Discourse community

An explanation of Discourse Community

1. Discourse Community Zachary Gill Emily Saldanha Sarah Zuber

2. Let’s Get Started! What do we call a group of people working towards a common goal in writing? How can we define this group of people in order to assist us in our own writing? How does understanding this group impact our understanding of a writing situation?

3. What is Discourse Community? Group of people who are trying to achieve specific common goals Accomplish these goals through the use of intercommunication among members of the community Communicate through a number of different ways and develop some specific words and sayings unique to that group Meets all of Swales’ 6 Characteristics

4. The Six Characteristics If a community does not have all of these characteristics then it is not a Discourse Community. There are six characteristics of a Discourse Community defined by John Swales in “The Concept of Discourse Community.” “A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.” “A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.” "A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.” "A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.” “In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired a specific lexis.” “A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise"

5. Example 1: A Religion - Christianity Common Goals: spreading the faith, coming together with certain values, achieving enlightenment, spreading good morals Intercommunication: Face-to-face at meetings, Bulletins, Online discussions The goal of the mechanisms it uses is to provide information to the churchgoers and give feedback to higher members . Genres: The Bible, Holy Books, Psalms, Prayers, Sermons, Songs, etc. Specific Lexis: Pope, Amen, Host, Tabernacle, Pews, God, Saints, etc. Members of Expertise: Pope is the leader, Bishops, Priests and Deacons teach the lower level churchgoers. A religion is an example of a Discourse Community because it fulfills Swales’ six characteristics.

6. Example 2: A Sorority - Alpha Delta Pi Common Goals: participate in philanthropy events, raise money for own philanthropy, grow close as a sisterhood Intercommunication: GinSystem , chapter facebook groups, weekly chapter meetings, meetings meal plan locations The goal of the mechanisms it uses is to provide information to the members of the chapter Genres: instagram account, twitter account, public facebook group, banners outside of house and blog Specific Lexis: alpha class instead of pledge class, WLFEO as open motto, Big and Little Diamond sisters instead of Big/Little Members of Expertise: President and executive board, deltas are initiated members, alphas are new members and pi are alumni A sorority is an example of a discourse community that uses organizational writing.

7. Example 3: An Honor Society – The Burnett Honors College Common goals: to remain a member in good standing and participating in the society’s volunteer and tutoring events Intercommunication: weekly/monthly meetings, Facebook group, emails The goal of the mechanisms it uses is to provide information to the members of the honor society. Genres: member handbook, newsletters, public Facebook group, etc. Specific Lexis: merit points, service hours, Honors GPA, etc . Members of Expertise: President, Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President An honor society is an example of a discourse community because it meets Swales’ six characteristics.

8. Rhetorical Situation Definition: The writing situation that the writer responds to. Three Elements: Audience: who you are writing to Exigence: the problem that you are writing to solve Constraints: limitations you have to factor into your writing Relation to Discourse Community: The members of the discourse community constitute the audience of the rhetorical situation. The exigence of the writing works towards the common goals of the discourse community you are writing for. Constraints include using the genre, lexis, and methods of the community.

9. Genre Relation to Discourse Community: A Discourse Community uses certain genres in their intercommunication . Definition: Writing guidelines that help you respond to a particular situation.

10. Intertextuality Relation to Discourse Community: Intertextuality helps members of a Discourse Community build on the previous knowledge and writings of the group . Definition: The principle that states that all writing comes from previous writings. Two Types: Iterability : incorporating ideas and texts from other writings to add to your writing to enhance its meaning Presupposition: assumption that the reader will understand implied writing without explaining completely

11. Importance of Discourse Community Discourse community helps list and analyze constraints of rhetorical situation. Discourse Communities help you: Write in situations where communities have specific language and goals of writing Determine what is the best method to approach rhetorical situations Guide your writing Knowing the discourse community you are addressing when you are writing is helpful in organizing and effectively getting your point across to your audience.

12. Using Discourse Community Get revision by experts if possible Understand the common goals of your community and plan your writing to match those goals Choose a genre that is common within your discourse community Understand your audience Presuppositions Community specific terms and sayings

13. Additional Reading (Google Doc ) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1udlp1Mjk_Ekb7xtsnbUaFiUPO2e4y1DHP5U2dpEn_8Y/edit?usp=sharing

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