When I first learned about what a discourse community is I didn’t really think I belonged to one. However, as I did more thinking I realized that I probably fit in two communities. I say probably because I’m not too sure if I fit within them but I am somewhat knowledgeable. The communities I belong to would be the makeup community, and the fan community of the hip-hop rapper Phora. When it comes to being a part of the makeup community I started when I was in elementary school perhaps in the fourth grade. I started watching videos and learning some new terms but later I got the basic tools that I needed and I started to analyze and adapt to the terminology I was hearing in the tutorials. Some words consisted of face shapes and structures, others on liquid/cream products like blush, contour, counselor, powder products like eyeshadow, setting powder, bronzer etc. As trends started to set the terminology started to change a little where baking was a thing, then dewy skin, and no makeup makeup, and now it’s even gotten to the point where skin care goes hand in hand with makeup even more. I’m newer to the Phora fan community where I just value the lyrics he’s written and wanting to better yourself as an individual. I haven’t met people who like the artist as well as I do but I do see how they interact on social media.
I think I really resonated with Klass and having to pick up a new form of language within the career path of choice. I’m currently majoring in civil engineering and there’s a certain language that I don’t understand nor know how to properly use in sentences. I currently see this in a drawing class I took this semester where I didn’t know any terms needed for my class or even how to navigate the software I was using. I seeked help from a classmate with more knowledge than me and I started to pick up some of the terms used and was able to even say them back and use them properly. I’m aware that for my field imma have to use a different way of speaking in order to continue in the engineering community.
See there? You’re in (are going to be in) lots of different discourse communities. And any of these would make a good Portrait, approaching it as the jargon/specialized language of that community. Makeup seems easy, like something everybody should know, but I suspect that’s really not the case. Any of these would make good essays!