Meaning Of Discourse

A discourse community is a group of people involved in and communicating about a particular topic, issue, or in a particular field. According to the criteria conveyed in “The Concept of Discourse Community” by John Swales, Christianity can be considered as a discourse community because of its common goals, medium of communication, participatory mechanisms, specific genres, and its threshold level of members.

According to Porter, “A ‘discourse community’ is a group of individuals bound by a common interest who communicate through approved channels and whose discourse is regulated. A discourse community shares assumptions about what objects are appropriate for examination and discussion, what constitutes ‘evidence’ and ‘validity’ and what formal conventions are followed (38-39).” These five texts collectively constitute a community of discourse through their application of common language norms, characteristics, patterns and rhetorical strategies. All of the authors are writing about corresponding ideas and discussing their identical goals; the prevalence of gender inequality in the legal profession and the unjust consequences derived from it. Similarly, all five sources intentions are to oppose the standard viewpoint that gender inequality has diminished and provide evidence to support this claim. Their ideas of remedying gender inequality in the legal profession overlap as well as contradict one another.

As an incoming freshman at the University of Texas at Arlington I can say I have been in several organizations that have challenged my social skills. However, they were nothing compared to the discourse community I was a member of. It will be proven time and time again that I indeed was not only a member but also a valuable asset to this community. Let us ponder for a moment on what a discourse community actually is. It consists of many components involving but not limited to ethos, pathos, and logos. All three of which I possess and have mastered in my arts. You must realize what the set boundaries are for it to be included as such. Must sports be included even though it is more physical than conversely active? What about Student Government? Yes, we had conversations and planned events at meetings but our relationship with each other was only to a certain extent. Although my participation in sports and student government contributed to my When I think of a discourse community, automatically I associate it with the experience in my high school band. Our close knit community very well made me the person I am today.

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.

Collectively as a society most people support the improvement of mankind; we support the advancement of medicine, technology, education, etc. But at what point do we stop moving forward, or is it human nature to constantly improve and push the limits? It seems like us humans can achieve anything we sent our minds to-after all in a span of a few decades we went from simple flying machines to taking our first steps on the moon. In a smaller span of time, humans might take the next big leap for mankind.

In the field I am only thinking about the ball and making a goal. That is a discourse community I can identify myself being a part of. What is a discourse community you may ask? A discourse community is a familiar community you engage on the daily or feel connected because you are a member. Through my high school years, I was labeled a soccer player.

A discourse community is defined as a group of people involved in and communicating about a particular topic, issue, or in a particular field. We all belong to multiple discourse communities.To earn a position of a discourse community one must possess accurate knowledge, establish reliability of members to be accepted and learn to persuade other members of the community. The discourse community that I identify with personally and the profession I plan to pursue is the world of film production. However, there are many jobs that need to be done on a film set leading to there being multiple discourse communities within the film industry, what I want to focus on specifically is the DP, otherwise known as the “director of photography”. According to “The Concept of Discourse Community,” by educator and researcher John Swales, a discourse community is defined by six characteristics.

We now know what would be the necessary threshold levels for members who wish to join in such a community, but now we must realize the rest of the questions that need to be answered when talking about the discourse communities. But, what is a discourse community? Well, by definition, a discourse community is a group of individuals whom share similar ideals to one another, and are able to communicate with one another so that they all may be able to achieve a goal. However, as any other term within the English dictionary, there is something more than what was stated to be the definition. And John Malcolm Swales, a linguist best known for his work on genre analysis, would agree with that train of thought. He had stated that when it comes to a

Recently in class we’ve broached the topic of discourse communities, in order to better understand how concepts of rhetoric appear and are used in our daily lives. As such, I’ll be writing about a community of my own as a form of analysis if you will, to better understand these concepts of communication. While my intent is to try and showcase examples of ethos pathos and logos, who knows what you may take away from it. Perhaps you find a new way of interacting with your own friends, or perhaps you’ll just find a way of looking at your own interactions from reading about my own.

To me a discourse community is a close-knit group that shares the same interests and use writing as a main concept for communication. writing as a main concept for communication. Swales, linguist and author of “The Concept of Discourse Community”, further explained discourse by attributing specific characteristics to them. For the purposes of this essay, these are the relevant descriptions. “A discourse community has a broadly agreed upon set of goals” (Swales, 471), “A discourse community has acquired a specific lexis” (473), and “a discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise” (473). The discourse communityI have chosen to discuss in this essay is the Army ROTC at University of Memphis..

This week both the NPR podcast, Political Discourse, and the summary of, The Moral Order of the Suburb discuss social distance and discourse. The podcast focuses more on sensationalizing political comments and opinions, while summary discusses the prevalent idea of moral minimalism in suburban life.

A discourse community is a group of people who share a set of discourses, understood as basic values and assumptions, and ways of communicating about those goals. John Swales defines a discourse community as "groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals." The community I choose to identify with is special education. Special education teachers, or aids, really dedicate themselves and their time to others who need special assistance or treatment. The California Department of Education supports high quality educational programs for California’s big student population. According to the ideas from the federal government, the variety of the education working environment is one of the fastest growing areas of the American economy. The importance in understanding this career includes emotional, and physical growth of each student. Working with students who have disabilities can be very rewarding, but it is sometimes emotionally demanding and physically draining. Before stepping into the job of becoming a special education teacher, it is important to understand the patience that is needed in order to work with special children.

A Discourse is a way of using language to express one’s thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values, and ways of acting in a socially appropriate way (Campbell & Green, 2006). Accordingly Discourses allow individuals to identify oneself as part of a meaningful social group (Gee, 1990). Children have been known to create their own secret languages amongst their friends enabling them to feel a part of a special group. Although Discourses can generate feelings of belonging they can also exclude children who are not aware of the Discourse. It is easy however for outsiders to learn the specific jargon of the group which results in the language constantly being changed enabling the secret group to be continued (Emmitt & Zbaracki, 2010). Not all Discourses are secret groups created by children. Examples of specific Discourses include followers of cricket, people from Esperance, and brain surgeons.

A lift pitch, lift discourse or lift articulation is a short synopsis used to rapidly and just characterize a procedure, item, administration, association, or occasion and its quality suggestion.

When returning from a month in Ghana, West Africa, I sat down at the kitchen table with my mother. She asked me if I, a third year Bible College student, could help her understand a passage of scripture she read earlier that day. The passage was 1 Peter 3:18-22. We discussed the confusion surrounding the strange mentioning of Noah, spirits, Jesus descending in Hell and suffering for righteousness sake. When I could not answer my mother’s questions surrounding this seemingly peculiar passage, I decided to do something about it.