Week 2

Session Overview

In Week 2, we will discuss summarizing texts, creating outlines, and participating in peer review. We will also introduce the concept of discourse communities. During this week, you will choose a discourse community based on the career you aspire to have in the future. This should be somewhat grounded in your selected field of academic study, too.

For example, if you are in the Simulation and Game Design major at UB, your career might be that of a technical artist. If you are an Human Services major, perhaps you would like work in community health outreach, or health equity initiatives. We will be working with these discourse communities and careers throughout the semester; your portfolio will consist of five major assignments that revolve around this topic–A1. Discourse Community Investigation; A2. Rhetorical Analysis; A3. Annotated Bibliography; A4. Research Document; and A5. Literacy Narrative.

Assignments

A1. Discourse Community Investigation – Due Sept. 14 (10 points)

For this assignment, you will choose an aspirational career and investigate one of its Discourse Communities (DC). This will serve as a path towards rhetorically analyzing certain elements of communication within the DC, which you will do in your second assignment this semester.
Things to Consider:

What is discourse?
“Discourse,” as a noun, means written or spoken communication or debate. Discourse occurs in all types of text such as speeches, interviews, or as written in academic journals and online forums.

What is a discourse community?
A group of people who share a set of discourses, understood as basic values and assumptions and ways of communicating about those goals. “Discourse Community” is defined by John Swales as “groups that have goals or purposes, and use communication to achieve these goals.”

What is my discourse community?
For our purposes in WRIT 101, your DC will fall within your aspirational career or the career you are currently majoring in.

A1 Requirements:

• 2-3 pages; 1” margins; double-spaced; Times New Roman 12-pt font
• Parts I & II in a single document

Part I: The Introduction
Write three paragraphs about your aspirational career and one of its DCs, keeping in mind the common goals of your DC and its methods of communication.

• Paragraph 1: Define the selected DC, the common goals of the DC, and the people who may be within the community.
• Paragraph 2: Describe your aspirational career and how the DC fits within it. If that career comes with a specific title, discuss what the career entails and why it is important in the context of the selected DC.
• Paragraph 3: Discuss the types of communication used by your selected DC. Remember that communication is not limited to speaking, and may include all types of text such as academic journals, reports, videos, or online forums.

Part II: The Discourse Dictionary
Create a personal dictionary of words or phrases specific to your selected DC. List eight words or phrases, defined in your own words, along with a couple sentences regarding how people may use those words or phrases in the DC. Explain its importance to the selected DC, the different ways the word or phrase may be used, or how frequently the word appears in the DC.

Timeline:

• First draft of document titled LastName_A1 submitted to your professor by the end of class on ___
• Two hard copies of first draft, stapled, in class on ____ for peer review
• Revised document titled LastName_A1 submitted to your professor by the end of class on ____

A1 Rubric

WRIT 101 A1. DC Investigation Rubric

SAMPLE #1 WRIT 101 A1 DC Investigation Sample 1
Student
Instructor
Assignment
Date
Discourse Community Investigation

1. The Introduction

The discourse community that I have selected is that of Criminal Justice (CJ), which ranges far beyond a major in school. The CJ discourse community (DC) embodies the police force, prison systems, and judiciary practices. This DC focuses on ethics, criminal theories, and an overall goal of improving society by reducing or eliminating crime. These goals may be seen as controversial outside the CJ community because some individuals outside of the community believe that corruption from within is designed to beget more crime. For the purpose of this assignment, I am strictly staying inside of the DC, and working under the belief that the primary goal of the CJ community is to provide a safer society by controlling crime.

When considering what role I would like to play in the CJ community, I knew that I had many choices. While a high ambition for me would be to become a detective, I believe that a more realistic aspiration would be to become a juvenile probation officer (JPO). A JPO’s work mostly involves supervising young people who have been accused of a crime and who now have special limitations to their conduct. As a JPO, I would be able to work with young people’s families, schools, and other social services to help the individuals get on the path to becoming successful sons or daughters, students, and eventually adults who do not reappear in the judicial system. I was extremely fortunate to grow up in stable household and to be provided with opportunities that kept me out of trouble; I know everyone is not that lucky. It is important to me to become a JPO because I want to help young people find better opportunities than what they may see in front of them.

