Malinowitz

Before you read:
I am familiar with the term lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. I know what each term means and have know the meaning of them for a long time.

Summary:
In her article, --> "Queer Texts, Queer Contexts," Harriet Malinowitz argues that many gay and lesbian people are scared to show their true sexual identity because they fear being rejected by others. She also discusses the role of sexual identity in producing discourse.

Syntheis:
Malinowitz's article can relate to Swales because they both talk about what you have to have in order to fit into a discourse community. Her article also relates to Wardle's because they both talk about identity and fitting into a discourse community. Finally, her article also relates to Gee because they both talk about conflicting discourses and how the gay and lesbian discourse is a very conflicting one.

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Response	Quote
It is good that there has been some change I the classrooms, even if it is not that much of change.	“In the last few years, there has been a subtle but persistent change in the classroom climate around the subject of sexual orientation.”
I agree with this quote because I am sure people fear that they will be made fun of and looked at differently if they told others the truth about there sexuality.	“I can hypothesize that the closeted gay students in my classes remain silent out of some of the same fears.”
I liked this quote and it shows that women are capable to do many things and are often looked at as fragile.	“We believe women aren't so fragile that we need to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches; in a better world you would see that we are competent enough to vote”
Many people fear people who are gay, lesbian, or have a different sexual identity. Some people look down on these people, which is wrong in my opinion.	“Sexual identity is a component of personal and social identity highlighted for lesbians and gay men because homophobia in the culture makes it problematic.”
I believe that she got her purpose across in her article.	“My primary purpose In this book is to illustrate some of the complex dimensions of how lesbian and gay experience in composition classes.”
Some people really do not agree with other sexual identities they are not used and develop homophobia.	“Leaving sexual identity out of the classroom is not an accident; it is an expression of institutionalizing homophobia, enacted in classrooms not randomly but systematically, with legal and religious precedents to bolster it and intimidate both teachers and students.”

Thoughts:
I liked this reading and thought it was easy to understand. I also liked it because it was interesting and taught me a lot. I believe people are more accepting of gay people. I think that people used to be homophobic, but have learned to accept and not care about sexuality as much.
 

Project 3 Topic Proposal

The discourse community that I am going to choose for my project is the Catholic Church I belong to. This is something that I am very familiar with because I have been going to church since I was very little with my family and been practicing this Religion for a very long time. Some of the things I'm involved in in my discourse community is being a Eucharistic minister and I was also an alter server. This discourse community has a common set of goals and it also fits in with the six characteristics of a discourse community.

Devitt, et

Before you read:
Some forms of communication I use on a daily basis are social networking on the computer, talking on the phone, texting, and talking to people in person.

Summary:
In the article "Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse Communities," the three authors Devitt, Bawarshi, and Reiff argue the importance of genres in discourse communities. Amy J. Devitt's essay analyzes some genres, in particular jury instructions that are created by professional communities and are used by non members of the community. In Anis Bawarshi's essay she talks about how genre analysis gives access to the workings of the discourse communities into a more helpful concept. Mary Jo Reiff talks about how genre analysis is suited for the use of ethnographic writing approaches.

Synthesis:
This article relates to Gee, Swales, and Wardle because they all talk about how you have to be accepted in a discourse community. They also all talk about the genres in a discourse community and the importance of them.

MM:
I would say the best route to understanding discourse communities is through ethnographic fieldwork because it's the best way to learn and the easiest.

Thoughts:
I liked reading these articles from three different authors. I learned a lot from the readings and it helped me better understand discourse communities. I learned a lot about genres and how they are important in discourse communities. These readings will also help me with the third project on discourse communities.

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Response	Quote
This quote shows how important these specialists and how much they are involved in our lives.	“In fact, much of our civic lives involves genres that come out of a community of specialists, whether lawyers, legislators, or government employees.”
This quote shows how it is hard and difficult to understand something if you don’t have knowledge on the topic.	“Leading to the linguistic and technical complexity of jury instructions is the rhetorical complexity of the situation.”
I liked this quote because it shows how people still don’t understand that genre is used for classifying text.	"The idea of genre, despite the work of scholars in literary and rhetorical studies over the last few decades, is still more often than not understood as a transparent lens or conduit for classifying text."
This quote shows how students become researcher when performing ethnographies.	“When students carry out ethnographies, they become researchers who are also active social figures participating in and observing how people integrate their language genres with their wider collective purposes.
I liked this quote and thought it was interesting how classrooms can become research sites.	“As a result classrooms become, in part, research sites at which all members are investigating, teaching, and learning.

Wardle

Before you read:
Since I have been at college I feel that my identity has changed a little bit, but it is not an extreme change. I have become more independent and I have a learned a lot of new things through my academics. I was very sheltered when I was living at home and now I am around a lot of different people and have been faced with a lot of new experiences.

