Jasmin Raja

Professor Wolcott
ENC 1101-0M10
9 November 2014
The textbook we have used in ENC 1101 has attempted to introduce us to the discourse
community of people who study writing. I believe that the textbook, Writing about Writing: A College
Reader written by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, alongside other resources, has successfully
inculturated me into the discourse community of writers, professors, rhetoricians, compositionists, and
scholars who study writing to some degree. The concepts I have learned about the discourse community
of writing studies will in conclusion better allow and prepare me to enter my career after I graduate.
What exactly is a discourse community? Each professor or scholar that studies writing has their
own unique definition of what a discourse community is. James Porter first defined a discourse
community as a group of individuals bound by a common interest who communicate through approved
channels and whose discourse is regulated (Porter 400). John Swales The Concept of a Discourse
Community found in our Writing about Writing textbook provides a set of six characteristics that define
a group of individuals as a discourse community. In my opinion, the characteristics that most define a
discourse community are the use of genres (Swales 221), acquisition of specific lexis or jargon (Swales
222), and finally intercommunication among its members (Swales 221). Using the principals that make
up those characteristics, readings from this unit, Webcourses, other students, and Professor Wolcott, I
can explain how this course taught me about the discourse community of people who study writing. By
understanding the discourse community of people who study writing I can further use that information
to assist me later on in my career of being a doctor.

A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative
furtherance of its aims (Swales 221). In this concept Swales is trying to explain that every discourse
community has a text that helps them communicate their aims. At the beginning of our textbook
Writing about Writing, we are introduced to the Create a Research Space (CARS) Model of Research
Introductions. Written by John swales as well, this method is taught to us in a series of three steps. The
CARS method teaches us how to write a professional research paper. Move one in CARS is to establish a
territory (Swales 12-13). After move one we continue to move two where a niche must be established
(Swales 13-14). The last move consists of occupying the niche (Swales 14). The members of the
discourse community of people who study writing use this method to write research papers. Plus,
throughout the textbook Writing about Writing many of the readings follow the CARS pattern precisely.
So, we can say that Writing about Writing has aided us in understanding the discourse community of
people who study writing by teaching us how to write a paper the way they do. Although I am going to
be a part of the medical community I know that the CARS method has taught me practical information.
Quite often research is required of doctors and because of this course I will have a better
comprehension on how to write a research introduction.
In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specifics lexis (Swales
222). John Swales defined another characteristic of discourse communities as having specialized words
and terms to speak more technically in the discourse community. There is no way an outsider would
know this special jargon so this is a major way that the outside world is kept out of specific discourse
communities (Swales 222). Like Swales, Tony Mirabelli, a professor at the University of California,
Berkeley, discusses the importance of specific jargon in his work Learning to Serve: The Language and
Literacy of Food Service Workers. The meanings of the language used in menus are socially and
culturally embedded in the context of the specific situation or restaurant (Mirabelli 96). Mirabelli is
basically concluding that the specialized language a menu and server exhibit can persuade a customer to

buy anything that theyd like them to buy. In paragraph 25 of Learning to Serve: The Language and
Literacy of Food Service Workers we see an excerpt of an interview from New Yorker magazine with
Chris Fehlinger, webmaster of bitterwaitress.com. Chris Fehlinger states that when he is asked about a
specific item on the menu he often provides such a detailed and elaborate explanation that the
customer almost always lets him choose what they want to order. With just the use of a discourse
communitys specific vocabulary people can be manipulated or be kept out of the loop. The textbook
Writing about Writing does an excellent job at educating us about the lexis that the discourse
community of people who study writing use. Throughout all of the pre-readings and readings there are
many defined vocabulary words we come across. For instance, Professor Charles Bazerman of the
University of California, Santa Barbara in his work Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems: How Texts
Organize Activity and People speaks of genres, which are recognizable self-reinforcing forms of
communication (Bazerman 372). Another example of lexis found in the book would be from
Intertextuality and the Discourse Community written by James E. Porter, a professor of English at Miami
University. Porter says that there are two types of intertextuality (all writing stems from other
works)(Porter 397). Iterability, which is the repeatability of certain textual fragments, and
presupposition which refers to the assumptions a text makes about its referent, readers and context
(Porter 397). Besides for the defined words throughout the textbook there is a glossary found on pages
791-804. The glossary provides a central location for all of the lexis that are within the discourse
community of people who study writing.
In terms of extending past this class, the use of lexis will greatly relate to my career. As a
healthcare professional I will need to have knowledge of many specialized words in my career that
relate to many aspects of my everyday job. There is a course I must take, HSC 3537 Medical
Terminology, which teaches the various specialized medical terms I will need to know. Even as a doctor
there will be certain ways I will have to interact with other colleges using specific jargon that only

