A discourse community is a community of communicators that use language in similar ways. In a 1000-word (minimum) essay, I want you to explore the discourse communities you participate in. Examples of different communities might be your family, your friends, your professors, your siblings, or the people you work with. Also, different modes of communication (such as texting, essays, e-mails, presentations, and so on) have different conventions that are typically followed, and you may alter the way you use language when communicating in these modes depending on your audience.
Some questions to consider as you get ready to write this essay:
How is the language used in your home? Is it similar or different to “standard” English?
How do you use language for different purposes and audiences?
Is the way you communicate at school similar to the way you communicate outside of UMKC?
Is speaking or writing in a particular manner important? Why or why not?
These questions are simply to get you started thinking. As you explore your thoughts on language use in different discourse communities, try to focus on elements that are unique to you. You might, for example, “translate” a message that you might send to different audiences, then explain why you said what you said in the way you said it.
In this essay, as in all essays in this class, you can use first-person pronouns, and you can experiment with different ways of expressing yourself. The only rule I have about whether or not the way you write is “ok” is this: Does it work? If not, how can you MAKE it work?
This essay should be at least 1000 words long, formatted in MLA or APA format (1-inch margins and double spaced)