Alan Wardle's Analysis

Olsson, Karen. “Up Against WAl-Mart.” Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. "They Say, I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing : With Readings. New York: Norton, 2012. 606-619 Print.

While reading “The Writer’s Way”, I began to realize several aspects associated with the context of the material and my own experiences in the academic world (Rawlins and Metzger). The first connection I discovered came when I read section “two Learning Equals Changing” (Rawlins and Metzger 3). I am no stranger to “experiencing and reflecting” in any part of my life (Rawlins and Metzger 3). When I take part in conversations, I analyze the content for long periods of time. Contemplating what happened, the conversation, what I could have done differently and many other questions occur in the process. In an academic setting, sometimes I process the information the same, however, I am not consistent with such a pattern. Academically I have found

To be a part of a discourse community, one must be credible, possess factual knowledge and draw on the values of its members to be accepted into the community. At the same time, a person must learn typical ways people in that community communicate and argue. They share a certain genre—type of writing. Members of discourse communities provide information and feedback that are imperative in order for that discourse community to grow. In the following paper, I will discuss three discourse communities and a genre that they typically use: people who read Nutritional Facts religiously, college students, and industrial organizational psychologists.

Gee believes “that any socially useful definition of ‘literacy’ must be couched in this notion of Discourse,” and he “defines ‘literacy’ as the mastery of or fluent control over a secondary Discourse” (9). In my own life, I understand Gee’s ideas of literacy and Discourse through the following example: I am a youth leader in my local Red Cross chapter, which serves

David Foster Wallace, author of the essay “Authority and American Usage*,” praises and advocates for “good” writers who have a strong rhetorical ability, which he defines as “the persuasive use of language to influence the thoughts and actions of an audience” (Wallace 628). To have a strong rhetorical ability, an author needs to be aware of whom their audience is, in order to present their information in a way that will be influential on their audience. Wallace recognizes that an author who applies a strong rhetorical ability will be able to connect with the audience so that they respond “not just to [their] utterance but also to [them]” (Wallace 641). An author needs to take into consideration not just content, syntax and grammatical

In chapter 3 of Everyone’s an Author, the main purpose is to discuss the writing process and its components. The chapter emphasizes the idea that practice makes perfect and it may take time and patience to find the writing process that works well for you. In order to find a writing process that leads to you working the most efficiently, one must approach their writing and take note of the habits they make, and analyze whether or not they work well.

Early on McCarthy states the the point of this study and article is to, “Contribute to our understanding of how students learn to write in school.” (234). McCarthy literally wants to make the point that learning to write should be viewed as a growth process from both a social and individual aspect depending on the situation. (234). McCarthy observed a college student as he took three different courses composition I, poetry, and biology. McCarthy explains that through her examination of the the

There are discourse communities all around us. A discourse community is a group of people who share a common goal. Within the group, there are certain ways of communicating with one another, relaying information, and using common speech or terms that everyone in the group understands. Being part of different discourse communities can help develop different writing styles and skills. A non-school discourse community that helped me develop as a writer was volleyball. There are many aspects to volleyball that a player has to understand: the common goals, the rules, and the terminology. Being a part of the volleyball discourse community, I was able to get a job at the University of North Georgia as a volleyball referee. This discourse

Whether while writing an essay or a birthday card, we have all struggled to find the proper words to illustrate our thoughts or feelings from time to time. Upholding the occupation of a writer would multiply that struggle tenfold. An occupation that depends on interesting, fluid pieces of writing every submission requires an adequate number of attempts and patience. Lamott expresses that writers “all often feel like we are pulling teeth” (Lamott), which proves the difficulty of writing is still there no matter the level of writer behind the work. Lamott also emphasizes that a writer “has to start somewhere” and shares her friend’s ideas in her writing to simply “get something - anything - down on paper” (Lamott). Lamott, and the other writers mentioned in this piece, carry incredible track records, while still admitting that perfection did not come initially, or even easily. Thus, proving that the Shitty First Draft has a place in any writer’s notebook or Word document. Lamott’s admission to struggling to properly begin a piece of writing surprised me, given of her success. I could not imagine a woman of her accomplishments stressing out over a food review, yet I felt relieved that someone of Lamott’s title relates to an amateur writer like myself. I often put off my writing as well when I cannot articulate a proper introduction. I do every other possible homework, or shy away from homework in general because the

