Portfolio 2

Aside from group work within our discourse community there are also individual technologies that are beneficial to our discourse community. One example of these individual technologies within our community would be the daybook writing. Yes daybook writings are considered a technology even though paper and pencil are the extent of the equipment needed to perform a daybook writing. But the thing about a daybook is that there are no limits or constraints in regards to how to write. It’s an individual style of writing that reflects the individual’s style and personality. Each day within our community we are given a question or thought to write about. I consider this free write because there is no right or wrong answers and it’s an individual writing style. Individualism is needed within a discourse community however, the reason being is because without individuality, there would be no uniqueness within the community. John Swales says that each member in a discourse community brings their own ideals and individualism to the community making it unique but, there still needs to be a base goal or common goal between all the members. The next artifact or technology that was used within our community is a voice thread. Voice threads are an effective way to get your point across through a video recording or a voice recording of yourself. Then people can either post a comment by video, record, or text. Voice threads were effective for a while until our discourse community stopped using them. The reason for this is because the blog was such an effective tool used within our discourse community that eventually the blog over ran the voice thread. However for its time being the voiced thread proved to be an effective tool for presenting main points within a text or other source, however; it was only a matter of time before the blog became the main tool for our discourse community.

Portfolio 1

Many different types of writing and technologies were presented in this discourse community. The most popular use of technology in our discourse community was blogging. A blog is a way for multiple people to post about whatever they want in whatever fashion they so desire. The best part about blogging is that the blogger can be completely anonymous! Within our discourse community groups of 4 or 5 people were assigned to a certain blog. Each week a different group would have to blog about an article that was chosen by the instructor of our community. The group members would come together and read this article and then later blog about what they had learned, and as a full pledged member of the community each member that was not part of the blogging group had to leave their own comment about what they read from the blogging groups blog. The function of the blog was to introduce a different style of writing that could be viewed by whomever, and it truly was a different style of writing. The topics we had to blog about were all related to literacy but the approach to writing the blog was established by a group. However the only constraint was that the blog had to have some sort of uniform flow to the way the text was presented. Blogging definitely opened up a whole new world for our discourse community. I believe it is one of the most effective methods for collaborative writing. The reason I say this is because members of a group can come together and put all thoughts onto paper and then transfer those thoughts onto a blog. I further believe that the best aspect of blogging is the simple fact no one is wrong. Every opinion is valued and taken accounted for in a group blog.

Multimodal Literacy Ethnography Final

What does being a member of a discourse community have to offer me and what has is taught me?

John Swales highlights a few different characteristics that are necessary for a thriving discourse community. He says that before a discourse community is set up the community has to have common goals. Well within our community the most common goal is to pass the class. But more than just common goals are needed to form a community; a community needs full pledged members that are dedicated to the ways of the community. What a member gets out of the community may be different that someone else but as long as the common goal is still the strong base as to which the community is set upon.

By now I have learned lots of useful information and practices within and about our discourse community. I have learned about the Lexis of our discourse community. I believe this is one of the most important attributes that a member could learn within our discourse community. The reason for this is because if one member didn’t know what kind of language was used and how it was implemented and communicated within our community, then that person would not be able to be a full member of the community within first learning the lexis. A real world example of this would be starting a new job as a let’s say at a sub shop. The new member probably has no prior experience of making subs so the other members have to teach the new member on the lexis of sandwich making. Seek first to understand then to be understood. Once that new person has learned and fully understands the lexis of the sub shop then one can be understood as a full pledged member of that discourse community. Another prime aspect I have learned within our discourse community is how to better understand the reading and writing process. The teacher of our community showed us different ways, using prime examples, to better break down the different aspects and stages of doing research for a paper. We also learned how to break down different aspects of reading and understanding a paper. Joseph Harris says, “The hardest part about reading papers is sorting through the viewpoints.” These viewpoints are represented throughout Harris’s article about the idea of community in the study of writing and reading. He goes on to explain different techniques to break down an article and how to apply those same techniques in your own writing. This community has taught me a lot in the aspect of reading and writing as not only an individual but also as a member of a functional discourse community. These are only two prime examples of what being a member of a discourse community has taught me and offered me.

