Argument convincing the audience why the essay about discourse community is important, what are you trying to convince the audience about your paper, what message were you trying to send

The essay I wrote about the discourse community is important because it defines who you are as a person or aren’t involved in anymore. You’re affected by your environment and what discourse community you chose to associate with. A discourse community is a group of people who have the same interest in the same topics or speak the same languages. Not being from the same discourse community makes it difficult to relate or even have a conversation. Discourse community is important because it is how we communicate in the social world within particular sport, activities, jobs and so on. I am trying to convince the audience that moving from one discourse community isn’t easy, for most people it takes days, weeks, months or years to adjust. The opening to my essay described the environment I lived in and a couple of flashbacks to understand my discourse community. Involving a diversity of background, focusing on certain communities that I had to face or were involved in, school, etc. Adjusting to one community to another wasn’t easy for me and it took me a year to enter new discourse communities and some that came along with me such as my family. It wasn’t my greatest experience from the beginning but it turned out to be a positive outcome because it allowed me to be open minded about new communities, tradition, culture, etc. Allowing people to come into my life and being able to speak more than one language.

Dear Future Student

Dear future student,

When taking English 1101 or any other English course for next semester, I hope you’re open-minded. There are many topics that will get thinking from a different perspective and many outside topics that will be brought up. For example, topics of what’s going on in the world, politics, violence, news, and your input about the topics. Even though it might be quite in the beginning, people would start speaking within the couple of minutes because the silence will get to your head (It happened to me a couple of times and right before I was about to raise my hand, someone else spoke up). You’ll also learn new things such as new terms or music. For example, I learned what the term “cover” meant back in the days and how it was used back then and now. As always, you’ll be writing, constantly because it is a English course so there is no way that you’ll be avoiding that but there are interesting topics to write about. If you have an open minded professor, expect to express your feelings or concerns. You will most likely get an essay you don’t understand but ask questions because writing an essay could be difficult when starting it and not understanding the topic. Towards the end you will have to express and reflect on everything you have done in that semester but in a creative way. Therefore, it is in your control to make it the best you can possibly can. The semester will go by fast but try to enjoy every second of it!

 

What is one thing you want to learn deeply?

What I want to know deeply is digital art. Why you may ask? I always had a thing for expressing art using digital technology as a way to create. Growing up technology played a huge part in my life because my brothers knew about computer science and knew how to repair them. I always thought that was fascinating but I also had this artistic side to me. I know how to paint, draw and sculpt physically but allowing myself to start new on a computer, is a new experience I want to learn. Most of the shows we watched on TV or in the movie theater was created from digital arts. For example, I love Toy Story which was created on a computer, I want someone to appreciate movies created from digital software and story told from it. Many wonder if digital art is better than traditional art but in my opinion, they’re both equal, no one is better than the other. They both allow you to create and explore ideas. Digital art isn’t easy as it seems, takes a ton of practice in terms of shape, detail, contrast, materials, and lighting. When I was younger I had time to express myself in art and was even in a program up until 7th grade but time played a huge part. Once I was in high school I was more focused on school and work that I completely forgot about art and what actually gave me happiness. Knowing more information about digital art, I was pulled in and want to invest my time into becoming a pro in it. Everyone is able to become a professional artist, it just has to deal with believing in yourself, staying true to the course and being patient.

Leaving Home To Find A New One

Being raised in the upper side of Manhattan, you would believe I was surrounded by many white folks but in reality, I lived in a neighborhood with many Puerto Ricans and other small communities of diverse nationalities. I lived in an apartment by the east river and five blocks away from central park. I wouldn’t consider my old community to be a bad neighborhood but definitely not calm. The summer days until midnight was filled with people sitting on their beach chairs in front of the deli next to my apartment, blasting music and dancing to Spanish music. There was never a moment where language barrier was a problem because Spanish was the common language between us. Our elementary school was half a block away from where we lived, filled with tons of children who lived close to me and creating friendships. When the weather was good enough to stroll through central park, my parents would take us after school or during the weekends. I would spend hours playing with my sibling’s, throwing water balloons at each other or spraying us with water from the water gun, while our dad films us from his sony video camera. There were so many good memories I left behind in those communities that I just mentioned but there were a couple of bad ones that I don’t want to relive. In every community you live in or pass by daily, you’ll encounter discourse communities you don’t want to be involved with. I attended an after school program around the corner with my two

