Gee

WAW: Gee (481-497)

SUMMARY:

In his article “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics, James Paul Gee attempts to explain his term discourses. Gee uses a variety of examples to make his definitions clear. Gee argues that you can’t “more or less” embody a Discourse, you’re either recognized by others as a full member of it or you’re not. He also explains that we are never “purely” members of a single Discourse but, rather, that a given Discourse is influenced by other Discourses of which we’re also members. 

CONVERSATION: I relate this article to the last Swales article we read, “The Concept of Discourse Community.” They both discuss discourse. However they use it in different ways, but yet they are related. They both talk about being a part of a discourse, either part of a discourse community or a member of discourse. 

BEFORE YOU READ:

Mushfake: prison slang for items owned by an inmate that may be legal to buy, but were constructed or obtained through illegal means, hence they are contraband

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

3. Discourses with a capital D means combinations of what is important is not language, and not grammar, but saying (writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations. Discourses with a little “d” to him means connected stretches of language that make sense, so “discourse” is part of “Discourse”. No, it doesn’t really make sense to me. I just don’t really understand what he is talking about with the language and combinations.

13. A Discourse to which I don’t belong, but want to belong to is a team. I have been a part of a sports team my whole life, and I no longer am. You have to meet the requirements to be on that team, and they are much harder to meet in college. My own experiences aid me the most in becoming a part.

OPINIONS:

I personally found this article to be somewhat confusing. I don’t fully understand the difference between Discourse and discourse. The rest of the article wasn’t that bad of a read. I don’t really think it was that interesting or helpful to me.