There are many more techniques and skills that being a member of this community has taught me, such as using different tools for conducting research. In high school I always used to find the easiest way to do my research even if it meant not doing hardly any research. I would always take words and lines from other people and never cited them, I would never read a full article instead I would try to find a summary of that article online somewhere. My research would always be good and accurate but I would never fully understand what I was talking, writing, or researching about. I had bad research habits in high school that I prayed and hoped would be fixed in college. So far my habits for researching and implementing my research in my writing have proven to be far more effective than that of high school. I have put more effort into understanding my topic and am able to implement the research in my writing. Just by telling the reader about my understanding and knowledge, using examples from past experiences and examples in class, I have proven to the reader that my research habits have highly increased. I now use more effective methods of researching such as charting my research and findings in an organized structure. For example, I may use note cards to write certain topics down and then more note cards for each topic. I use methods such as the spider web where I write the central topic in the middle and branch off 8 different sub topics from the central point. Methods such as this have helped me understand my reading more and be able to reflect this understanding in my writing, thus making me a better reader and writer. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Techniques like these and practices such as this are only a little piece of what this discourse community has to offer. I was a little skeptical about entering this community because of one aspect, trust.

Trust is hard to come by in a community with people who don’t know each other well. Within our particular community the members were placed into separate groups of 4 or 5 people. Each group had certain literacy assignments assigned to them that they had to complete as a group. Everybody in that group had to trust each other in order to ensure that the group members would get their work done so the assignment could be completed on time. Luckily within my group everybody was able to cooperate, communicate and trust each other to get the work done. Trust within a discourse community is very important and vital for the community to function well. For example in one Literacy Narrative writings I stated that my 2^nd grade English teacher, Mrs. Kondax, was one of the people who influenced me the most in English and because of the trust I gained with her, I was able to be very successful in future English classes because I just expected each teacher to be like Mrs. Kondax. So far all my teachers stick to their word as a teacher and as a friend. I believe having a trustworthy leader/teacher is very vital in a discourse community. Without these leaders then there would be no organized community. Elizabeth Wardle states that, “Authority is a tangible quality granted to persons through institutions…must be maintained through individuals speech and actions.” I believe what Mrs. Wardle is saying is that authority can be assigned as easily as it can be taken away. Mr. Albert Wray is the assigned leader for our discourse community, as members we follow his leadership and listen to his instruction. He was assigned but can just as easily be taken away from his authority. However if this were to happen our community would be without a leader and without the privilege to learn what Mr. Wray has to say. This discourse community offers leadership, trust, lexis, techniques and practices, and knowledge to advance to a higher more knowledgeable discourse community.

Works Cited

1. Wardle, Elizabeth. “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces.” Enculturation 5.2 (2004): n. pag. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

2. Harris, Joseph. “ The Idea of Community in the Study of Writing.” College Composition and Communication 40.1 (1989):11-22. Print.

3. Rosinski, Alex. http://arosinski.blogspot.com/2011/10/literacy-narative.html: personal Literacy Narrative Web. 27 Oct. 2011

Swales, John. “ The Concept of Discourse Community.” Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.

Literacy Narative Final

Reading and Writing Background

Reading and writing is a ‘must know how to do’ in today’s society. With the constant growing technology and growth of industrial and economic status reading and writing are vital to succeed. This is why parents start teaching their kids to read and write at early ages such as 1 or 2 years old. Games are designed so that the kids are entertained but they are still learning the simple techniques of reading and writing. As the kids get older then more advanced techniques are shown to help them learn about more complex ideals of reading and writing. When these little kids leave home and go out on their own, they will have a strong base for reading and writing and will be able to carry themselves through everyday society. This is why English classes in school are so heavily stressed; this is why two out of three sections on the SAT are concerned with reading and writing, this is why English is a required course for all students. Learning to read and write while in school is unavoidable. Without it, one would not be able to graduate without the required English credits.