Summary:
In Wardle's article, "Identify, Authority, and learning to Write in New Workplaces", she talks about how adults learn to write and how they learn this from different learning communities. In Wardle's article it is based on the result of a study and how things can come into conflict with a discourse community.

Synthesis:
Wardle's article can easily relate to Gee, Swales, and Porter's articles. These threee article all connect to Wardle's article because they all have to do with discourse communities and what a discourse community consists of and how to fit into discourse communities.

QD:
4. I do not think people are making conscious choices when they use language. Some people may do this, but I think for the most part people do not have to think when they use language because they are trained with how they use language and know what to say most the time.
 
Thoughts:
I liked this article alot because it also gave good information on discourse communities and was easy to understand and read. I liked the examples she used in her article. It made it more intriguing and helped me better understand what was going on. This article will also help with the next project on discourse communities. 

Response	Quote
This quote makes a good point about how important it is to write in the workplace. Writing in the workplace is different than writing academically.	“As composition widens its focus beyond academic writing, it is increasingly important to consider what it means to write in the workplace.”
I liked this quote a lot because sometimes we can go away from activities that we value a lot. We must stay true to our identities and not let other things get in the way of family and other things that are important to us.	“We must also consider whether expanding involvement in one system forces us away from other activity systems we value—away from “activity systems of family, neighborhood, and friends that construct ethic, racial, gender, and class.”
This shows how different discourse communities can be.	"Alan's sense of what it meant to fill a support staff position was very different from the faculty's sense."
This shows how helpful discourse communities can be to further ourselves.	"A number of discourse conventions existed in the department that could have afforded Alan further authority."
I liked this quote because it explains how to learn to write in different communities and what you need to do this.	“Allan’s example illustrates that learning to write in new communities entails more than learning discrete sets of skills or improving cognitive abilities.”

 
 

   Gee's article is similar to Swales in many different ways. They both talk about something that we do and what we are involve in everyday, which is a discourse community. In their articles both the authors ask how people read the other people and activities in it. Both of the articles also talk about how people keep learning to write and use language in new ways to interact with others.
    However, Gee's and Swales may have similarities, but they also are very different. James Gee calls what we constantly evolve and acquire new literacies as Discourses and John Swales calls discourse communities. Gee also focuses more on the linguistics of a Discourse while Swales talks more about what a discourse community is.

Gee

Gee

Before you read:
Mushfake is a prison slang for items owned by an inmate that may be legal to buy, but were obtained through illegal means.

Summary:
In Gee's article, "Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction", he talks about what the term discourse means and uses a lot of examples to explain the definition. Gee argues in this article that you can't embody a discourse. You are either recognized by others as a full member of it or not. The audience of this article would be any one in a discourse community.

Synthesis:
Gee's article is most related to Swales article. They both talk about discourse communities and the importance of them. Porter also relates to Swales and Gee's article because they all teach the readers about discourse communities. Also, Allen's article relates to Gee's because Allen talks about what inspires students to write and a discourse community involves being inspired.

MM:
I believe that Gee's claims does help me understand my own own experiences differently. It helped me realize that there are different people in discourse communities and that it is okay to interpret things differently than others.

Thoughts:
I liked this reading and thought that it was helpful. I learned even more about discourse communities that will help me with the third project on discourse communities. It had a lot of the same ideas as Swales article. This made the reading boring because I already read some of the same stuff.

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Response	Quote
I liked this quote because it explains what a discourse community is and it made it easier to comprehend the definition.	“A Discourse is a sort of “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”
Each person has their own kind of primary discourse, which is different than other people.	“Primary Discourses differ significantly across various social groups in the United States.”
Literacy is important part of the discourse community.	“I believe that a socially useful definition of ‘literacy’ must be couched in terms of the notion of Discourse.”
This quote shows that people have different meanings and views on print than others.	“My definition of “literacy” may seem innocuous, at least to someone already convinced that decontextualized views of print are meaningless”
This quote shows how important metaknowlege is and how it can help your first language.	“This ‘metaknowledge’ can actually make you better able to manipulate your first language.”

Swales

Swales

Before you read:
One time I felt out of place was when I went out to lunch with my one friend and all of her family members. The whole time they were talking about family memories and stories. I was not able to interact in the conversation so I had to sit and just listen to all of them reminisce on all the good memories they had together, which made me feel really out of place.

Summary:
n John Swales "The Concept of Discourse Community" he  argues that six distinct characteristics help define discourse communities. Swales talks about how genre is one of the most important characteristics of a discourse community. In his article he also argues what a discourse community is and how it is different from a speech community. His audience is anyone in a discourse community or students who want to learn more about discourse communities.

Synthesis:
Swales article can relate to Gee's article because they both have to do with discourse communities and both discuss the different aspects of a discourse community. Swales article can also relate to Porter's article because he talks about discourse communities just like Gee's. A third article that can relate to Swales is Brandt's article. They both talk about having literacy sponsors and how a sponsor is needed for a discourse community.