Most DCs probably share certain types of communications, like online forums. The CJ community, however, uses some forms of communication that are entirely unique. For example, court cases and police reports are extremely important in the CJ DC. In the CJ community, individuals must be able to read and understand those documents in order to proceed effectively. Without understanding certain documents, officers and lawyers could have miscommunication that could damage the validity of a case. Academic journals are also a popular method of communication in the CJ DC, especially when examining criminal theories. These journals typically use concise language, which emphasizes the way in which the CJ DC aspires to work.

• The Discourse Dictionary

Adjudication: This is the process in which a case is reviewed by a judge, which is then followed by the verdict and sentencing. When acting in the CJ DC, you must be able to understand adjudication and know what to do following the sentencing by the judge. As a JPO, I would need to be able to help my clients strictly follow the limitations given to them by the court system.

Culpability: Used in understanding a juvenile’s part in crimes, culpability is technically the guilt or blameworthiness within the adolescent. As a JPO in the CJ DC, I must recognize that a juvenile’s brain is not completely developed and he or she may not understand decision-making processes just yet. These limitations on an individual’s judgment and impulse control can weaken his or her culpability, thereby possibly reducing his or her sentencing.

Delinquent: As an adjective, “delinquent” describes misconduct and the tendency to commit typically nonviolent crimes. “Delinquent” can also be used as a noun to describe a young individual who commits offences. In my aspirational career, I would most likely work directly with individuals classified as delinquents. My goal is to help them move out of the role of delinquent and into a role deemed appropriate by society.

Felony: Felonies are crimes most likely involving violence, more serious than misdemeanors; these crimes usually call for sentences of a minimum of a year in prison. Certain offenses classified as felonies include murder and burglary. If a juvenile, person under the age of 18, commits a serious felony, he or she may be brought to trial as an adult. If the juvenile is convicted of a felony, they would likely face jail time with chance of probation. I must be aware of the distinction of crime types if I want to be in the CJ DC, and understand the terms and limitations of each.

Juvenile Detention Center (JDC): Also known as “juvie,” a JDC is a location that serves as a secure jail for juveniles who have committed crimes and considered a threat to society. In these facilities, the State is responsible for continuing a juvenile’s education. Juveniles who eventually leave a JDC are then placed under the supervision of a JPO, which is my aspirational career. I need to be familiar with the workings of JDCs in order to be able to reach out to and better understand the individuals who may be under my supervision.

Juvenile Probation Officer (JPO): A JPO is an individual who works within the limitations of the state, county, or district depending on the juvenile’s crime and needs; these officers will typically work with other social services, family members, and schools in order to supervise the juvenile. JPOs often also work as probation officers for adults. My aspirational career is to work as a JPO to facilitate young offenders to becoming productive members of society.

Misdemeanor: A misdemeanor is an infraction of the law that is seen to be less serious than a felony, but is technically deemed more critical than a petty offense. These are typically sentenced with monetary fines. Oftentimes, juveniles accumulate series of misdemeanors, which may call for a JPO to be assigned to supervise them and their actions. In my aspirational career, I would likely see this term frequently.

Zero Tolerance Policy: In the juvenile court system, zero tolerance policies are put into place in the juvenile court schools. These involve a strict set of rules that, when disobeyed, will ultimately result in a return to a JDC. I have come to understand that zero tolerance policies result in more young people being pushed out of their court mandated schools and into the prison system, especially as they get older and can more likely be tried as adults. In my career, I would try to get my clients to understand the policies in order to keep their behavior in check in order to keep them out of the prisons and detention centers.

