Identity: An Explanation Of Discourse

This distinction is very striking. He explains how the ‘discourses’ that one experiences and acquires over a period of time go on to shape a person’s ‘Discourse’ , which itself may be varied as is seen in most people.

Everyone has discourses, but not everyone knows what a discourse is. In the article, Gee explains what discourses are, and how they are obtained. So what are they? Discourses are basically things that you are knowledgeable in that make you, you. For example, some of my discourses include being a Lacrosse player, being an American man, and being an Engineering student. While some are easily obtainable, some discourses are simply impossible to obtain, but they are forever changing as you discover new things about yourself.

Identity is something that some people have a really hard time with, deciding who you are or who you want to be seems like a simple task but for some the choice to choose who they want to be isn’t always their choice. James Paul Gee author of “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistic: Introduction” talks about identity and how people have different Discourses depending on what social situation a person is in. Gee created and described Discourse as “ ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, body positions, and clothes”(Gee). Gee talks about how discourses are pretty much an “identity kit”, which means a person is able to take on different

According to (Deapul.edu, n.d.), a discourse community is a group of individuals that communicate and covey their message in the professional and public domain. This format of communication depending on the job field is known as discursive practices (Deapul.edu, n.d.). These communications practices can include communication avenues specific to the field. This can include journals, books, research articles, case studies, public outreach, and lectures. Each field utilizes their own specific jargon that conveys their message. In order to gain membership in a discourse community, an individual must demonstrate

lthough there is no set definition for discourse, from learning about the subject and doing further readings, my understanding of the word is that it is what is expected or seen as acceptable. It is also a certain way of thinking or talking about a subject.

There is an abundant amount of communities in the world we live in. Whether they’re jobs, hobbies, or even school. Everything is part of it’s own particular community. When associated with a community, disregarding the type, they all tend to have different discourses. Discourses according to Gee “are ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions and clothes.” (Gee 5) He compares it to an “identity kit” because we act a certain way according to the particular environment we are in so others can recognize who we are and what we are addressing. Furthermore, he explains how we acquire discourses. “Discourses are not mastered by overt instruction...but by enculturation into social practices through scaffolded and supported interaction with people who have already mastered the Discourse.” (Gee 7) This is how we acquire most our “home-based discourse” (Gee 7) We learn what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable by socializing within the community. Social practice plays a big role when obtaining a Discourse in a community.

In her essay, "Are We Worried About Storm's Identity or Our own?" Patricia J. Williams asks the philosophical question, "Are we worried about Storm's identity or our own?" Her argument implies that we worry about our own identity as she describes her analytical process, a personal narration from which she derives her analytical thoughts, as well as an analogy. Williams' writing thoughts are effectively expressed in her essay and consequently, the philosophical question, "are we worried about Storm's identity or our own?"

When I first started researching discourse communities I thought to myself. Why were there so many definitions of a discourse community and which one is right? To answer that question, discourse communities are “groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals”(Borg 1). To put this into even simpler terms, every group that you have or ever will be apart of is a discourse community. The discourse communities that you are a part of shape the way you think, write and evaluate others. Every group that you are a part of influences you whether it be your friends, your family, or even your English class. For me, all of the discourse communities that I am apart of influence the way I think and write.

Life is like a massive highway that have infinite routes anyone can choose take to reach some type of designated goal. Those various routes lead to distinct exits, where one can discover a group or groups that share similarities dealing with viewpoints, beliefs, or understanding towards a particular goal. These groups can be identified as discourse communities. According to, “The Concept of Discourse Community,” in the textbook, Writing About Writing, John Swales stressed that in order to be classified as a discourse community the group has to have all six defining characteristics. Swales emphasized, “A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals, mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback, utilities and hence processes one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims, acquires specific lexis, and has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discourse expertise” (Swales, 221-222). Keeping this key detail in mind, there is numerous type of discourse out there.

Discourses are the “social and cultural practices through which individuals and groups use language to establish their identities…they provide ways of being, thinking, acting and using language so that people can identify themselves in social and cultural networks” Discourses affect peoples views on all things, for example, two different

James Gee calls these Discourses and discourses, allowing us to categorise Discourses as a socially accepted way of using language and even feeling and acting, whilst discourses are the smaller aspects of the larger Discourse. This explains why language can change, for when a new culture is created, this sets up a new Discourse that must evolve and be learnt by new comers as the original founding members of a Discourse will create a new language organically before broader cultural acceptance and usage. Using English as the example of a single cultural language, allows us to understand that Discourses exist within an individual language and not just amongst different cultural languages, this solidifies the theory that even though Discourses

Discourse is a long talk or piece of writing about a subject that serves as a tool to exchange ideas and sentiments. Michael Foucault presents possibly the best definition of discourse. He says, “Discourse is the systems of thoughts composed of ideas, attitudes, and courses of action, beliefs and practices that systematically construct the subjects and the worlds of which they speak.”

Every individual has a story of their own, and in a sense there is a resemblance to novels with all its ups and downs, and truths and fictions. Even more, there is this notion of “do not judge a book by its cover;” each page within a person’s life weighs more on one’s identity than the outer surface one perceives does. Despite this, how much of each page is determined by the individual and how much is determined by outside forces? In “Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books,” Azar Nafisi describes the necessity of identity in a world where fiction and reality are intertwined. While Oliver Sacks in the excerpt, “The Mind’s Eye,” points out the physiological changes in an individual’s mind when facing a challenge more or less changes the identity of a person. Continuing on the development of identity, Jean Twenge in her text, “An Army of One: Me,” highlights how social standards can shape and limit an individual as what embodies “the Self” becomes more defined. All three authors tackle the scope of identity, since the individual, “the Self,” and the “mind’s eye” are the center of discussion. The matter of identity can be shaped by circumstances and experiences when the individual’s environment is volatile, and has changed dramatically, or the individual’s surrounding society is prevalent in the actions of its subjects. However, identity is something that is already predetermined to each individual, and the factors listed above reveal the true identity of each individual more rather than shape it.

Identity is a state of mind in which someone recognizes/identifies their character traits that leads to finding out who they are and what they do and not that of someone else. In other words it's basically who you are and what you define yourself as being. The theme of identity is often expressed in books/novels or basically any other piece of literature so that the reader can intrigue themselves and relate to the characters and their emotions. It's useful in helping readers understand that a person's state of mind is full of arduous thoughts about who they are and what they want to be. People can try to modify their identity as much as they want but that can never change. The theme of identity is a very strenuous topic to understand

While childhood seemed like a breeze, my adolescent years were anything but that. Adolescence, the transition between childhood and adulthood beginning with puberty, is a time full of physical and psychological changes both positive and negative. During this time individuals are in search of their identity, a task that can yield a lot of confusion. The question of who am I lingers in the back of adolescent minds and the answer anything but simple. This struggle for an identity and one’s place in society can lead to stress. Through exploration and soul searching, however, one might find their identity. For me, this question seemed impossible to answer, however, I always had a strong desire to fit in and be liked by others. Reading through the different developmental theories in the text, I started to compare them to events in my own life and noticed many significant similarities.