There is more than one conjunction in the sentence, the word but acts as a coordinating conjunction. Also the words not only and but also act as a correlative conjunction.
He's hoping to convey the similarities and differences of the German government from governments of the past since that is the purpose of making comparisons.
I believe the main conflict is Auggie dealing with bullying from the other students because of his physical appearance.
I'd choose this dialogue to revise your sentence:
<span>“Did you hear?” I asked them. “My painting got selected! Exciting, right?” I smiled. “Especially given that I felt so incompetent at the beginning and that the competition was ruthless!”
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It feels like the option that best uses the dialogue to improve this sentence, because the other options are either too informal or just the same sentence as the original one.
Do you remember the saying “I plead the fifth!”? This means that you cannot be charged for the same crime twice, also known as double jeopardy. This is important because it would be unfair to charged double for the same thing you were charged with last time
