Category: Unit 1 (Page 3 of 3)

Discourse Community Artifact Analysis Worksheet

 Due Feb. 28th 

Find one artifact from your Discourse Community. The artifact might provide information about their way of communicating, their values, their beliefs, their “identity kit” etc. The artifact should provide information about the Discourse Community or be meaningful to the community. 

Examples of artifacts: an interview with a member of the community, a song, a speech, an example of the Discourse Community’s publications (brochure, newsletter), letters, a poem, a book, biography/ autobiography, a tattoo, memes) 

Fill out the Discourse Community Artifact Analysis worksheet about your artifact. The worksheet will help you look at the artifact from a number of angles that will help you prepare for your final task of the project. 

You may either write your response in a comment below OR use this link to complete the worksheet in Google Docs.

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Discourse Community _____________________

Artifact ___________________________

1. WHY did you choose this artifact?

2. Describe the artifact:

• What does the artifact look like/ sound like (if an object)? Where is it? 
• What is the artifact about (if a text, song, poem, etc)?

3. Discuss how/ why the artifact is meaningful to your DC

• Why is this artifact important to your DC? 
• How does your DC use the artifact? 

4. Look at the RHETORICAL SITUATION (genre, audience, purpose)

• If a text, what is the genre of the artifact? 
• Who is the intended audience of the artifact? Who is supposed to read, hear, see, use the artifact? 
• What is the purpose of the artifact? 

5. Does the artifact contain examples of ethos, pathos or logos? Find it and describe it! 

• How does the artifact help establish the credibility of the DC? Or look at the artifact, is it a credible source? How do you know? (ethos)
• How does the artifact appeal to the emotions (pathos) of the members of the DC?
• How does the artifact appeal to the logic (logos) of the DCs members?
• How effective is the message?
• If a written / spoken text, what is the voice/ tone of the artifact? (formal, informal, etc)

Project 1: Step 1: Choose and Introduce Your Community using the Project 1: Step 1 Handout

Write an introduction to your community. It should be about 250 words. It might be helpful to FOCUS on the SPECIFIC LEXIS (specialized language) and other unique criteria.  

1. READ and ANNOTATE “HERS” by Perri Klass. In this article, the writer paints a portrait, not of a particular word, but of a whole new language she had to learn in order to fit in with her new profession. While you are reading, ANNOTATE places  in the text that caught your eye, where you wanted to know more, where you were confused or where you related!
2. WRITE: At least 300 words. What community is Klass a part of? What is an example of the whole new language that she had to learn (be specific!). What are some communities that you are a part of? (hint: we’re all a part of multiple communities!) What “languages” have you had to learn to engage with these communities—and how did you learn these languages? Are there particular words or phrases that stick out to you as helping you feel like you were part of the in-crowd? Post on OpenLab.