younger siblings who would always run to the apartment but my mom would always pick us up so why should we feel fearful in our neighborhood? My brother got a head start and was no longer in our point of view. Once we reached the steps to the front door of the apartment we noticed the Puerto Ricans yelling at someone through the door. “Open the door you sick monster”-” Oh my god, open the door” and yellings in Spanish but once we came eye to eye on what was going on, my brother was on the other side of the door locked with a drunk guy. These are the other communities that my parents have worried us to stay away from but how? When he invaded the safest place we called home. It felt like hours but after a couple of minutes of yelling to open the door, he did and seeing my brother in distrust, broke my heart.
Living there for 15 years, I had so many good memories but a couple of bad ones but that’s life, you need an equilibrium of both. My parents realized that we needed a bigger house because we needed privacy, leading us to be involved in a new community. We moved to Queens, leaving my friends from middle school and creating new ones in high school. It took me a year to adjust because I wasn’t surrounded by Puerto Ricans, instead, it involved Italians, Asians, Mexicans and a couple of Dominicans. The streets were no longer named by Avenues but long streets. The summer days weren’t the same anymore because the strolls in Central Park were no longer five blocks away, instead, it was Flushing Meadows Park located five blocks away from my house. I’ve been living in Queens for six years and I got used to my environment, made new friends in high school who have stuck with me till now, who I consider as family.
I interviewed my sister who experienced the same thing I went through of leaving a discourse community and adjusting to a new but it was a long process for her to adapt then I did. She explained it as “if I have a negative aspect to my day to day routine, I will attract negative discourse communities, she tried to be open-minded because of those who can’t, cannot change anything”. Her experience of finding new friends in middle school became a nightmare because she trusted them when they only wanted to use her. They cyberbullied her for days until she couldn’t and came crying into my arms, this was a hurtful discourse community that she allowed into her life. She got help but it was a long process to heal especially when she started high school because it was starting all over again, how do you know what type of people to allow in? When the people you trusted ended up hurting you. Did she lack social skills?
The struggle of finding a meaning “at an appropriate definition of a “community” and its “tradition” is not simple”. Even though I didn’t get the greatest experience from the beginning, I would say it turned out to be a positive outcome because I grow a lot not just physically but mentally because it allowed me to be open-minded about a new discourse community and being able to adjust. Being open-minded about people tradition allowed me to invite people into my life and theirs and being able to speak more than one language, I didn’t suffer any language barrier which is common in America. Leaving a community to enter a new one, allowed me to open a new chapter.

Reference:
Li,Tania M. 1996 Images of community: discourse and strategy in property relations. Development and Change, 27(3): 501-527.

The circle of conversation

Reflexing on myself and the paper we did, made me think about the path I took. By that I mean the languages I have learned within the 20 years of living. I feel as if language can have an impact on your reading and writing because you start learning different pronounce and grammar, depending on what language you’re using. If I didn’t learn any new languages besides Spanish, I would’ve been lost in my own native language and useless when it comes to helping others translate. The language barrier has played a huge part in my parent’s life and not knowing how to read, write and speak English is difficult, knowing that it is a common language in America. It made me reflect on how many people are struggling with this problem when coming to America. Having the opportunity to be given education at a young age in the United States developed the way I write and read in English. Even though my Spanish isn’t the greatest, I understand it clearly.

If I were born in Mexico, my Spanish would’ve been amazing especially in my writing and reading but having to move to the U.S. at a young age would’ve made it difficult for me to adapt but if I really wanted to learn a new language, it could be possible. During my high school years, I was given the opportunity to also learn Italian for three years. Even though I haven’t got the chance to use it outside the class but knowing more than two languages made me feel honored. Reflecting my life based on my writing and reading made me realize how far I came based on my improvements in language.

One World, Three Languages

Growing up in a household where my parents only spoke Spanish, as a child I felt as if I only needed to speak Spanish towards them because at school I spoke English to my friends and siblings. I went to a diverse elementary school never heard anyone speak to each other in a different language besides English. I was also taught to write in English and sometimes in cursive, till this day I still know how to write in cursive. One day there was a transfer student named Rosa and her native language was Spanish but struggled with English, during that time the teacher paired us together. Knowing that I spoke two languages, I was able to use it to help someone understand. Relating it to the same situation where I would have to transfer English wording to Spanish to help my mom understand clearly.    

