Unit 1: Day 1
Discourse Communities
Monday, Feb. 14th
Check In
Have you:
Overview
Melzer- Reading Questions
Melzer - Key Ideas!
Overview of what is described in Dan Melzer’s text:
What is a Discourse Community?
How do genres operate in a Discourse Community?
Why do Discourse Communities share different expectations for writing?
How can we better understand what qualifies as a Discourse Community?
Key Ideas!
First, let’s talk about community! What is a community?
A community is group of people who share something in common.
What communities do you belong to? Jot down some notes.
Key Idea!
What is discourse?
Discourse is written or spoken communication or debate. (dictionary.com)
Key Ideas!
So WHAT IS a Discourse Community?
The concept of a “discourse community”was first coined (described) by linguistics scholar John Swales (102)
Discourse Communities have (102):
What DOES this Mean?
Melzer - Key Ideas!
A broadly agreed upon set of common public goals
A discourse community must have a set of common, shared, public goals.
“People who like music is too broad” a group--they don’t all interact with each other or strive to meet the same goals.
But Meltzer’s guitar jam group that met up monthly for gatherings had a specific goal: “monthly gatherings were for having fun, enjoying music, and learning new songs.”
Melzer - Key Ideas!
Mechanism of intercommunication among its members
A mechanism of intercommunication among its members means a way for members to connect with each other (to recruit new members, share information about how to get together, and communicate outside of the regular scheduled meetings).
For example, “people who use meetup.com” is too broad” a group (there are mommy bloggers and tattoo aficionados and drag racers and e-gamers and dog walkers).
But, a specific meetup.com group like Meltzer’s “guitar jam focused on a specific topic with shared goals and a community of members who frequently interact can be considered a DC.”
Melzer - Key Ideas!
Use of these communication mechanisms to provide information and feedback
Discourse communities must use these mechanisms of communication to provide information and feedback to its members.
For example, Melzer got handouts of music lyrics and chords at his meetings and text messages and social media posts with crucial information.
Some groups use Reddit or Discord or Instagram or text messages Twitter to communicate.
Important to note that Swales used the term “discourse” not writing because he wanted to cover “any type of communication, from talking to writing to music to images to multimedia.”
Melzer - Key Ideas!
One or more genres that help further the goals of the discourse community
DCs most commonly share information through genres. DCs use genres to recruit new members, to reach their goals, and much more. The example that Melzer shared for his DC was the meetup.com site and the song chords and lyrics.
What is a genre? Genres are different types of music (hip hop, country, reggae, pop, etc), different types of texts (mystery, fiction, nonfiction, adventure, humor, poetry, etc), different types types of tv shows (dramas, soap operas, talk shows, sports, etc).
Melzer also defines genres as tools for social action. What he means by this is that if you look at a specific genre like Hip Hop, there are common features to the genre (bass beat, spoken word, specific lexis), but there is also a form of social action (break dancing, street art) and a social purpose (resisting social oppression, spreading awareness of social oppression that isn't reported on traditional news outlets). That being said, the music is more than just a way of making music.
Melzer - Key Ideas!
A specific lexis (specialized language)
A specific lexis really just means a specialized language or way of speaking.
DCs have specific terms, words, ways of speaking that members of the group must know in order to communicate effectively.
For example, in Melzer’s guitar jam group, “We talked about the root note of scale, a 1/4/5 chord progression…” He explains, “”We didn’t use this language to show of or try to discourage outsiders from joining our group. We needed these specialized terms--this musician’s lexis- to make sure we were all playing together effectively.”
Think back to Wardle and Downs— there are unique ways of speaking or writing that you might need to know in order to fit into this group.
Melzer - Key Ideas!
A threshold level of expert members
A DC must have a certain number of experts in the group. People who “train/ educate the novices or beginners.”
There have to people people who are experts in the group and people who are novices or beginners.
Melzer - Key Idea!
Why is it important to learn about and understand DCs?
