English paper
Discipline Project Assignment: Professional Association Analysis 1
Discourse Analysis: Professional Association in Your Field
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: After completing this 2-part Discipline Awareness project in English 302, students will be able to:
Understand the concept of a discourse community
Be able to identify and analyze a major professional association in the field
Understand the concept of genre
Be able to differentiate among genres in periodicals
Understand the concept of the rhetorical situation
Be able to identify an issue in their field that interests them
PREPARATION FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT:
Read Swales excerpt posted on Blackboard
Watch YouTube: Facebook as a Discourse Community (References Swales)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NPPQajrqSA
Part 1. Your Personal Discourse Community:
In groups, discuss a membership / interest group you belong to: a book club, sports team, fraternity, sorority, stamp collecting group, gaming group, a church group, even a closed Facebook page w/a specific focus.
Identify the following points:
What are the group’s agreed upon common goals?
How do group members communicate with each other?
How do participating group members provide information and feedback to each other?
What genres or forms of communication, topics, and texts do members of the group use to uphold the purpose of the group?
What specific forms of language does the group use exclusively, including specific terms, “lexis” (jargon), and / or acronyms?
What is the relationship between novice and expert members in your group?
Write a 1-1/2 to 2- page paper, double-spaced, and formatted in APA style, discussing your findings.
Part 2: Professional Discourse Community in your Discipline:
Discourse Community Analysis Essay (20% of course grade)
Moving beyond your personal discourse communities, think of your future career in your field after graduation. What kind of professional organizations can you find in your discipline? Choose one that interests you. Applying the same considerations to this organization as you did with your personal discourse community, look for the same principles:
shared goals
mechanisms for intercommunication between groups
How does the group use the above mechanisms to provide information and feedback to members?
shared vocabulary (“lexis”) specific to this particular community
genres and the role written texts play in furthering the group’s goals
novice and expert members: who may join, how do they join / leave?
Explore the discourse community’s website, social media, and at least one published article from a professional / scholarly publication from this community.
Write a 4- to 5-page analysis that argues the purpose and benefits of belonging to the specific professional organization / discourse community in your field you have selected for this assignment. Follow the DCA Essay Structure posted on the Course Content page, using Swales’ six-points to support your claim that this organization is a discourse community.
Your essay should be double-spaced, using APA style, with properly formatted title and References pages. See sample Title page on Bb Course Content page. List references alphabetically by authors’ last names in a separate References page at the end of the paper. Title and References pages are in addition to the 4- to 5-page analysis.
Your introduction should define the term “discourse community,” based on Swales; mention your field and name the specific professional organization you have selected for this assignment. Thesis: argue that your chosen organization is a discourse community, according to Swales’ six-point definition.
Body paragraphs should use Swales’ terms and identify the aspects of your professional organization as a discourse community (one per paragraph). You should also:
Provide a quote from each of three different genres the organization uses, e.g. scholarly article, trade magazine article, newsletter, blog, social media platform, etc., as evidence of your claims about each genre and the rhetorical situation (audience, purpose, style). Required: Minimum of 1 quote from each genre properly formatted in APA style.