QD:

5.  One discourse community I am involved in is my learning community of exploring academic success. Everyone in this learning community have at least one thing in common, which is searching for a major that we like. Everyone in this learning community is undecided and we are all taking similar classes to help us find a major that we like.

6. A discourse community that I resisted was when I played softball. Everyone on the team knew each other because they have played on the same team together since they were little. I didn't know anyone on the team and felt out of place.

Thoughts:
I enjoyed reading this article and learned a lot from it. Some parts of the article were hard to understand, but I got the main idea that Swales was trying to convey. Reading this article will help me with my third project on discourse communities. I know have a better understanding of discourse communities.

Pollan

Summary:
In Pollan's article, "Farmer in Chief", he argues how the food system needs to be fixed and how important this issue is. He talks about how horrible this issue is and how it effects a lot of people. This article also talks about how money has become more important than the animals and the way they are treated.

Synthesis:
Pollan's article can relate to Glenn's because they both deal with the food industry and the way animals are treated.


Thoughts:
I really enjoyed reading this letter that was written to the president. It covered a lot of important issues that needed to be talked about. I believe that we can make a change in the food industry and need to educate children about this issue. It is important to get healthier foods for children in schools so that these children can be healthy.
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Response	Quote
I liked this quote because it suggests that sustainable agriculture will be a lot easier to apply.	“To grow sufficient amounts of food using sunlight will require more people growing food—millions more.”
We devalued farming and see it as not a very good job anymore.	“As a society we devalued farming as an occupation and encouraged the best students to leave the farms for better jobs in the city.”
Even though it might not be appreciated, we should still try and find a more sustainable food source.	“Making available more healthful and more sustainable food does not guarantee it will be eaten, much less appreciated or enjoyed.”
Reforming the food system is something that people should care more about because it is an important issue.	"Reforming the food system is not inherently a right-or-left issue.”
I agree with quote and believe that we should begin teaching children at a young age the importance of this issue.	"Changing the food culture must begin with our children, and it must begin in the schools."

Glenn

Before you read:
I would like to believe that the farms that supply meat to grocery stores treat the animals well that they slaughter, but I know that some farms abuse and mistreat the animals before they slaughter them. I think that it is wrong and cruel for the farms to be doing this and they should be stopped.

Summary:
In Cathy Glenn's "Constructing Consumables and Consent: A Critical Analysis of Factory Farm Industry Discourse" she argues that discourse communities can give factory farms bad reputations and that audiences can be lied to by advertisements. Cathy talks a lot about how badly animals are mistreated in slaughter houses and how they don't have proper living conditions.

Synthesis:
Glenn's article is similar to Pollan's because they both have to do with how farms treat their livestock. Glenn's article can also relate to McCloud's because in McCloud's article he talks about how people see images and it can relate to Glenn's article because she talks about how people view advertisements.

QD:
1. The main characteristics of "factory farm discourse" is hiding the cruel practices and making them seem natural and comfortable for the animals living in the factories. They make the industry look harmless and make the customers want to buy food from them.

Thoughts:
I enjoyed this reading and learned a lot from the article. I didn't realize how badly the animals were mistreated in some factories and it made me angry reading about it. These issues discussed in the article are important to learn about and be aware about. I also liked this article because it was very different and interesting.

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Response	Quote
I agree with this quote and believe that it is very persuasive. Doublespeaking is also related to this and can convince people into thinking that the farm is safe and doesn’t harm their animals.	“The factory farming industry, I argue, is a particularly compelling manifestation of the Nature as Commodity discourse.”
I believe that some factories do hide this and it is a horrible thing to do.	“For factory farming discourse hides vicious practices by constructing them as ‘natural,’ ‘accommodating,’ and ‘comfortable’ for the animals confined in the factory.”
This quote shows how factories hide what is really going on and only show on ads how happy and healthy the animals are.	“However without a connection to the animals being represented- those who are ill treated, sold, and killed- all we have is a connection to a simulacrum.”
I really liked this quote because I believe it is very true. All factories really care about is the profit and will do anything to make as much profit they can.	“For the factory farm, as in other corporations, the bottom line is profit.”
This quote really shocked me caught my attention. This shows that farmers will do anything to make as much profit as they can.	“Hens also suffer immensely so that farmers can extract from them as many eggs as possible.”

Wysocki

Before you read:

I have contrary feelings about this ad because the food in the ad looks appetizing, but the girl in the ad makes me upset because she is being too sexual and should not be for this food ad.




Summary:
In her article "The Sticky Embrace of Beauty” Anne Wysocki argues the approach many of use to for teaching visual aspects of text. She talks about how these teachings are not helping when teaching students visuals. She goes on by explaining how some visuals are more looked at than others and also shows us how visual aspects of text are taught. She also talks about how women in today's society are seen in a sexual way.