My personal Story

As a little kid my parents bought me games and other knick knacks to help me learn to read and write. I played games on the leap frog console, which is a handhold Gameboy with nothing but reading and writing games designed for it. My parents would make me take that on trips anywhere, even if it was just down the road. I believe the reason for this is because they wanted me to learn the basics early on and be able to do well in English courses. I also watched interactive TV shows that taught me how to follow plot and how to distinguish characters and their purpose within that certain episode. Reading and writing was everywhere around me, I was just too young to realize it. Overall this type of experience has taught me how to progress my learning through different kinds of technology and different methods. Once I had worked my way through kindergarten I then when into elementary school where I had one of the best personal experiences of my reading and writing career. My 2^nd grade English teacher, Mrs. Kondax, was more than a teacher to me, she was my best friend. I came to her for everything regarding anything, she always talked to me about anything I wanted and she always helped me with my English work. I remember me and my best friend, Scott Latta, would go to her house to do English homework and sometimes to even have dinner at her house. It may seem a little weird at first but she helped me so much in the earlier stages of understanding the process of reading and writing. She is one of my biggest inspirations to do well in school and I still stay in touch with her to this day. Just last year actually I contacted her to see if she would help me write my senior exit paper. We were able to get some lunch together and she was still able to help me put thoughts on paper. I ended up receiving a 98 on my senior exit paper. Overall this experience taught me how to trust others and how to handle personal relationships on a business level. After completing my elementary career I then advanced to middle school where I furthered my understanding of reading and writing. During 6^th grade I had to make a scrapbook of my entire 5^th and 6^th grade career at Lake Norman Charter School. Even though this scrapbook was just pictures with captions and some writing incorporated into. It taught me plot my line structure, how to organize my thoughts from beginning to end. In this particular case I was organizing instances and key moments in chronological order from the start of 5^th grade to the end of 6^th grade. Even though it was something so simple, it was effective in the learning process of writing. Around this time in my life I began acting. I started doing plays at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte here in downtown Charlotte. I quickly began to read and understand plays, and also be able to act them out. I was in many plays and getting real good at acting. I played many major roles in famous plays such as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Dartaginian in The Three Musketeers, Bottom in the Midsummer night’s dream, and many other plays. I was even in the paid production of The Chronicles of Narnia, where I got paid to play a mouse for the play. Acting is a big part of my life and I still do it to this day. It has taught me how to fully understand the depth of characters, and how to read a plot and understand it from beginning to end. Acting has also taught me reading skills, instead of just reading words on a page I submerge myself into the situation that I am reading; I put myself in the story. This has made me a stronger reader and writer. Once I started my senior year in high school I started to take a bit of a break from acting and focus on the big senior exit project. This project was designed to test my knowledge and understanding of the reading and writing process. In the end I ended up getting a 98 on the paper and a 92 on the presentation. My topic was “Does hunting help control animal over-population?” I did all the research and background checks I did before writing my paper. All my knowledge came together and I was able to implement all my knowledge to the best of my ability. In conclusion, I have been around reading and writing my whole life and I can only continue to learn how read and write. This discourse community has expanded a lot on terms of what I have already learned; I just never realized it until I started typing this paper. I know that what I have learned in this community will carry on forever.

Multimodal Literacy Ethnography Draft

Draft

What does being a member of a discourse community have to offer me and what has is taught me?

