: How does the group you chose exhibit the characteristics of a discourse community

  Background and Purpose
Select a group of people you believe meets John Swales’ six defining characteristics and answer this question: How
does the group you chose exhibit the characteristics of a discourse community? Present your conclusions in a
document showing that you understand the six characteristics of discourse communities and know how to apply
them to groups as defining criteria. This assignment will help you understand what a discourse community is and
how one of them functions. You will learn to think deeply about the use of written communication within a group,
and you will examine how that group uses writing to achieve its goals.
Objectives
• Understand how language practices mediate group activities
• Examine the discourses and texts of different communities
• Understand how language plays a role in discourse and community
• Identify the relationship between language and identity
• Acquire tools for successfully responding to varied discourse conventions and genres in different classes
For this assignment, you will need to review the information on Discourse Communities presented in the Module 4
Content, including the LibGuide. You will choose a group and determine how that group qualifies as a discourse
community by analyzing how the defining characteristics apply.
As you read in the Key Terms Activity, you will not be able to use a church group or religion, sports team, or
any athletic group as the chosen discourse community to analyze in your writing. You also will not be able to
use our university or any academic group as a subject of your analysis because that type of community is
analyzed thoroughly in the Interactive Activity Video.
Before you write,
1. Brainstorm several groups you are (or have been) in that you think might be considered discourse
communities.
2. Consider how those groups use text and language, then choose one group to examine.
In your writing,
Show how the group, such as a club or a community, possesses each of the six defining characteristics from
Swales’ definition by illustrating, one by one, how those characteristics function in your group. Please, include
your own definitions/explanations of the six characteristics first and then continue to show how they function in
your chosen community. PLEASE, BOLD YOUR THESIS STATEMENT PRIOR TO UPLOADING YOUR
WRITING.
1. Consider what you learned about the group that you did not realize before completing this analysis. What
do you now understand that you did not prior to the brainstorming and the writing you have now
completed? Add this brief concluding reflection to your writing, explaining the value of performing this
kind of analysis. Title this 300-400-word portion of the assignment “Mini Reflection” and include it at the
end of your written document.
Keep in mind that if you use someone else’s words, definitions, ideas, whether via quoting, or
paraphrasing, or summarizing, you are required to cite them and follow the MLA format in doing so to
prevent plagiarism. This means that some of your writing in the document will include in-text citations
and that your list of sources will be included within a Works Cited at the end of your writing.