why the author chose to write a certain way. I have always been bad at critiquing, but this phase really helped me understand that. I also used the teachings from this class to craft a book review for my history class, which was a real success. I never second-guessed a writer’s writing choice before, and this phase was very important as it opened a new perception for me. I really enjoyed “The Tent” and analyzing the way Atwood wrote.

Phase 3:

I put in a lot of effort to make this sound not childish if it makes sense. I tried to follow the construction of a model research paper. In this phase, I would say I tried my best to correct and put proper punctuation in place. Although I am still doubtful; I might have made some mistakes here and there. I did not really learn proper punctuation when I was a kid for some reason (Another reason why people should focus more on a child’s early education). But the most important aspects I have learned in this phase are the use of in-text citations, quotations, and paraphrasing. This was a completely new thing for me, and I enjoyed constructing them and placing them on the paper. Growing up, I used to watch my older cousins (they were STEM students) use citations and mention it to my other older cousins when they were working. I seemed to never understand what they were talking about. Although it is kind of stupid, to finally be able to do this now is totally exhilarating. I believe this phase was successful in completing 2 of the course learning outcomes. The first one was that it made me locate research sources. I was able to successfully work my way around databases, gain, and use the information that I wanted smoothly. This phase also made me understand that the sources did not have to be credible but also recent for it to be effective as findings change over time. Even though this took me a long, long time to write, I believe I thoroughly enjoyed writing this. As it is my first research paper, I tried my best to include a lot of sources. Furthermore, I enjoyed sprinkling in the citations here and there. I felt that they looked pretty professional and added a bit of a flare to the writing. I hope the paper was not terrible.