“Additionally, issues of identity and values are important factors in neophytes ' abilities and willingness to learn to write in and for new workplaces, as they must choose between ways of thinking and writing with which they are comfortable and new ways that seem foreign or at odds with their identities and values” (Wardle 285) When I was first accepted into The University of Arkansas, the first thing that came to my mind was to put effort into my grades and into building my resume. Those would be my top priories. Before I knew it I had been accepted into a discourse community of members that were striving for the same ideals that I was-The Greek fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha. Through the proses of being an initiate, I learned life long core values of community between other members. Interviewing the president of Lambda Chi Alpha, Luke Crenshaw, I uncovered the rigorous involvement of academic writing skills and how that plays a giant roll in this discourse community. These benefits are included in the values and beliefs of a discourse community.

I showed that I accomplished the goal of knowing how to discover, develop, and explain ideas through writing processes that include generating, planning, revising, editing, and proofreading multiple drafts of a text in my discourse community analysis. The analysis was on my church, St. Luke Church of

A discourse community is a group of people or communicators who share the same common goals or interests and use different forms of communication to achieve these goals. Some of these forms of communication may range from reading, writing, the use of technology such as blogging and emailing, and even visual art such as painting and drawing. As an English major focusing on the aspect of creative writing, the discourse community I so happened to be associated with is of the English subject. The discourse community of the English literature is made up of many people, genres of literature, and even terms. The discourse community of English literature can be traced back to as early as the year C.658 with the development of Anglo-Saxon literature. Some influential eras of English literature include : Romanticism, Victorian literature, Medieval Theater, Poetry, and the Elizabethan Period. Of course with every discourse community there are a vast number of people who help to make it up. In the discourse community of English some of these people include author and playwright William Shakespeare, author Mark Twain, author and poet Jane Austen , and a slew of famous African-American authors some including Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Lorraine Hansberry, and poet Maya Angelou.

“Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge: Roles and the Writing Process” written by Betty S. Flowers suggests that writing is a process that can be blocked by different personas, or roles, in our brain. These personas can fight against each other or skillfully work together. The writing process can either be difficult or “can come only when the energies are flowing freely-when you’re not stuck”. To write successfully, we must separate these energies. Otherwise, you risk not ever starting or starting and not finishing. The roles that help use in the writing process are the madman, architect, carpenter, and judge.

In today’s society one would not be able to communicate effectively with the world if writing was not involved. People all around the world send emails, texts, and letter to numerous amounts of individuals each second. Talking on the phone is slowly becoming a thing of the past while the writing side of technology is taking over. The meaning of writing is changing in society. Writing used to be specifically for academics or the occasional letter to a loved one. As time has passed writing has taken more forms and more meanings. In the world we live in now writing is classified as texting, emailing, instant messaging, and even comments or tweets on social media. Although writing has these multiple new forms, it still holds its academic side strongly. Everything with meaning in turn affects a person’s day to day life. Writing has the effect of making one more intellectual. Writing has become a bridge between communication and the cultures and people of today’s society. It gives way for different options in stating sentences or phrases. (Olson). Each affect should change with age. As a person grows older, their writing styles should mature and take on a more professional aspect.

Discourse communities are all around us, which can include a sports team, academics, and many others. However today I am focusing on a discourse community that relates to my major, criminal justice. In order for me to understand swales six characteristics I interviewed a homicide detective relating to criminal justice. A discourse community is a group of people involved in and communicating about a particular topic, issue, or in a particular field. A discourse community is defined by six characteristics. The six defining characteristics of a discourse community require a set of common goals, there must also be mechanisms of communications within the community as well as feedback among members. Genre, the fourth characteristic, describing the various methods of output. The last two are terminology, and expertise. In order to really understand that criminal justice is a discourse community, I had to do research, and interview an expert in the field. To be a part of a discourse community, one must be credible, possess factual knowledge and draw on the values of its members to be accepted into the community. At the same time a person must learn typical ways people in that community communicate and argue. They share a certain genre which is a type of writing. Members of discourse communities provide information and feedback that are imperative in order for that discourse community to grow. My interviewee, Carol Mims, is a child homicide detective. She is an alumni here at