I never saw it as a big thing, help my mom translate sentences that were on paper or verbally, came naturally. It improved my Spanish everytime I had to translate so when Rosa came along, she was well more spoken in Spanish then I was. There would be times I struggled with some words in Spanish and she was there to correct me, as I did when she need help pronouncing words from the text. At the moment I didn’t realize how much of an impact we both had on each other lives. I didn’t take any Spanish course in school but I learned how to improve my writing when sending text messages towards my parents or having to read their text messages. I wouldn’t say my Spanish in writing and reading is 100% perfect because there would be times I would go to google translate to get some extra help.

In middle school there was a time where I was placed into bilingual classes for a year, taking me out of “regular” english classes. Bilingual education is the process of teaching students using two languages, one being their native language while the other one is English. Most of the time there would be non-English speaking children and in some ways I thought having programs to focus on certain students who need the extra help was useful for their writing and reading. In this moment of my life, I thought it was pointless for me to be in a bilingual class when I didn’t struggle pronouncing or writing in English. Of course, I need improvements in my Spanish but even then they taught in English. They helped out certain students who they thought needed it more than others. After that one year, I was removed from bilingual education and was placed into my old classroom and classmates. Being placed in bilingual education, I felt as if I had a negative outcome because it didn’t do much to improve my Spanish nor my English because it was going in a much slower pace.    

Language barrier is common in the US but it makes it difficult for people to communicate in a common language. Realizing that I had to help my mom in certain situation because language barrier, I could use it to help other people who needed the extra help. I would translate for other people if they were struggling because I wouldn’t want to see my mother in that situation. Speaking and writing in two language made me more skillful so why not learn another? In high school I took Italian, which was similar to Spanish because it doesn’t differ much in grammar. I took 3 years of Italian, where I had to learn how to read and write. In this class filled with 24 diverse students we were all in the same level on learning a new language. Having a teacher who was raised in Italy, he taught with a passion for his country and made it easier for us to understand. Although he taught with love for his country, after the 3 years we would have to take the regents to see if we have improve from sophomore year to senior year. I ended up passing it but I have utilize it since high school because I don’t know anyone who’s Italian, there was no reason for me to read or write in Italian.

Overall these three languages had an impact on my writing and reading. English played a huge part in my life because that’s the main language I speak to with everyone, when writing it’s the language I express my opinion or feelings down on paper, as of now I am writing it in English because that’s the language we share in common.

Learning how to write and read in English was a positive outcome because it lead me to meet certain people and improve my writing through the years. As for Spanish when I was taught from my parents on how to read, write and speaking it in the household it made me interact with other people who have a language barrier. One of the main reason why I want to major in nursing because I always wanted to help out people even in the simplest things as in translating. I already knew knowing another language made me more skilled, having a positive feedback in my life. Expect for the time I was placed into bilingual education for a year because I didn’t improve, especially in the pace they were going in. Getting the chance to learn another language that relates to your native language made it easier to read and write. Reading in a foreign language was the best ways to grow my vocabularies, strengthen my writing skills and absorb the language grammar. The person that I am now made me realize what you want is practice, it really doesn’t matter what we write down, as long as we write continually we will get further in any language.

 

 

Questions within our group but remembering what we have said

  1. What is your hobby? Photography.
  2. What is your favorite color? Neutral colors, such as black and grey.
  3. What is your favorite music? Alternative music, Hip-Hop/rap or anything chill such as Billie Eilish, Gus Dapperton, Blood orange and Tyler, the Creator.
  4. How many siblings? Five brothers and one sister.
  5. What is your major? My major is nursing.
  6. What is your zodiac sign? Aries.
  7. What job did you want as a kid? I don’t remember, probably a vet.
  8. Did you grow up in New York? Yes.
  9. Favorite animal? Piglets and Giraffe
  10. Where have you traveled to? I’ve been to Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
  11. If you had to pick a type of food, what would it be? Mexican food.
  12. How old are you? 20 years old.
  13. If you could have a pet, what would it be? Akita dog.
  14. Where would you ideally live? Stay in New York.