Nicholas Fultz

Discourse Communities
In society, discourse communities develop over time. They converse,
interact, develop, and grow. Throughout our day, the more we intermingle with
others and begin to take part, with or without realizing it, in daily activities we
create what is known as discourse communities, as stated in Writing About
Writing by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. It is an interesting book that draws
its influence from the idea that discourse must happen. The book has progressively
drawn me more and more into the world of rhetoric. People are always framing
things, influencing others, and working towards a goal. It shed light on the writing
and verbal discourse communities out there by changing my outlook on writing.
Originally, while beginning my readings, I thought the book used a lot of
words to describe a really simple topic. They werent concise and they even rambled
it seemed. But after delving through the book, you can talk for hours on the topic of
rhetoric. When I first realized I was taking a writing class I honestly dreaded it,
however Wardle and Downs have opened my eyes to the true definition of a
community the literature on which it stands. Although a community is defined as
the common goals on which they stand, their means of intercommunication, how
well they accept feedback, the diversification of their aims, the lexis they create, and
the threshold level of members who can sustain and maintain the community - the
main commonality through all effective communities is great literature, rhetoric,
and communication.
After having read good portions of Writing About Writing, I couldnt help
but notice the framing going on at my work, Ruby Tuesdays. When it comes to

Nicholas Fultz
advertising, the employee app, and the menu itself they just dont stop drawing
you into their own discourse community. On the commercials, they use bold
adjectives and adverbs that influence you to want to come right into Ruby Tuesdays
and get a meal. I work and eat there everyday and I still want to come in and eat a
steak. The appeal comes in many forms besides words. There is a visual aspect when
you see that perfect looking steak. They appeal to your sense of smell when you see
the customer take a huge whiff of that sweet savor steak. They even talk about the
texture of the steak at times They never stop communicating their message to the
customer.
We have an app at work called, HotSchedules , that lets employees switch
shifts at will, call in sick, and even message other employees. They app is by far one
of the most effective means of communication I have used. Almost as if it were a
social network of its own. To me, I think that it is one of the best ways Ruby
Tuesdays illustrates how important they feel communication is and it keeps the turn
over rate low in comparison to other companies. It makes the community more
effective and clearly illustrates a development of lexis between employees Swales
fifth major point in The Concept of Discourse Community.
Lastly, the menu is another major concept that draws customers into the
Ruby Tuesdays discourse community just like Writing About Writing draws in
writers. The menu is filled with attention grabbing pictures that pop out at you.
Each picture has its own description that attends to every taste bud and leaves your
mouth-watering. The menu also does an excellent job of bringing about questions
for the customer to ask the server, which creates verbal communication. This then

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relays to the server to do their job and correctly communicate and connect with the
guest. For example, like Gee says in Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics, its not
what you say, but how you say it. Communication is key with guests; and will
require the server to correctly respond to the guest in the proper manner allowing
for the guest to feel comfort.
Writing About Writing has drawn me further and further into the modern
day culture of discourse communities. After reading and understanding a good
chunk of the book, I believe that it has succeeded in introducing me to the discourse
community of people who study writing. The book also allowed me to understand
discourse communities that I am already apart of like Ruby Tuesdays.

Nicholas Fultz

Work Cited
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." 1990. Writing About Writing. By
Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. 2nd ed. Boston: Warldle and Downs, 2014. 215-29. Print.

Wardle, Elizabeth A., and Doug Downs. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. Print.
Gee, James. Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction. Writing About Writing: A

College Reader. Ed. John E. Sullivan III. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 481-495. Print.