In ¨ Reflections on the concept of discourse community¨ by John M. Swales, the first quote that I found interesting was , ¨ has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise¨. This quote from the characteristics caught my eye because, although I may be wrong, but what this means to me is that to be in a discourse community there must be a certain degree of expertise. This then raised the question that if one is simply trying to fall into the category of a certain ¨discourse ¨ community and is still in the beginning process of learning of that community, one can´t simply be a part of the community for sharing the common interest? Another quote that caught my eye was when the author stated ¨And the same shaping forces create other kinds of town: religious ones like Lourdes, Assisi, or Mecca; sporting towns like Le Mans, St. Andrews, or Saratoga; or government towns like Washington, Ottawa, or Canberra¨. I chose this quote because it is very relevant in our day to day routines. Although the reading solely focuses on universities it highlights and excellent point that individuals will kind of subconsciously group themselves according to their surroundings.
A discourse community I feel I participate in would be one relation to education. Growing up, I have had many friends that dont have a common interest in completing school while I have a group of friends that I share the common interest with in completing college. Respectfully I have nothing against any one who finds their path in a way that is other than school. Long term the risks of not having an education worries me and my friends that share my common interest. In fact, I even got a head start and graduated high school half a year early to get a head start with college. Another discourse community I feel I participate in would be one that is considered more religious. I have a strong belief in repent and holding my head high on my belief in god. I get this common belief from my family because in times of need they have shown me that god is always there no matter what. The last discourse community I feel I participate in would be one that highlights belief in the unitement of family. My mother is one of twelve and my family roots come as far as India, The Dominican Republic, Spain, and many more. My family has always shown me that family is all that matters and that we should always stick together no matter what (especially during times like this due to Covid-19). Virtually communicating with loved ones brings you one step closer to feeling connected to them both through the phone and at heart.
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Great point on your first quote–you can’t just be part of a DC because you want to –you need to learn the ways of that DC. And even then, I imagine there are DCs you can not ever join you just need to have been born into them.
As for your list of DCs, try to be more detailed about each. For example, what do you and your friends who value education have in common besides this goal? Are there other characerteristics that draw you together–a hobby? an area of interest? a culture? something? Also, you can be more specific about the type of religion as this affects what you believe and values and the language you use to discuss beliefs–even within a religion there can be various different DCs.