SAMPLE #2 WRIT 101 A1 DC Investigation Sample 2

Student
Instructor
Assignment
Date

When you hear Nursing Community there are a plethora of fields that fall under that topic. You have medical-surgical nurses, Emergency room nurses, Intensive Care nurses and many more that all have different responsibilities as a nurse. With that in mind the way they communicate will be different in their own unique way. They are all nurses but the type of nurse is what separates them and causes different discourse communities. With all nurses there are certain requirements that must be met. Once you have completed the set of requirements you will become a member of that discourse. The discourse that this analysis focuses on will be pediatric nurses. If you are a Pediatric Nurse your main focus is providing care for infants all the way up to adolescents. Working with children not only takes a great amount of patience but, also being able to communicate with the child and the child’s parent as well. For a pediatric nurse I would imagine it was be difficult transitioning from the jargon he or she uses when communicating with other nurses to using personal lexicon to be able to better communicate in a way that they will understand. Even within that the way you converse with a child wouldn’t be the same as if you were conversing with an adult. So for a Pediatric Nurse they are constantly switching how they communicate throughout the day. Although this may be stressful at times being able to have a community of people who understand and are willing to come together to help better the problems in which all of you are facing is comforting. The intertextuality between all genres of this discourse is that they all share the same goal which is to help strengthen the practices and health care for children.

The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners main focus is to help strengthen and advance the community nurses. Their main goal is to see healthcare for children increasing in a positive way. All members want solutions on how to better their practices so that a advancement will take place which result in better caring for the child. The association has 49 chapters spreaded throughout the United States to help interest groups and members come together to learn more on certain topics evolving Children’s health care. They want to be able to create opportunities for Pediatric nurses so that they can gain knowledge on children healthcare. Which will result in them becoming better at what they do. The National Association of Pediatric Nurses are able to communicate through website, meaning online as well as meeting in person at the chapters they have located around the world. By being a website it shows how they are able to communicate information about themselves as a group. Ofcoarse the intended audience would be Pediatric Nurses but as for me not falling under that category just reading about it better helps me understand on how Pediatric Nurses communicative within themselves. Meaning its not always just about using unfamiliar words that people aren’t aware of but it deals with coming together to find solutions on certain health care problems that almost each and every nurse face but doesn’t know how to cure the problem. The purpose of them communicating and connecting with other nurses around the world is to see how they are approaching the problem and what strategies and techniques are they using to solve the issue at the hand. It’s all about learning new practices to be able to perform them at their hospitals to obtain different results.  On the website they offer you their mission statement , information about their membership, their chapters and special interest groups, journal of pediatric health care and the history on the association. By providing all this the audience is able to decide if they want to be apart of this association. The intended purpose of the website itself is not only to inform but to gain more members. If I was a Pediatric Nurse I would join because not only did they communicate their information well, what the association is offering is what all pediatric nurses should be a part of.

In addition to that Pediatric Nurses also have news letters and journals they are able to read to stay updated on certain events and topics. Journals of Pediatric Nursing provides articles from a variety of issues so that you can read and enlarge your knowledge deficit. This alone would be very helpful in this field because some nurses may not have the opportunity to join discourse communities so being able to have journals to look at as a pediatric nurse is very effective and helpful. The purpose of the journal is to be able to provide information on certain topics pediatric nurses all have questions about. You don’t necessarily have to communicate with others verbally. This type of discourse shows communication taking place in written form. Being able to communicate face to face is one thing but being able to read what someone wrote may provide a different sense of clarity for people. One may learn best by listening and engaging in conversation while another may learn best by reading and researching on that topic. So for Pediatric nurses to have journals and articles made just for them will be highly liked and appreciated in my opinion. Even with their own personal newsletter, being able to be constantly updated on your field of concentration is rewarding.  If you want to know when main events are happening or when a new issue comes out the Pediatric nursing journal will send you an email of that newsletter. So not only are they communicating written they provide you with emails. To be sent an email would make a person feel apart. Not everyone has the luxury of receiving this email. The email shows that you are apart of a society or association. So even if a nurse wasn’t a member of a well known society or group of nurses he or she has now became apart of something bigger even though it is broader because all Pediatric Nurses receives this email.

