...ENG 101 Bailey Writing Project 4 When Gee mentions the phrase dominant discourse he means a particular way of talking and thinking about a subject, created by those in power. This type of discourse is popular because it is admired and repeated a lot. So the dominant discourse Gee discusses is certainly used by a particular class, the upper class. The people in this upper class are usually white people. With dominant discourse, there are certain ways of talking and thinking that won’t be accepted so there is a need to conform to the same patterns of thinking and talking amongst the people conversing within this type of discourse. In the article, Gee gives an account of a conversation that was taking place in a bar. While the dialogue was taking place, the reader is shown what is and what is not appropriate as far as discourse is concerned. The type of discourse that an individual participates in is a learned behavior. Although it cannot really be taught from the media, the discourse of the individual is learned through their surroundings on a continual basis. Discourse can “rub off” on a person through their parents, the area in which they live, the community and how they act and speak and so on. My discourse was influenced by my parents, the school I went to and my friends and teammates. A big part of it was definitely school and my sports teams. I will be honest and say that my public high school was not the best as far as education goes so the people that attend there...
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...Title I. Topic The topic of this paper is regarding discourse analysis II. What is Discourse? There is not a straight-forward definition to describe what exactly "discourse analysis" is. Barbara Johnstone, a Professor of English and Linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, said the following about what the word "discourse" means, "To discourse analysts, 'discourse' usually means actual instances of communication in the medium of language." (Discourse Analysis, 2002, p 2) So, according to Johnstone (2002), discourse is the occurrences of communication in the form of language. This means there are many ways in which communication can take form in, such as gesture and dance, but discourse focuses in the way language is being used to communicate. I think this definition helps in understanding what discourse analysis is. It is implied, through this definition, that when we are talking about discourse analysis, we are discussing about how language is being used to communicate. This means we don't focus ourselves with language as a system, but rather how language is being applied to express something or to declare a notion. For that reason, when we study about discourse analysis that means we study the process in which language as an instrument of communication is involved. III. Spoken and Written Language Discourse analysis is dealing with analysing the function of language as a tool of communication. When people use language to communicate, they can either use language...
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...Systemic functional grammar offers a systematic way of describing and analyzing the links between grammatical choice and socio-cultural context. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is the approach which has significance in the rhetorical prospective of any texts to manipulate societal beliefs, values and expectations. Moreover, it is concerned with the ways in which texts may influence public opinion in relation to politics, economy, religion and the environment. This essay will analyze and contrast two news texts which speak about the same theme (protesters death in Turkey), but from two different perspectives (western and Eastern), by investigating patterns in the types of processes. Interpretation:...
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...So what is a discourse community? When you google discourse community, you read, “It is a group of people sharing a common goal using communication to reach that common goal.”Getting more into detail what exactly is a discourse community, we have John Swales’ academic essay, ‘The Concept of Discourse Community’, which breaks it down into six characteristics: “1. A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals. 2. A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members. 3. A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. 4. A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. 5. In addition...
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...Robert Kelly Holly Kopcha ENGL 2089 106 3/6/2016 Marching Band The marching band is a community all their own. They all speak to each other in a language that is all their own. It was always easy to spot someone in school who was a “band kid” because of the way they carried themselves or the way they talked or the people they associated with. Kids in the marching band hang out with each other during and outside of school. They are a community all their own with unique characteristics. The marching band has specific goals that they set for themselves as well as for the group. Individually the members of the marching band have their own goals that they need to accomplish for the ultimate goal of making the group better. Each member will practice their music at home or in the practice rooms during class in order to get better at memorizing and accenting their music. They do this to help the group sound better when they are at competition. Band member also have a goal to memorize their drill sheets. This helps them to where they are supposed to be on the field at a certain time. Doing this helps the group look more unified in their formations. The group’s goals are to perform well at competitions and ultimately win a trophy for their school. To obtain this goal the group will practice for 2-4 days a week. Depending on the day or what needs work they will either work on drill or their music. Drill is the position in which the person should be in a specific time during...
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...Now when reading thru the “Concept of a discourse community “ I found it a very difficult piece to write about. Really just reading thru it I found myself having to go back over it many times. So for this paper we were soppose to analize a part of the writing. So I decided to go over thse 6 chartestics that swalles talked about. Like I said swales came up with a set of guidelines that a discourse community has to meet to be actulla considered as a discourse community. The six characteristics that are to be included in a discourse community are common goals, participatory mechanisms, information exchange, community specific genre’s, a highly specialized terminology and a high general level of expertise (Swales, John. "The Concept of Discourse Community." (1990): 119-28. Print.)....