Different majors are unique DCs and have specific expectations and genre requirements
Different careers are unique DCs and have specific expectations and genre requirements
Students/ new employees have to learn the writing conventions and discourse community of the major/ jobs
Understanding how DCs work, the expectations and rules of DCs and questions to ask about membership and entry help students both in school and outside of school.
Melzer - Key Idea
How can DCs be problematic?
There are power structures in our country built around DCs that make entry hard. Let’s discuss more!
Great Questions to Consider about DCs
Welcome to Project 1!
Let’s Review Project 1: Discourse Communities! You can find it here.
The project has FIVE STEPS! Each step is crucial to the project as a whole.
It is VERY important that you do not fall behind and that you complete each of the required tasks. We will do the steps together and work on them in class!
This project is worth 15% of your final grade. You will revise it and add it to you final portfolio!
Task 1: Choose a Discourse Community
Investigate a Discourse Community. Choose a Discourse Community that you are a member of. When choosing a Discourse Community, consider that you will have to conduct research on it, so there must be a certain amount of information available on the Discourse Community for you to access, research, and observe.
Due Feb. 16: Choose your Discourse Community (Prof. Coleman must Approve)
Task Two: Prove It!
What makes the community you chose a DISCOURSE community? According to Dan Melzer, Discourse Communities share:
Describe for an outsider the rules of the Discourse Community, how you gain entry (if you can!), the group’s values and beliefs. Is there a unique “identity kit”? Do they have a unique way of communicating?
Due Feb. 23: Write a one-page introduction to your discourse community. It should be about 250 words.
Task 3: Find and Analyze an Artifact
Find one artifact from your Discourse Community. The artifact might provide information about their mode (way) of communication, their values, their beliefs, their “identity kit” etc. It is preferable if the artifact is a primary source. The artifact should provide information about the Discourse Community or be meaningful to the community.
Examples of artifacts: an interview with a member of the community, a song, a speech, an example of the Discourse Community’s publications (brochure, newsletter), letters, a poem, a book, biography/ autobiography, a tattoo, memes)
Fill out the Discourse Community Artifact Analysis worksheet about your artifact. The worksheet will help you look at the artifact from a number of angles that will help you prepare for your final task of the project.
Due Feb. 28: Discourse Community Artifact Analysis Worksheet
Task 4: Write About It!
Now it is time to write about your Discourse Community! You are going to write an essay that analyzes your Discourse Community for an outsider.
Determine your audience and the purpose. Think about how to write your essay in a way that will match your intended audience and purpose. Write your essay, using the research you have compiled from Tasks 2 and 3.
The essay must be at least 1000 words
Task 5: Revise and Edit!
This task is often forgotten and glossed over. It is actually one of the most important parts of the writing process. We are going to separate the revision and editing process and really focus on what it means to make meaningful changes to our writing. We will also discuss the process of peer revision to allow our classmates to help us become stronger and more effective writers.
Draft Due: March 2nd Final Project Due: March 9th
Format!
Each component of the essay must be typed. Your essay must be double- spaced and have one-inch margins. Please add the word count at the top of the project. Please spell-check and grammar-check the project. You may choose to use the template provided to submit the final version.
Grading Criteria!
Some Examples of Discourse Communities!
Runners
Yogis
Skateboarders
Golfers
Bowlers
Bikers
Hippies
Rastafarians
Surfers
City Tech Students
Anime
Subgroups w/in LGBTQ
Followers of certain sports teams
E-Gamers
Fantasy Sports
Computer programmers
Goth
Grunge
Cheerleaders
Hip Hop
Emo
NRA Members
Sneakerheads
YouTube Influencer
E-Boy/ E-Girl
Twitch Streamer
Punk Rock
Fraternity Members (specific fraternity)
Sorority Members (specific sororities)
Let’s Brainstorm!
What DC’s are you members of?
ADD the discourse community you think you might be most interested in writing about to the Class List.
Homework!
Reading Questions