Baldwin speaks about how language can identify someone. He speaks on how a different group of men all speak French but if they were together, they would have a hard time communicating with one another. This is because they adapt their languages to their environment and what may be something for one of them, can be something different for another. Belmihoub and Corcoran’s state, “In other words, from a strictly linguistic standpoint, all that really exists are the words that any given speaker knows.” This can revert back to the men who speak French as they know their language to be modified for them.
One piece of advice from Straub’s essay that is new to me is to give as much praise as criticism. We’re so use to giving criticism, especially when it comes to feedback to help the other better their writing. This can cause confusion to a person in the sense that they won’t know what is good in their essay; they’re only going to focus on the things that need to be fixed. Giving praise can motivate the writer to continue writing and to make good changes to their work.