In comparison, just like associations societies of Pediatric Nurses share the same interest. With the Society of Pediatric Nurses the primary goal is to advance the specialty of pediatric nursing through research and practice. By having this organization of nurses coming together is paving the way for the future. Its to ensure that career advancement is taking place. Being able to combine the global standards of pediatric nursing and their clinical practices with health care to help hospitals see better outcomes is what its all about. The society came together simply due to the fact that the founders wanted to discuss the urge of improving care for infants and children who are in pain. What started off as a small intimate discussion expanded into something much larger and well needed in the field of Pediatric Nurses. The society itself has over 3,300 nurses. The unique thing about it is that members are involved, they are interacting with eachother. Members are providing educational resources, news in pediatric trends, and opportunities to network with nurses around the world. That to me is the purpose of it all, being able to network with nurses from all over. Not everyone handles a certain problem the same way so seeing how others approach certain problems when taking care of children is beneficial. The purpose of the society is to help nurse’s lean new techniques that they can then share with nurses in their hospital so they can work as a team to provide better results. Having a website where you can communicate with others and obtain certain files and documents is the intended purpose for creating one in the first place. Having this reliable source ensures positive outcomes.  Being able to always have a go to source when facing a problem builds a foundation  of trust.  When you are communicating with nurses around the world I would imagine you would have to have some sense of trust in them. You trust their practices and judgment. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be apart of that society. So when you communicate you are also gaining trust within the relationship

Having a community where everyone is active in the process is rewarding because it shows that all members have a deep passion for what they do and want things to change. Being able to discourse about your discipline with others who understand is even better. By being able to connect globally about issues within your field to better not only you but the practices of Pediatric Nurses worldwide is the major mission. Communication is key, without it we would be lost. A person doesn’t know it all, he or she has to learn from others to gain insight or certain things. Whether it had be verbal conversation or written conversation the main ingredient is that you are using communication. With Pediatric Nurses they have a very difficult job when it comes to communicating. Having to use diction when talking with children and parents can be overwhelming if you aren’t good with your communicating skills. That’s why in order to be a pediatric nurse good communication skills is a must. When it comes with communicating with your co workers or your members  however is very comforting. While on this journey of being a Pediatric Nurse there will be times where you need another’s point of view, knowledge and experience. Having a society that open to helping and advancing each other helps make the journey a little less stressful and a lot more enjoyable.

SAMPLE #3 WRIT 101 A1 DC Investigation Sample 3

Student 1

Student
Instructor
Course
Date

International K-Pop Fans

    The International K-pop fan base are a discourse community that have discussion forums where they can speak in their own language, are passionate about the artists to think that they deserve worldwide recognition, but struggle in their efforts as many of the fan base are not born in North or South Korea. New people getting into the K-pop realm will be confused by who they like or don’t like or how to speak about who they care for since many of them are teenagers to young adults. Many of the seasoned fans create a long range of media, from YouTube to Allkpop, to have people relate to the topic or new ones to understand what it would be like to be a K-pop fan.

Korean pop is a genre where many artists sing in their native language, Korean. But the artists do not have to be in Korea to be in the genre. There could be Japanese or Pilipino people that can jump in this genre and be a part of the success as well. K-Pop is a range from Hip hop to Pop. Even though the genre is named K-Pop, there actually is plenty of room for other types of music to fit in that genre. The abbreviation stands for the popular music in Korea today. The music doesn’t have to be actual pop music, just music that is popular in that region.

Student 2

 K-pop fans, whether they are Korean or something else, they created a language to communicate with each other to express their passion for the genre in their own way. For an example, someone can have a certain “bias” towards someone in an K-pop group. Usually a bias is what you favor or prefer over anything else. The word is kind of similar in that instance but it can be confusing for people getting into the community. A “bias”, used with K-pop fans, shows that they like or are passionate about more than the other artists in the group. The fans do love the entire group in general, but there is that one person that stands out above the rest, hence why many call who they like their “bias”. Many people in the fandom use the word in English as it is the universal language. The language reaches out to a variety of people who understand the language and have them interact with one another.

Another example is the term, “manake” where the word means someone who is younger in Korean. Older K-pop fans tend to use this term, especially in huge groups where a member is younger than the rest. Many use the Korean term to make the language K-pop fans communicate interchangeable. They use a mix of English and Korean words to establish their own, unique communication method. The word also could be confusing for new K-pop fans, who could get overwhelmed by the new information overload. But many people who have blogs or social media, use that outlet to help the new fans get acquainted to what happens when they are new in the K-pop community. A young woman on WordPress, explained her own experience in the K-pop community. She showed some of the word terms the group use. People can use her blog and many others to get a sense of what the K-pop fandom is like.