medical professionals know. Doing this helps to keep the discourse community of doctors and
healthcare workers separate from others. A good example of this would be the way doctors are able to
distance themselves from the patients they are caring for by using specialized words or lexis. In the
examination room as doctors discuss the patient between themselves they dont want the patient to
know what they are saying so they use words unfamiliar to the patient but central to the discourse
community of doctors.
A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members (Swales
221). Within a discourse community the members often must communicate to each other through
various ways like face-to-face, meetings, email, texting, phone calls, and more. Professor Wolcott taught
us within the discourse community of people who study writing a common way the members
intercommunicate is by writing online blogs and keeping a personal portfolio website. For our final
project in class we are asked to compose an online portfolio that outlines the work weve done
throughout the semester and what we have learned from it. Doing this gives us hands on experience
and teaches us how the discourse community of people who study writing intercommunicate with each
other. While the online portfolio is a great example of intercommunication in a discourse community,
we have also been intercommunicating in a different way. Every week we are asked as students to read
an article about what we are learning, provide a discussion post on Webcourses, and we must also post
a reply on a classmates post. By using the online posting forum on Webcourses we are
intercommunicating constantly with each other. The intercommunication we have learned about from
Professor Wolcott and what weve practiced on Webcourses has set an example of what can be
expected of me in my future profession. As an aspiring doctor I know that I will have to
intercommunicate with other doctors in multiple ways like notes/letters, meetings, talking face-to-face,
and much more. With intercommunication comes the ability to distinguish whether a situation is
demanding professional communication or less professional communication. As a result of this class I

now know what it takes to do that. Intercommunication plays a crucial role within the discourse
community.
Seeing as I am providing how ENC 1101 has taught me about the discourse community of people
who study writing and how it has benefitted me, it would be of great importance to ask another peer
how ENC 1101 affected them. After asking a student a series of questions I have found that she has a
positive mind set about this class and what it has done for her. She expressed her comprehension of
what a discourse community is and how the discourse community of people who study writing works.
Even after not being in ENC 1101 for many semesters she was able to discuss John Swales six
characteristics of a discourse community with great ease. She explained that she felt like taking ENC
1101 could be the first step in one day being involved in the discourse community of people who study
writing. I went on to ask how learning about discourse communities in ENC 1101 will help her later on in
life. She was able to provide me with an impeccable explanation. She is pursuing a career in journalism
and believes that by learning about discourse communities she was able to determine if journalism was
something she wanted to do with her life. This is because she was able to acquire a good understanding
of how the discourse community of journalism works by studying the discourse community of writing
studies. The discourse community of journalism does in fact deal with a lot of writing so by studying how
people write in ENC 1101 she realized writing was something that interested her immensely. Currently
in her internship she is slowly but surely becoming a part of the journalism discourse community.
Likewise, in this paper I have come to the same conclusion about how studying discourse communities is
going to benefit me as I go into healthcare one day.
I have been able to learn about many aspects surrounding the discourse community of people
who study writing. I am able to comprehend what goes on within this discourse community but I do not
belong to it whatsoever. I consider myself to belong to the discourse community of people who attend

the University of Central Florida, and the discourse community of people who work at PacSun. Just by
studying a discourse community doesnt automatically make you a member. To actually be in the
community of people who study writing a person must have the qualifications (college degree related to
writing or English). Ive mentioned previously how studying the discourse community of people who
study writing will help me as I enter the healthcare world. When a graduate and pass my boards I will
then be admitted into the discourse community who provide healthcare to citizens. Gee taught us the
idea of mushfaking which can be described as pretending you belong in a discourse community (Gee Epages). In class we learned that mushfaking is a common way people enter into their careers. When they
begin their career there are things they dont really understand and then eventually after pretending to
understand they eventually do. Some people refer to this idea as faking it until you make it.
As a whole Writing about Writing and ENC 1101 has taught me about the discourse community
of people who study writing in many ways. With the use of John Swales characteristics that makeup a
discourse community, readings in the unit, Webcourses, other students and the aid of Professor
Wolcott I have successfully been introduced to the discourse community of people who study writing.
Genres, lexis, and intercommunication are all key ideas that represent a discourse community, whether
it is the discourse community of people who study writing or the discourse community of healthcare. By
understanding truly what discourse communities are and how the people who study writing make up
one I am better prepared for my career of being a medical professional after college.

Works Cited
Bazerman, Charles. Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems: How Texts Organize Activity and
People. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs.
Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins, 2014. 365-394. Text.
Gee, James Paul. "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction." Journal of Education. Vol. 171.
1989. 5-17. Web.
Jones, Emily. Personal Interview. 6 November 2014.
Mirabelli, Tony. Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers. Writing about
Writing: A College Reader. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martins,
2014. Web.
Porter, James. Intertextuality and the Discourse Community. Writing about Writing: A College Reader.
Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 395-409. Text.
Swales, John. Create a Research Space (CARS Model of Research Introductions. Writing about
Writing: A College Reader. Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/ St.Martins,
2014. 12-15. Print.
Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Ed.
Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 215-229. Print.