| Title of Article + Proper MLA Citation for Works Cited page |
Dan Meltzer “Understanding Discourse Communities.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing Volume 3, 2020 |
| Summarize the article — include your reaction, thoughts, anything to help you remember its claims. 100 to 150 words |
The author of this article, Dan Meltzer, describes the definition of “discourse communities” by John Swales to express the significance and importance of the term in college level writing. Meltzer shows how genres exist and work within different discourse communities, and also he explains how discourse communities work and what they are. The author gives many examples of the operations of discourse communities and different genres. The author also mentions the pros and cons, the benefits and set backs of discourse communities and how it could be good or bad to participate in them. |
| Define new terms and concepts by quoting or paraphrasing the original author. |
“Writing teachers and scholars have come up with the concept of “discourse community” to describe a community of people who share the same goals, the same methods of communicating, the same genres, and the same lexis (specialized language).” (102) |
| How does this reading connect to other articles from class and/or your own research?
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Discourse communities are important for writing, which is significant for this class. |
| Based on the reading, craft one question to act as a springboard for class discussion. |
What are some of the benefits and setbacks for participating in a discourse community? |