While learning how the members of the community communicate with each other, it is also beneficial to know how much they are at a disadvantage. International Korean pop fans do not get much of a benefit when it comes to K-pop. Since it is Korean pop, a lot of the artists started and got famous in Korea. They focus their efforts on their Korean or Japanese fan base much more than the fan base in America or Europe. That said, that means the American or European fans will not get a lot of opportunities than the Asian fans. Not being able to see your favorite K-pop artist in concert, is an example. It is hard for fans living in those countries where their

Student 3

artist does not come in or near there their hometown. They would have to resort to hoping that their artist would come to their country or must watch a low-resolution video on YouTube.

Fans watch people discussing K-pop so they can relate to a person who has got multiple views and recognition on the internet. Steven Deng, a member of the K-pop fan base, created multiple videos ranging from the K-pop language to how international fans struggle. He created the video to let people know that they are not alone in terms of struggling as an international fan. He gives this sense of reassurance as he is famous and recognizable for people to relate to him. Many of K-pop fans can use his video to share to their friends of how relatable he is.

International K-pop fans even struggle with knowing the actual, English version lyrics to the songs. The lyrics are in Korean but many people are not aware of the language or cannot read or speak well. So, it is difficult when a new music video comes out to a song and there are not English or any other language subtitles. But that is where that sense of community comes in as many people who know how to speak Korean, tend to translate the lyrics from Korean and put it on You Tube for people who wanted to know that the lyrics are and mean. That way the fandom can watch the video with the lyrics repeatedly so they can have a clear understanding of the lyrics mean.

Other than YouTube, many fans also create discussion forums to talk about a wide range of topics in the K-pop community. They create threads and combine their made-up knowledge to discuss with each other. On a website called Allkpop, it is filled with discussion threads and topics that range from anything K-pop related. This is a great resource for new and seasons K-pop fans they can talk about what they like with other people. They can build friendships and create meaningful sources any fan can use.

Student 4

    K-pop fans are passionate about their groups and want them to succeed all over the country. America is one of the countries that have a huge impact with the music industry and the artists that make it big. K-pop fans want the artists in their genre, have more recognition so everyone can see that Asians are talented. A woman, involved in the K-pop community, told other fans that there’s no need to hope for their artists to have worldwide recognition. It was an opinion article but plenty of fans read it and had their own views on it. Good and bad.

This topic is controversial as plenty of people have different views on western media’s value to K-pop. Some think that the recognition is important as there could be an abundance group of people who want many K-pop artists to succeed in other countries. They want them to win Billboard awards, Video Music Awards or Grammy’s to make people aware of other music than the one that shows in America.

Others think that there is no point in having them be on American award shows or even performing at them. The racist comments about Asians will not go away. In fact, many believe that more racist comments will come and affect the artists in a negative way. The racism will still exist and many Western artists will not be affected by the new Asian exposure. There could be new collaborations with the group but that is just about it. It is nice that the K-pop fans want their favorite groups to have recognition. This shows that many people in the fandom care about the genre passionately and will want it to have more awareness in the world.

The people that make up the International K-pop fan base are a discourse community that communicates with each other in their own language mixed with English and Korean. It expands to a wide range of fans who know both languages and one more than the other. The fandom also participates in discussion forums as they talk about their favorite artists with other people. This shows the discourse community using the internet to collaborate and communicate with each other people who have similar interests. But through it all, this discourse community struggles with receiving the same amount of attention the Korean fan base has. Despite of the struggles, they continue to be fans as they love being involved in the K-pop community period. They worship their artists and that will not stop no matter the disadvantages they face.

Readings and Other Texts – Due _______

Discourse Community, Wikipedia

Prewriting Strategies

Discussion Forum – Due In Class

You’ve selected your discourse community for a career for Assignment 1. For this week’s forum, discuss your non-academic discourse communities. Are you into RPG’s and participate in the massive community? Are you a member of a religious group or organization that you participate in or identify with? Do you participate in an athletic group or follow a specific sports team?
Choose one of your non-academic discourse communities to discuss—tell us the DC’s shared values and goals, the methods of communication, and how you participate in this community. Then, listen to your classmates’ description of their DC and comment on at least one DC and sharing something that you’ve learned. If you find that you share a DC with your classmate, engage with them in what you see to be different about the DC.