Blog Post 23

I. Rhetorical Overview of the Article

1. What is the author's exigence? Why does the author feel the article/argument needs to be made?

A: Gee feels that the argument needs to be made that being involved in a discourse community is more than simply being involved in conversation, you have to be engaged and involved deeper than just in communication.

2a. What discourse community is the author speaking toward for the article? WHY do you think that? Provide textual evidence (e.g., specific language, tone, publication venue, etc.,). 

I believe that the discourse community the author is speaking toward is a group of educators because he uses the word "we" and "you." Also Gee uses language that students our age wouldn’t understand without the use of a dictionary.

3. What is the author's thesis/argument/niche for the piece? If possible, quote specifically from the text

Thesis: "Language" is a misleading term; it too often suggests "grammar." “It is a truism that a person can know perfectly the grammar of a language and not know how to use that language."

II. Summary

1. Write a few sentences that summarizes this article in your own words; make sure to cover the main arguments AND conclusions.

In his article, "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics," James Paul Gee talks about the different types of discourses and how they compare to each other. Two types of Discourses gee mentions are primary, which is the first one we use to make sense of the world and the way the world works. Secondary is interaction with non-home-based social institutions. Gee ends the article with, "language within-Discources transfer into, interfere with, and otherwise influence each other to form the linguistic texture of whole societies and to interrelate various groups in society." 

2. Take the summary you just wrote and condense it into something “tweetable,” by which I mean a summary that is NO longer than 140 characters. Consider using the same conventions you would if tweeting, meaning abbreviations and informality in language.

Tweet: Discourse communities are only made possible with complete involvement in the community

3. What hashtags (#) would you use for this article? Stated otherwise, what key terms would you provide to describe the content of this article?

#discourse #involvement #community

Burkean Parlor/Intertextuality

1. In what ways does this author and/or the ideas in this article connect with, (dis)agree with, speak to or against –I think you get the gist– previous authors and their ideas that we have encountered in this class?

A: This article relates to both Swales and Glenn articles in which they both speak about the topic of discourse communities, and how to truly be involved in these types of communities. These are articles are similar in many ways but mainly deal with discourse, and discourse communities.

III.Assigned Exercises

1a. What does Gee means by the terms primary Discourse, secondary Discourse, dominant Discourse, and non dominant Discourse?

A: Gee explains Discourses. The first one he mentions is primary, which is what we use to make sense of the world. He goes on to explain secondary, which is interaction with non-home-based social institutions. Secondary Discourses is discourse  that deals with connection with dominant and non dominant Discourses. Dominant brings with it the accusation of social "goods," money for example, and non-dominant brings solidarity with a particular social network.

1b.

A: Gee's claims help me understand my own and other people's experiences differently by making me aware of the different types of discourses and approaches they are to writing and being a part of a discourse community. He distinction between "Discourse" and "discourse" is a little confusing to me, but I think it helps me understand writing a little better by making those distinctions and looking at writing through his given combinations. I could use knowledge gained from Gee in other settings by also looking at the situations in those settings through Gee's lens, or at least attempting to. I could attempt to look at situations in another setting through the combination that Gee has described and relate it to discourses as a whole.

IV. Personal Refelction

1. How can you apply the information in this article to your own writing process? First, consider the main ideas that the author addresses, then consider other elements, such as organization, style, etc.

I can apply the information when speaking to a discourse community especially when writing papers to better connect with my audience.

2. What is confusing about the article? What questions do you have after reading the article?

This was kind of confusing in the fact the he is explaining the different between discourse and discourse. I don’t understand the difference.