Mary Louise Pratt says the idea of the contact zone is intended in part to contrast with ideas of community that underlie much of the thinking about language, communication, and culture that gets done in the academy. (493)
The classroom setting is to be considered a community, but at the same time it can also be considered a contact zone. It is a community in the sense that everyone is there for the same reason; Everyone is in the same classroom with the same surroundings, the teacher is teaching the class the same ideas, all the students are required to learn and grasp the same concepts.
Benedict Anderson calls this an “imagined community”. The reason he calls it that is because the classroom is also a contact zone. There are many reasons the classroom is considered a contact zone. First, everyone is different. No one person is alike, and everyone has a different background, especially at ISU where there is a diversity of students.
Pratt argues the ideas of community is “strongly utopian”, embodying values like equality, fraternity, liberty, which in our society is the ideal community. Against utopian vision of community Pratt argues that we need to develop ways of
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Needless to say everyone got along. In today’s world all different walks of life can get along by corresponding with each other in the school environment. Tolerance to diversity has become more and more normal. I now understand Pratts point of view looking back at high school and now being aware of the contact zone in college. Being a citizen of the United States of America I have been influenced by the community, to be an engaged citizen by getting involved, being aware of change, and adapting to it. Being tolerant to diversity is a very good thing for