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...What would you say is Swales’ overall thesis for this article? What is he trying to prove? I believe Swale's overall thesis is that, the current definition for discourse community is vague and suggestive; centered around some main ideas but is still not well defined. I believe he is trying to prove that a specific set of characteristics must be present in order to define a discourse community. What discourse communities do you belong to professionally and personally? What discourse community do you hope to belong to in a future profession? Name at least one from each category. Professionally, I belong to the retail discourse community because I am currently working at Victoria's Secret. Personally, I belong to the discourse community of business...
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...To maintain order in a community, one must adapt to the way of life in that community. In this sample discourse community analysis, the author speaks about joining the band community, and what kind of things he/she had to adapt to, and learn in order to successfully be part of said community. The author begins to build his/her credibility by effectively using the following strategies: diction, point of view, and tone. With the use of these devices, the author is able to appeal to their classmates on a more personal rather than professional level. In this essay, the author talks about having to learn about “the pyramid of sound,” which he/she states is very important in the band community. When describing the importance of this skill, the...
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...Cesar Paulo S. Castor V 9/27/2013 Ph100 A Discourse on the Discourse In A Discourse on the Method, Descartes talk of his desire for certainty and truth and the method he uses to determine truth and falsity. The text shows Descartes method of making certain the knowledge he obtains and he does not limit this to philosophical knowledge he uses his method in seeking all forms of truth be it the sciences, theology or philosophy. Throughout the text Descartes talks of the importance of certainty and truth and begins by stating that the ability to distinguish what is true and false, or “good sense” as Descartes called it, is not a talent inherent to a few chosen intellectuals who received education but as something that everyone possesses and can develop. He backs this up by making an account of his years studying in both the literature of the ancients and the sciences and despite all his studying ended up realizing that he was still had doubts about what he had learned. He realized that knowledge and certainty could not be gained from books alone because some wrote not to find truth but to make ideas plausible and to Descartes anything that was tantamount to plausible was the same as false. (Descartes 2006, 10) What was important to Descartes for discerning true from false was not book smarts but more on life experience and exposure to different opinions. The method he uses to find certainty is something that uses discernment from one’s own reason to make it certain...
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...‘Discourse’ is a complicated concept that has developed numerous discourse analytical theories. Discourses are abundant throughout society. Society itself is built upon discourses. Two differing discourses social, and cultural discourses are used to discuss the differences between Twitter and Facebook in the use of branding. Depicting the “social discourse” is “Twitter vs Facebook: Which is more valuable for brands?” an article by Megan O’Neill. The opposing discourse of “culture” is portrayed through “Social Networking: Twitter vs Facebook,” a blog post by Jessica Kim. Firstly, it should be notable that there is no utter definition of discourse. The study of discourse is a vast field, and the nature of its complexity stands as enough of an explanation. On that note, this essay will attempt to define discourse in the way it has been understood. Discourse could be defined as any given theme derived from any given body of text. According to Michel Foucault (1997), discourses are “socially constructed knowledge’s of some aspect of reality” (Theo p.94). Discourses provide us with a port of reference and a way to interpret the world, allowing our knowledge to be influenced and created through certain discourses. Specific notions on a chosen topic have been constructed according to our social contexts; our knowledge of a particular object and are influenced and created through discourses. (Theo p.94) In the Foucauldian conception, Discourse is seen as “more than just a way...
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...women were not able to achieve ordination within the religious structure, their leadership and ability to persuade spiritual leaders made them an influential voice in the Brazilian church. This research paper will examine the roles of Brazilian women in the Brazilian Church in the progressive era with a particular interest in the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. During the progressive era, Brazilian women re-shaped the Brazilian church to a public political forum where Brazilians could engage in discourse and educate others, setting the stage for organized political movement. At the same time that middle-class Brazilian women were encouraging Brazilians to embrace “La Raca Negra” they were also endorsing the “politics of respectability” in their efforts to work for the uplift and reform of their own race. Ultimately, Brazilian women contradict their efforts to uplift the race by utilizing the Brazilian church as an arena of political discourse because they are conforming to the Victorian ideals to earn respect within mainstream society simultaneously. In order to understand the roles of women in the Brazilian church, the roots of the Brazilian church must be understood. Predominately...
