UNIT TWO: Discourse Communities

In order to explain Unit 2, I have to talk about Units 2 + 3 together first, because you can use the research you do now in Unit 2 for your project in Unit 3. So, you’re going to have to use some foresight in the research decisions you make!

In Unit 3 (the NEXT unit) you can use one section of this piece, the one you use research to create, as the starting point for your longer piece.

For example, in Unit 2, you might write about vaccines. You would then write one piece from the point of view of an anti-vaxxer and one written how a doctor/researcher would speak about them. If you want to sound like a doctor/researcher talking to others in the field, you will surely need research written by them to back you up.  Whatever you write in Part 2 of Unit 2 can be basis for the research you do in Unit 3. You don’t need to know exactly what you’re going to be doing in Unit 3 yet, but hopefully writing Part 2 of Unit 2 will help you develop those ideas.

Try and imagine how sets of information can be expressed and shared within a particular discourse community. How would a science fiction movie be discussed by a group of astronomers or a group going to Comic-Con? You will be asked to express this distinctly in two separate parts, but all in one paper. Take one topic, within 8 pages, and express this in the way two separate communities would (4 pages per community). You will also be asked to write a 2-page discourse analysis that digs deep and expresses why you made your particular choices for each mini-paper.

 

What you’ll be graded on:

  1. Content: Is it readable and informative? Does it teach us about the genre and community? Does it teach us about the rhetorical situation surrounding each of your communities?
  2. Research: Did you dig deep– meaning, did you look further than the first three hits on Google?
  3. Genre: You need at least two formal articles, or one non-print source if applicable to your community.
  4. Presentation: Basically, can someone outside of the community come to understand what is being discussed. Standard Written English and academic tone don’t matter so much, just as long as it’s done with care and shows that you’ve proofread it.
  5. Citation: If you quote something in Part Two of your paper that’s from one or more of your sources, be sure to cite it.
  6. Discourse Analysis: What made each portion distinct or where did they converge and why? Can your audiences decipher which section was written for them versus the other and why?

Part 1:Written from the point of view of one discourse community. This should lay the foundation for the other section. Much information should be given here that you can contradict, support, or bolster with your other part when needed. 

Part 2: Written from the perspective of a more formal discourse community. For this portion, you will need research. 

Discourse Analysis: Now that you have written both sections, you can view how they function together and pick them apart. Do they function like two halves of one whole or two camps in opposition of one another? What made them turn out as such and why? Did each have distinct audiences that made them turn out as such possibly?

Both sections should be at least 4 pages long(8 pages total) and your Discourse Analysis section should be 2 pages. In total, 10 pages should be submitted for this assignment.