By now I have learned lots of useful information and practices within and about our discourse community. I have learned about the Lexis of our discourse community. I believe this is one of the most important attributes that a member could learn within our discourse community. The reason for this is because if one member didn’t know what kind of language was used and how it was implemented and communicated within our community, then that person would not be able to be a full member of the community within first learning the lexis. A real world example of this would be starting a new job as a let’s say at a sub shop. The new member probably has no prior experience of making subs so the other members have to teach the new member on the lexis of sandwich making. Seek first to understand then to be understood. Once that new person has learned and fully understands the lexis of the sub shop then one can be understood as a full pledged member of that discourse community. Another prime aspect I have learned within our discourse community is how to better understand the reading and writing process. The teacher of our community showed us different ways, using prime examples, to better break down the different aspects and stages of doing research for a paper. We also learned how to break down different aspects of reading and understanding a paper. Joseph Harris says, “The hardest part about reading papers is sorting through the viewpoints.” These viewpoints are represented throughout Harris’s article about the idea of community in the study of writing and reading. He goes on to explain different techniques to break down an article and how to apply those same techniques in your own writing. This community has taught me a lot in the aspect of reading and writing as not only an individual but also as a member of a functional discourse community. These are only two prime examples of what being a member of a discourse community has taught me and offered me. There are many more techniques and skills that being a member of this community has taught me, such as using different tools for conducting research. In high school I always used to find the easiest way to do my research even if it meant not doing hardly any research. I would always take words and lines from other people and never cited them, I would never read a full article instead I would try to find a summary of that article online somewhere. My research would always be good and accurate but I would never fully understand what I was talking, writing, or researching about. I had bad research habits in high school that I prayed and hoped would be fixed in college. So far my habits for researching and implementing my research in my writing have proven to be far more effective than that of high school. I have put more effort into understanding my topic and am able to implement the research in my writing. Just by telling the reader about my understanding and knowledge, using examples from past experiences and examples in class, I have proven to the reader that my research habits have highly increased. I now use more effective methods of researching such as charting my research and findings in an organized structure. For example, I may use note cards to write certain topics down and then more note cards for each topic. I use methods such as the spider web where I write the central topic in the middle and branch off 8 different sub topics from the central point. Methods such as this have helped me understand my reading more and be able to reflect this understanding in my writing, thus making me a better reader and writer. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Techniques like these and practices such as this are only a little piece of what this discourse community has to offer. I was a little skeptical about entering this community because of one aspect, trust. Trust is hard to come by in a community with people who don’t know each other well. Within our particular community the members were placed into separate groups of 4 or 5 people. Each group had certain literacy assignments assigned to them that they had to complete as a group. Everybody in that group had to trust each other in order to ensure that the group members would get their work done so the assignment could be completed on time. Luckily within my group everybody was able to cooperate, communicate and trust each other to get the work done. Trust within a discourse community is very important and vital for the community to function well. For example in one Literacy Narrative writings I stated that my 2^nd grade English teacher, Mrs. Kondax, was one of the people who influenced me the most in English and because of the trust I gained with her, I was able to be very successful in future English classes because I just expected each teacher to be like Mrs. Kondax. So far all my teachers stick to their word as a teacher and as a friend. I believe having a trustworthy leader/teacher is very vital in a discourse community. Without these leaders then there would be no organized community. Elizabeth Wardle states that, “Authority is a tangible quality granted to persons through institutions…must be maintained through individuals speech and actions.” I believe what Mrs. Wardle is saying is that authority can be assigned as easily as it can be taken away. Mr. Albert Wray is the assigned leader for our discourse community, as members we follow his leadership and listen to his instruction. He was assigned but can just as easily be taken away from his authority. However if this were to happen our community would be without a leader and without the privilege to learn what Mr. Wray has to say. This discourse community offers leadership, trust, lexis, techniques and practices, and knowledge to advance to a higher more knowledgeable discourse community.




Works Cited

1. Wardle, Elizabeth. “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces.” Enculturation 5.2 (2004): n. pag. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.

2. Harris, Joseph. “ The Idea of Community in the Study of Writing.” College Composition and Communication 40.1 (1989):11-22. Print.

3. Rosinski, Alex. http://arosinski.blogspot.com/2011/10/literacy-narative.html: personal Literacy Narrative Web. 27 Oct. 2011

Multimodal Literacy Ethnography Questions

Anything can be described as a discourse community as long as whatever it is has set goals and set procedures for going through life every day. For example our English class is a discourse community. The reason this is so is because we have certain goals, certain practices to obtain those goals, and certain characteristics for each practice. The main central goal within our discourse community is to pass the class but however each member of the community may have separate smaller goals. For example someone might want to learn about English while someone may just want to know what they need to know to pass the class. With different goals come different practices. As a full community we do take on the same practices such as writing within in wiki, daybook, and blogs. We all approach the task within the same manner by using those 3 types of practices. The approach to each practice for each individual may be different however. For example if we are asked to write in our daybooks, someone may write 30 words while someone else might write a whole page. The quality of the work depends upon the quality of the student. The quality of the participation within the community depends upon the quality of the student. So the approach, the practice, the participation, and the work all depend on the quality of the student. The difference in quality between each member is healthy for the overall production of the discourse community. However one of the major qualities of a well-oiled, functioning discourse community is good communication. Without good communication a community is nothing. Communication is everything; it’s what keeps everyone on the same page with the rest of the community. It makes sure no one is behind with the community’s goals and practices. Each community has a certain language that can only relate to that community and that is referred to as lexis. Lexis is a type of language that is used within our particular discourse community. Only within our community are certain terms used that another community may not understand. For example; words like error and even discourse community relate only to our community. Some other community may have some sort of idea on what we are talking about but usually the lexis doesn’t pertain to them. This is where the communication aspect of a community comes into play. With a certain lexis established then a certain type of communication can be established, and with a certain type of communication established then goals can be reached through certain practices that pertain only to that community. With everything in order then the discourse community can grow and achieve more than just the goals they set.

