Characteristics Of Discourse Communities

Most people do not have the amazing grace with being born with such strong bond to a community as I do. Ever since I was little I knew that I was southern, even though I did not like it all of the time; I was part of it. As I grow up I get to see more and more of how much of a strong community we are. Even though some of us might not have been born here like I was, when we come together we are all one of the same, just one big not always happy family.
The community that I chose to talk about is one that I was born into, the Southern community. When growing up in a community you tend to understand it more than most would. I had my two roommates help me with talking about them because Hayley was born in the South and Lauren has lived here for some time now. We all knew about things that were almost known of the southern community, but had a more personal look at it. Getting together to talk with my roommates to talk about being a part of the southern community was great. With all three of us being from different parts of the southern states we got to see …show more content…
He goes on to list examples that explain the six different characteristics of identifying discourse communities including: shared goals, ways of communication, ways to respond, using genres, specific vocabulary, and the amount of people and their skill levels(Swales 220-222). Only one of those would apply to the Southern community, and that is the specific vocabulary. We tend to use words or phrases that most people would not know if they had never heard of it before, such as “bless your heart.” When I was talking with Jamie and Luna I asked if they had ever heard of this saying, and Jamie said “no we don’t have that” and Luna said “I always say it, but not the way you guys do” (Hambleton, Jamie; Sullivan, Luna). So I had to explain what I meant by the saying. Basically it means help you and your ditzy