Separated into the categories primary, secondary dominant, and secondary non-dominant, discourses pertain to a person’s social identity, values, beliefs, acts, words, and attitudes according to the author, James Paul Gee, in the article, “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction”. An individual who observes my life can effortlessly identify that my primary discourse is family. The way I act at every situation results from me observing my household members perform various activities. For instance, being in a family that relies particularly on the English language to succeed, I have easily become fluent in the linguistic. This knowledge grants me a sense of identity as the way I perceive concepts originates from my family. However,
In Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz Mujerista Discourse: A platform for Latinas’ Subjugated Knowledge, she talks about the term “Lo Cotidiano” which translates to “the everyday” (Isasi-Diaz pg. 46), and she explains how this term is more complex than the actual meaning. She also explains that ‘lo cotidiano’ and the way every person lives their ‘cotidiano’ connects with the main idea of Mujerista Discoourse. In her writing, she discusses some personal experiences which bring a better understanding to the true meaning of lo ‘cotidiano’. Isasi-Diaz gives an in-depth explanation to what ‘lo cotidiano’ really means, or what it should mean.
In her text, “Cognition, Convention and Certainty,” Patricia Bizzell describes the writing process through both inner-directed and outer-directed theories in order to illustrate that the writing process is infirmed by both student’s natural thought processes and their discourse community She uses her text to explain both theories, and to argue for the implementation of a new pedagogy focused on discourse analysis. First, Bizzell introduces the inner –directed theory, which seeks to discover the writing processes through the universal and fundamental structure of language. Conversely, she explains that the outer-directed theory instead argues that the individual’s discourse community does not teach a generalized form of language but rather the
Rhetorical Analysis of "How to Read and Write" (Frederick Douglass) During an era of slavery, Jim Crow Laws, and no hopes of abolition, Frederick Douglass invites his audience into a world where slavery enters the kindest of souls, and purifies the soul to have nothing but hatred and anger. In the empowering narrative, “Learning to Read and Write”, Douglass enunciates the cruelty of slavery and its pervasive impacts, with the help of Douglass’ vast journey to ultimately gain his thinking skills through reading and writing. Douglass expresses these actions with elaborate metaphors and immaculate details that keeps the audience on their toes to witness what happens next. Growing up as a slave, Douglass became curious about the art of reading
Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian philosopher and author, once stated, “The well-being of a community of people working together will be the greater, the less the individual claims for himself the proceeds of his work, the more of these proceeds he makes over to his fellow-workers, the more his own needs are satisfied, not out of his own work but out of the work done by others” (“Recording of Society”). This quote represents the true meaning of a discourse community. A discourse community is a group of social individuals that work together to reach a common goal, understand the same basic values and assumptions, and use a unique kind of communication to reach their set goal or purpose. A good example of a discourse community is the organization
We communicate in many ways, either by email, telephone, text, face to face, social media or letters and the language we use allows us to get things done, nonetheless the language and communication method in which we chose to use can vary depending on the discourse community. Much like John Swales suggests a discourse community involves a group of people who share the same common public goals, such as shared interests, rules, structure, and vocabulary. When thinking about the several discourse communities I am evolved in, which include family, coaching football, college student, and a few friends. These discourse communities have influenced me, given me insight of where I come from and tell who I am as a person. I also believe much like Swales,
Out of Breath Becoming accustomed to a new language is difficult, especially when it is not one’s primary language. Amy Tan, the author of “Mother Tongue” went through this same situation. Tan’s mother had a hard time with the way she spoke English because no one seemed to understand what she wanted to convey. Amy Tan uses her story as a way to let the audience know about how language can lead people to be prejudice, connect people, change perception and open new doors in life.
An important discourse community that was a part of my life was my volleyball team during my four years of high school. I started playing my first year going into high school and continued until I graduated. Until now I wasn’t even aware that would even be considered a discourse community, but it fits all of the qualifications of Swales’ definition of a discourse community. Goals
Are our communication skills declining due to the vast internet use? Technology has given individuals the ability to do things that would otherwise be considered impossible. However, while technology has provided the ability to communicate with people halfway across the world and opened a comfortable space for teens, it is believed to have affected not just the interaction among others, but furthermore writing skills. Although technology and communication has given individuals the ability to do things that would not have been done before, writing online has had a negative impact on a person’s writing skills which can be proven through the writings of Malcolm X, Gannon, and Daum.
It can be difficult to understand what it means to be a discourse or what communities fall under that category, and that is why I feel like John Swales’ definition of a discourse community is the the one that makes the most sense and the one that almost anybody can apply to communities they are part of and determine if they are discourses or not. Even though Gee and Porter had good points regarding discourses and good arguments, one almost had to be a linguist to fully understand what they were saying. They did help Swales get his point across more clearly in some instances though. Thanks to Swales I now know for a fact that my English 1113 class is a discourse community and I achieved that by following the six rules Swales presented as necessary to be a discourse community. Gee, James P. “Literary, Discourse, and Linguistics.”
Rhetorical Precis #4: “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan Amy Tan’s purpose in her article “Mother Tongue” is to show the influence of her mother’s style of english. She also relates this to a more broad topic of the idea that there are many different types of english that people speak that are tailored to whoever they are speaking to. She begins this piece by stating plainly that she is not an english scholar. Instead of decreasing her credibility it actually increases it and paints this piece as a more personal set of observations rather than a bland overview of the entire language.
1) The two types of Discourses, “saying (writing)-doing-being-valuing- believing combinations,” James Paul Gee addresses in his essay “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics” are Primary Discourses and Secondary Discourses. These Discourses are “ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes.” Both Discourses are acquired through acculturation. Our primary Discourse is acquired in the home and peer groups.
A discourse in this understanding is not based on the classical distinction between thought and action, it “(…) is about the production of knowledge through language. But it is itself produced by a practice: “discursive practice” – the practice of producing meaning” (Hall, 2006:165). It follows that because all social practices involve meaning, all practices necessarily have a discursive side. A discourse is comparable to what sociologists would call an ‘ideology’. It is composed of statements and/or beliefs that shape knowledge in the interest of one particular group.
Every day humans encounter rhetorical situations, yet hardly ever is a heated conversation or debate though of this way. Rhetoric, which is the art of conversation has been used for thousands of years across the world. Rhetorical situations constitute of four elements, the exigence, rhetor, audience, and constraints. All of these are equally the most important elements, because without each other the conversation would make no sense. The action or statement that sparks a discourse, or the exigence is one of the four constituents of a rhetorical analysis.