Sythesis:
Wysocki's article can relate to McCloud's article because they both talk about visuals and masks. Women are not seen for who they are because of the masks they portray from society. Wysocki's article can also relate to Berger's article. They both relate to how women are portrayed and viewed as sexual objects. Another article that can be related to Wysocki's is Bernhardt's because they both relate to how text looks.

AE:
1. Artwork is up for interpretation because it can be looked at differently by different people. Each person who looks at art will interpret it differently than another person and get a different meaning out of it.

Thoughts:
I thought this reading was very long and boring to read. It was also hard to understand because it kept on repeating the same points over. 


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Response	Quote
I picked this quote because as I was reading it I thought that it was very true. When I looked at the picture I was drawn to that part because of the lighting and it stood out the most to me.	“It is because of contrast: this is the lightest thing in this design and the only large round shape.”
I found this quote to be offensive because woman should not be seen only as a shape.	“We are not encouraged to ask about the woman in the ad as a woman, only as a shape.”
I liked this quote because it shows how we can build the image of beauty in a good way.	“If we see beauty as a quality we build, rather than one we expect to discover, then we can potentially see beauty- and other aesthetic qualities like coherence or unity or balance- as shared values we can both celebrate and question.”
I liked this quote because I also felt anger when looking at this ad like her.	“And the anger that I feel, the anger I have been trying to understand since first seeing the layout, is inseparable from the pleasures I have been describing”
I liked this quote because I think it’s true and if you find something beautiful it is probably because you have found interest in it and found beauty.	“When we judge something to be beautiful, it is because beauty is formally inherent in the object”

Baron

Before You Read:
The technologies I use for writing are computers, phones, I pads, and Pencils.

Summary:
In his article, "From Pencils to Pixels: The Stages of Literacy Technologies", Baron attempts to show how technology has changed through out the years. He argues that people have failed to see writing as a technology and can't comprehend what is going on when we write.

Synthesis:
Baron's article can relate to McCloud's in some different ways. Baron's article talks about digital fraud and what we look at can not be what we actually think it is, which is what McCloud was talking about with masks. Baron's article also relates to Brandt's because they both talk about sponsorship.

Question for Discussion:
The Unabomber targeted computer scientists for elimination because society was starting to become too dependent on communication technologies. He used typing to write and wrote to express his ideas on this topic.

Thoughts:
I liked this article. I found it to be interesting and very informative. I learned about things that I didn't know before about writing and technology of writing.


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Response	Quote
I like this quote because I think that we often forget writing is a very important technology. We are constantly using it and it has been around for a long time.	“When we write with cutting-edge tools, it is easy to forget that whether it consists of energized particles on a screen or ink embedded in paper or lines gouged into clay tablets, writing itself is always first and foremost a technology, a way of engineering materials in order to accomplish an end.”
Having new technology makes it easier for fraud. We have to be careful when we are using new technology and to use it for good, and not for manipulating texts.	“While brave new literacy technologies offer new opportunities for producing and manipulating text, they also present new opportunities for fraud.”
Language is very interesting. The pronunciation of letters can have different sounds to them.	“The written language takes on a life of its own, and it even begins to influence how the spoken language is used.”
Some people are scared of change and like the way things are now, so they don’t want to embrace what’s new.	“As the old technologies become automatic and invisible, we find ourselves more concerned with fighting or embracing what’s new.”
We think that pencils are old because of all the new technology, but it still is a communication technology that we use a lot.	“We assume that pencils are a natural way to write because they are old—or at least because we have come to think of them as being old.”

Literacy Narative

When I think back to when I first learned how to read I remember starting in kindergarten. I remember having a hard time at first and each year I would get better. My teachers would use flashcards and have us write short sentences to make us better. Whenever we had to read out loud in class my teacher would tell us to sound out the letters and break down each word. It took a long time to read a short sentence, but that was part of learning. I remember hating reading and writing because I was really bad at it. I would also get really frustrated at times because my twin brother learned how to read and write faster than me. This made me angry because I wanted to be able to read and write like all the other kids so my mom and I would read and practice all the time to help me. We would read my favorite Dr. Seuss books before I went to bed each night. One day it finally clicked, but I still had trouble at times and really didn’t enjoy reading that much. I would rather play with my Barbie’s or play outside than read. My mom still made me practice everyday and read to her so that I would keep on improving.

My parents and teachers helped me out a lot when I was first learning to read and write. They wanted to see me succeed and accomplish this important skill. To this day I still don’t like to read. My whole family read all the Harry Potter books except for me because I hated reading so much. I have been starting to like reading more and more throughout the years and will read books for fun sometimes, instead of only reading books I get assigned for homework or school.