Jaime Corral English 1311 Discourse Community Response Writing is a way of communication that plays a major role in our

lives. In todays society, writing is used on a regular basis whether you are writing a formal letter to the President or just writing down orders for the local restaurant you work at. While writing, determining the purpose of the writing is essential so that you can know the style of writing that is adequate. The effectiveness of our writing in our civic, academic, professional, and family/friends are strongly influenced by the context, media, voice and genre we choose. In my family/friends discourse community the environment is informal rather than it being formal and presentable in a professional community. Having a close connection to your siblings will allow you to have a more lenient conversation with them. For example, a conversation with your siblings might sound like this, hurry up and give me my phone back. Although this tone is acceptable in this community, the conversations you have with your parents will differ. While talking to your parents, the tone will change. The previous statement you made will change to may I please have my phone back? this makes the statement more formal showing respect towards your parents. In this community, topics may include school issues, selfesteem/problems, sports and birthdays. Postcards, email messages, text messages, invitations, letters are all methods of expressing the topics in the discourse community. The purpose of the topics would be to have good communication with family and to show care and interest. The conventions include being respectful, honest, trustworthy and honorable.

The school discourse community is probably the hardest of them all due to needing a score of 920 or higher on the placement test. In my situation, in order to attend UTEP I first had to apply to the University, get accepted and complete my student orientation. It is important to speak to the Professors as formal as possible to show respect towards them so they know you are willing to learn what they are teaching. Applying skills learned like MLA or APA format will let the teachers know you really are learning. College courses can be very rigorous which is why proper grammar and punctuation, as well as knowing the right writing method for each topic is important. Topics covered in this community may include essays, reports, personal narratives and articles. The purpose of this discourse community is to show understanding and be successful in the community. In a professional discourse community it is essential to be formal and address everyone with respect and have a good tone and voice especially with your customers and managers. In order to join this community, I first had to apply at Oasis the bowling alley then I called back to check on the status of my application, I was then interviewed and hired. The topics in this community would be the prices or specials and the lane calls I have to make every time there is something wrong with a lane. As a worker at Oasis, my job is to satisfy customer needs by ensuring that there is no problem with the customers bowling lane and provide the best customer service possible. When I issue out a lane to a customer it is important for me to be clear and specific, okay Sir your lane will be lane 32 and it will be dollar bowling per person per game this clarifies any questions and confusion they might have. In order to join my church civic discourse community, I had to seek and find a local youth group leader and ask to become a member of the youth group. The topics in this community would be helping the less fortunate, community service, and assisting the elderly.

These topics would be talked about in fundraisers, notes and logs. In this community, the environment is more informal compared to the professional discourse community. The environment is more lenient and the tone may be a bit more relaxed. Generous, charismatic, and loving are all conventions that apply to this discourse community. Communication is essential in our society. Understanding the context, voice, genre, and media will help shape your writing and determine the success of your writing.

Jaime Corral Discourse Map

(Student) Joining- Apply to college and get accepted, Complete orientation. Conventions- Proper grammar and punctuation, writing method, Advanced math skills. Genre- Essays, reports, personal narratives, articles. Topics- Depends on class and assignments.

(Family/Friends) Joining- Conceived and raised by parents. Conventions- Respectful, honest, trustworthy and make the Family proud. Genre- Homework, to- do lists, grocery list, invitations. Topics- School issues, social status, self-esteem.

(Professional) Joining- Applied, called back to check status, interview, complete training. Conventions - Respectful, responsible, honest, multi- tasked, trustworthy. Genre Sign in sheets, logs, check-ups. Topics- Counting money, speaking to customers, speaking with managers.

(Civic) Joining- Speak with church group leader, volunteer. Conventions- Generous, loving, respectful, charismatic. Genre- Fundraisers, notes, events logs. Topics-Less fortunate, misguided, mistreated.