Community Essay
Readings to draw from: (In the attachment )● McKinney’s “I Need You to say “I”: Why First Person is Important in CollegeWriting.”● Ocean Vuong’s Surrendering● Gee’s Literacy and Discourse LinguisticsWriting Objectives:● Put different forms of essays in conversation with each other● Successfully analyze and interweave quotes in writing● Critically investigate the formation of communitiesWhat to do:We have spent the last few weeks discussing the formation of a community throughboth personal and academic channels. We’ve read both creative and academic worksdiscussing what it takes to “fit into” a community, so now I’m asking you to take this astep further. How do the pieces we’ve read inform Gee’s idea of a DiscourseCommunity? Your task is to take at least two of the pieces I listed above and discusshow they work in conjunction with Gee’s Discourse community. This is an opportunityfor you to take multiple different readings and put them in a conversation with eachother. What would Gee say about Vuong’s classroom experience? How would yourclassmates feel about McKinney’s elevation of the word “I” in college writing?To summarize: the goal of this piece is to help you establish your expertise in joiningthe discourse community of Composition. Use the pieces we have read throughout thesemester so far to analyze Gee’s discussion of discourse communities, and report onthe potential difficulties of accessing a discourse community and how to work aroundthem. As a disclaimer, the words of the more successful scholars we’re reading areimportant, but I’m trusting your words as well. Utilize the readings to help you makeyour point, but know that you don’t just have to “agree” with one of the readings andtell me why. I want to hear your analysis.How to do it:This assignment can absolutely be completed in a 5 page academic essay in whichyou discuss how to enter and work within a discourse community. This essay shouldcontain well-integrated quotes or paraphrases from the readings listed above. Combinate the essay with discourse community and diagnostic essay in the attachment.
