Emily Dickinson Discourse Community Composition

Description

Prompt #1

Discourse Communities: Fill out the handout about Discourse Communities about Emily Dickinson’s poem “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” to identify the discourse communities that she felt she was part of, and those that she rejected.

Do some research about Emily Dickinson’s life, personality, nature, social circle, interests, and the societal limitations/constraints upon women at the time to substantiate your ideas, and include those in your response.

As we’ve discussed in class, according to James Paul Gee in his article, “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics,” a discourse is something that displays “saying(writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations” (6), to show one’s “ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes” (7). He sums it up as follows: a “Discourse is a sort of an identity kit which comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often write, so as to take on a particular role that others will recognize” (7).

Identify Emily Dickinson’s discourse communities using the above definitions and give concrete examples drawn from your research about her in your response.

Consider, and try to answer, the following questions in your response:

a. Which discourse communities did Emily Dickinson see herself as part of and why? (Give concrete examples)

b. What message does she transmit by being part of that discourse community?

c. What makes it a discourse community (You can use Gee’s or Swale’s ideas to support your ideas, but give credit to your sources in the body of your response)

d. Which discourse communities did she reject and why? (Give concrete examples)

Prompt #2:

Identify a discourse community that you’re a part of that interests you, and/or that you reject being part of, and explain why. You may do research about your own discourse community as well for background information. Be as creative or as objective as you want to be. When you look at your own discourse communities, think of the following possibilities: employees at the same company, clubs at City Tech, groups you belong to, such as Instagram followers/groups, engineering students, kids of parents who are from specific professions, members of a specific cultural or religious group, residents of a neighborhood, etc.

Consider, and try to answer, the following questions in your response:

a. Which discourse communities do you feel part of and why?

b. Which discourse communities do you reject and why?

c. Include examples, bits of conversation, texts, artifacts, etc.

d. What did you take away from this investigation or learn?

Prompt #3

Genre: Briefly state why you think Emily Dickinson chose the genre of poetry as one of her discourse communities. According to John Swales, “genres both “belong” to discourse communities, and help to define them (Borg). He outlined “six characteristics of discourse communities: 1) common public goals, 2) methods of communicating among members, 3) participatory communication methods, 4) genres that define the group, 5) a lexis, and 6) a standard of knowledge needed for membership” (Swales 471-473).

Also, according to Kerry Dirk, in her article, “Navigating Genres,” “Genres develop…because they respond appropriately to situations that writers encounter repeatedly” (252), and because “if each writing problems were to require a completely new assessment of how to respond, writing would be slowed considerably. But once we recognize a recurring situation, a situation that we or others have responded to in the past, our response to that situation can be guided by past responses” (252). Another way to look at it is to “think about genres as tools to help people to get things done” (252), Dirk says.

Consider the following in your response:

a. Why did Emily Dickinson favor the genre of poetry?

b. What was Emily Dickinson “trying to get done”?

c. How was that medium effective (or not effective) in conveying her message?

d. What was her message?

e. Who was her audience?

f. Refer to Swales or Dirk in your response

Prompt #4

Discourse and Genre – Emily Dickinson and You:

Identify which discourse communities both Emily Dickinson and you belong(ed) to, and/or reject(ed).

Consider the following in your response:

a. Identify the discourse communities which both Emily Dickinson and you feel part of and why?

b. Identify the genres that Emily Dickinson and you both use(d) to express your identification with that discourse community and why?