Literacy Narative Draft

Reading and Writing Background

Reading and writing is a ‘must know how to do’ in today’s society. With the constant growing technology and growth of industrial and economic status reading and writing are vital to succeed. This is why parents start teaching their kids to read and write at early ages such as 1 or 2 years old. Games are designed so that the kids are entertained but they are still learning the simple techniques of reading and writing. As the kids get older then more advanced techniques are shown to help them learn about more complex ideals of reading and writing. When these little kids leave home and go out on their own, they will have a strong base for reading and writing and will be able to carry themselves through everyday society. This is why English classes in school are so heavily stressed; this is why two out of three sections on the SAT are concerned with reading and writing, this is why English is a required course for all students. Learning to read and write while in school is unavoidable. Without it, one would not be able to graduate without the required English credits.

My personal Story

As a little kid my parents bought me games and other knick knacks to help me learn to read and write. I played games on the leap frog console, which is a handhold Gameboy with nothing but reading and writing games designed for it. My parents would make me take that on trips anywhere, even if it was just down the road. I believe the reason for this is because they wanted me to learn the basics early on and be able to do well in English courses. I also watched interactive TV shows that taught me how to follow plot and how to distinguish characters and their purpose within that certain episode. Reading and writing was everywhere around me, I was just too young to realize it. Once I had worked my way through kindergarten I then when into elementary school where I had one of the best personal experiences of my reading and writing career. My 2^nd grade English teacher, Mrs. Kondax, was more than a teacher to me, she was my best friend. I came to her for everything regarding anything, she always talked to me about anything I wanted and she always helped me with my English work. I remember me and my best friend, Scott Latta, would go to her house to do English homework and sometimes to even have dinner at her house. It may seem a little weird at first but she helped me so much in the earlier stages of understanding the process of reading and writing. She is one of my biggest inspirations to do well in school and I still stay in touch with her to this day. Just last year actually I contacted her to see if she would help me write my senior exit paper. We were able to get some lunch together and she was still able to help me put thoughts on paper. I ended up receiving a 98 on my senior exit paper. After completing my elementary career I then advanced to middle school where I furthered my understanding of reading and writing. During 6^th grade I had to make a scrapbook of my entire 5^th and 6^th grade career at Lake Norman Charter School. Even though this scrapbook was just pictures with captions and some writing incorporated into. It taught me plot my line structure, how to organize my thoughts from beginning to end. In this particular case I was organizing instances and key moments in chronological order from the start of 5^th grade to the end of 6^th grade. Even though it was something so simple, it was effective in the learning process of writing. Around this time in my life I began acting. I started doing plays at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte here in downtown Charlotte. I quickly began to read and understand plays, and also be able to act them out. I was in many plays and getting real good at acting. I played many major roles in famous plays such as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Dartaginian in The Three Musketeers, Bottom in the Midsummer night’s dream, and many other plays. I was even in the paid production of The Chronicles of Narnia, where I got paid to play a mouse for the play. Acting is a big part of my life and I still do it to this day. It has taught me how to fully understand the depth of characters, and how to read a plot and understand it from beginning to end. Acting has also taught me reading skills, instead of just reading words on a page I submerge myself into the situation that I am reading; I put myself in the story. This has made me a stronger reader and writer. Once I started my senior year in high school I started to take a bit of a break from acting and focus on the big senior exit project. This project was designed to test my knowledge and understanding of the reading and writing process. In the end I ended up getting a 98 on the paper and a 92 on the presentation. My topic was “Does hunting help control animal over-population?” I did all the research and background checks I did before writing my paper. All my knowledge came together and I was able to implement all my knowledge to the best of my ability. In conclusion, I have been around reading and writing my whole life and I can only continue to learn how read and write.