Swales/Gee

Swales.

Before You Read.

One time I felt out of place was when my uncle took me to a gaming convention. There were so many people there who I thought were very weird and I just kind of felt like I could only connect with my uncle at that place and time.

Summary.

In Swales' "The Concept of Discourse Community", he basically just talks about what a discourse community actually is and compares/contrasts it from a speech community. He gives examples of what a discourse community is and talks about what he personally thinks about them too. Pretty much, if you want to learn what a discourse community is, read this article because it will explain a lot.

Synthesis. (3).

One person that Swales' article can be related to is Glenn's. The reason I say this is because both of these people's articles talk about discourse communities. A second person who can relate to this is Brandt. The reason is because both articles say or talk about something having to do with having sponsors. A third person that can be related to this article is Porter. Again, just like Glenn, Porter also talks about discourse communities.

QD 5.

I would say that the most simple and easiest to understand discourse community that I belong to is college. College by it's self can be a HUGE discourse community but in my case, I am going to break it down into my discourse community of my major; game design and animation. It's lexis can be things or other classes such as drawing, sculpture and computer design. There are a lot of genres involved in this major and they can overlap with more specific animation and game design ideas.

QD 6.

I tried playing in a ping pong club back from my home town. The people there were really different than I was and I just didn't seem to fit in all too well. Even though I was pretty good at playing, I just wasn't "the same" as the other people in the club. They were nice and all, but just not to my liking.

Thoughts.

After reading this I am not able to understand so much more about discourse communities. I will be able to use what I learned and it will help go towards my paper. He wasn't too forceful about what he was talking about so that was nice. And last, I would come back to this to read sometime because there is something to be learned here.

Gee.

Before You Read.

Mush fake: It stands for "prison slang for items owned by an inmate that may be legal to buy, but were constructed or obtained through illegal means, hence they are contraband". "Urban Dictionary Definition"

Summary.

In Gee's article, "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction", he talks about mushfakes, metaknowledge, literacy and apprenticeship. He basically talks about discourse communities too and different views and interpretations of linguistics. The audience can be people who are in a discourse community and who want to learn more about them.

Synthesis. (3).

Two people right of of the bat that can be related to this article are Porter and Glenn. The reason I say this is because all three of these people talk about discourse communities and help people out who want to may want to learn more about them. A third person that can be related to this article is Pollan. The reason is because like Porter and Glenn,  Pollan also talks about discourse communities and how they affect the factory farm industry.

Response	Quotation
I like how he started off with saying what he was going to talk about and what his main points were. It gives the reader a nice heads-up.	“What I propose in the following papers, in the main, is a way of talking about literacy and linguistics” (482).
I like how he said this because language can be so different and yet confusing at sometimes because of grammar. Grammar can change a lot when it is involved with language.	““Language” is a misleading term; it too ofter suggests “grammar.”” (483).
I like this quote in a way. I think that this is important in anyone's life no matter what it is involving.	“It is not just what you say, but how you say it” (483).
I like this because he is saying that the discourse community that you belong in is kind of who you are and what you like to do is all around you.	“A Discourse is a sort of “identity kit” which comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often write, so as to take on a particular role that others will recognize” (484).
This was funny to me because I was able to see that literacy can mean something different to every single person in this world.	“My definition of “literacy” may seem innocuous, at least to someone already convinced that decontextualized views of print are meaningless” (487).
M.M.

I feel that yes, after reading this article by Gee, I am no able to understand my own and other people's experiences a little differently. I can now see what kind of people there are in other discourse communities and can maybe understand why they are there. It is still somewhat judging, but I can understand why more now.

Thoughts.

I think that this was very helpful, for the most part. I was able to learn more about discourse communities and some of that can help me with my paper. One thing that got boring to me was reading it. It just wasn't anything really exciting and I lost interest quickly. Overall, I did learn something, So it wasn't the biggest waste of time I guess.

Compare/Contrast.

Actually, these two articles by Gee and Swales are very similar. The reason I say this is because both mainly focus on discourse communities. They both go into detail about how they feel about them and what they think about them too. Not only do they say their personal feelings, but they also share what it really takes to be in one. Both of these articles are pointed at the same kind of audience and with that, say how it can affect the people that are in certain discourse communities.
     
      Although these articles are very similar, they are also very different. Swales mainly focuses on the certain and specific characteristics or traits of a discourse community. Gee focuses on how the language and literacy of a person can affect what discourse community a person is in. Both of the styles of writing are also different in these two articles because each and every person in this world has their own voice in writing.