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...Discuss the concepts of 'ideology' and 'discourse' in relation to the ways in which representation functions in media texts. You might like to do this in the context of representations of gender, sexuality, 'race', ethnicity, war, refugees or celebrity, for example. Your essay should include your own analysis of a media text that has not been discussed in detail in the lectures, required or additional readings, or in your other assessments. Representation is both the process and the product of media texts, in terms of sexuality in media these representations are shaped by ideologies; the way people think and interpret the word. In turn, different ideologies promote discourse and the discussion of ideas in relation to sexuality. In relation to specific media texts such as True Blood, there are several ideologies in the program, social, political and cultural which show a non-heteronormative view on sexuality. Ideologies are ways of thinking and how we interpret the world around us. It’s through ideology that representation in media text functions to reinforce the view of that particular school of thought. Representation can be through stereotype, strengthening sometimes negative views or typecasting those who are represented. Looking especially True Blood, vampires are being “re-presented” as the gay community which have to struggle and fight for equal rights(Dhaenens, 2013). The concept of Ideology, a way of thinking which impacts how you view and world and interact with people...
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...operate, toward the idea that ‘power is everywhere’, diffused and embodied in discourse, knowledge and ‘regimes of truth’ (Foucault 1991; Rabinow 1991). Power for Foucault is what makes us what we are, operating on a quite different level from other theories: ‘His work marks a radical departure from previous modes of conceiving power and cannot be easily integrated with previous ideas, as power is diffuse rather than concentrated, embodied and enacted rather than possessed, discursive rather than purely coercive, and constitutes agents rather than being deployed by them’ (Gaventa 2003: 1) Foucault challenges the idea that power is wielded by people or groups by way of ‘episodic’ or ‘sovereign’ acts of domination or coercion, seeing it instead as dispersed and pervasive. ‘Power is everywhere’ and ‘comes from everywhere’ so in this sense is neither an agency nor a structure (Foucault 1998: 63). Instead it is a kind of ‘metapower’ or ‘regime of truth’ that pervades society, and which is in constant flux and negotiation. Foucault uses the term ‘power/knowledge’ to signify that power is constituted through accepted forms of knowledge, scientific understanding and ‘truth’: ‘Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint. And it induces regular effects of power. Each society has its regime of truth, its “general politics” of truth: that is, the types of discourse which it accepts and makes function as true; the mechanisms and instances...
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...® Acodemy of Management Heview 1993, Vol. 18, No. 3. 518-545. FOUCAULT. POWER/KNOWLEDGE. AND ITS RELEVANCE FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT BARBARA TOWNLEY The University of Alberta Drawing on the work of Michel Foucault. I argue that human resource management (HRM) may be best understood as a discourse and set of practices that attempt to reduce the indeterminacy involved in the employment contract. Here I reread HRM practices from a Foucauldian power-knowledge perspective and suggest that this provides an avenue to reorient contemporary, historical, and comparative analyses of the area. A glimpse at human resource management (HRM) texts would seem to give light to a comment by Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Mills, and Walton (1984) that HRM is a series of seemingly disjointed activities. This notion echoes an earlier view of Baldamus (1961: 347) that what is encompassed by HRM's subject matter is "anything from supervision, incentives and profit sharing to machine-paced production, methods of training and employee selection." Often this heterogeneity is excused in terms of HRM's reflecting the ad hoc and reactive nature of its origins (Jacoby, 1985; Niven, 1967; Ozanne, 1967). What the heterogeneity of HRM highlights, however, is the importance of an organizing principle, or analytical focus, as opposed to common sense description, which gives HRM practices a theoretical coherence. HRM's heterogeneity stresses the importance of an order "that turns a set of bits, which have limited...
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...process. This literature, however, has downplayed some of the other deep-seated underpinnings of soft power, which this article argues lie in the dynamics of affect. Building upon the International Relations affect and aesthetics literatures, this article develops the concept of soft power as rooted in the political dynamics of emotion and introduces the concept of affective investment. The attraction of soft power stems not only from its cultural influence or narrative construction, but more fundamentally from audiences’ affective investments in the images of identity that it produces. The empirical import of these ideas is offered in an analysis of the construction of American attraction in the war on terror. Keywords Affect, discourse, emotion, narrative, Nye, soft power Introduction In her confirmation hearings in January 2009 before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued that to deal with a multiplicity of pressing global issues, the US ‘must...
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