Essay On Discourse

Throughout the semester I’ve noticed that the authors Baron, Swales, Bazerman, Alexie, Sommers and Newkirk had brilliant ideas in their text about ideas of writing. All these texts we read this semester had their own importance, but the most significant texts to me were Swales, “The Concept Of a Discourse Community” and Alexie’s text, “Joy of Reading and Writing: The Superman and Me”. Swales describes a discourse community as a group of people who come together and share a common set of discourses. Alexie’s text sheds light on Swales idea of a discourse community, in his text he explains his life and how when as a kid he life was being constrained in his “discourse community” because he was Indian boy who taught himself how to read and write very advanced at a young age. Discourse …show more content…
We can’t deny the fact that everyone is part of a discourse wherever they go ranging from their home, job, school and the people they surround themselves with. Since Alexie was from a town where people of his race were constrained on what they were able to accomplish, it made hard for him not be a part of an already long going discourse community. The discourse community Alexie’s in gives insight of his struggle when he said “We were Indian children who were expected to be stupid.” (Alexie, pg. 130) Swales explains that “discourse communities are centrifugal (they tend to separate people into occupational or speciality-interest groups).” Alexie shows that he is different than what the discourse community label him as, he is separated because of his higher intelligence. Alexie has what Swales says explains that he has “a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.” (Swales, pg. 232) Alexie is part of a discourse community that is constrained and restricted on everything they do, they aren’t able to show sign of high intelligence they are just viewed as dumb and