RR #15 Gee
Summary
With
“Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics” James Paul Gee attempts to discern the
difference between a discourse and a Discourse. There is a difference, he
argues, one that goes much further than upper and lower cases. He goes on to
argue that there is a difference between language and grammar, and that one
should not be synonymous with the other, that a Discourse isn’t something you
can willingly penetrate and embody–it’s something you either inherently belong
to or don’t.
Pre-Reading
I love to
watch movies and play soccer. And though these two activities are radically
different from each other in many ways, they’re also kind of similar. They’re
both exhilarating experiences, and visual ones too. I love film more than I do
soccer, so even when I’m on the field, I tend to picture things through the
lens of a camera. Film is so prevalent in my life that even when I’m partaking
in completely non-related activities, I’m still thinking about it in various
ways.
Synthesis
“Literacy,
Discourse, and Linguistics” reminded me of Swales’ piece. The Discourse
Community is something that needs its own definition. It is also something you
can’t really force yourself into. And with the idea that speech communities and
discourse communities are really no different, it makes it easier for one to
assert his or her self as a member of
one of these communities.
Questions for Discussion and Journaling
1) What Gee is trying to say is that your surroundings are
just as important as your speech patterns. It’s all circumstantial, all
relative and always different. There are certain ways to talk in class, certain
ways to talk outside of class, in front of your parents, with your friends etc.
etc. The settings you speak most comfortably in while maintaining the “correct”
way of talking is most likely the Discourse you belong to.
Personal Response
I agree
with Gee, and what he’s saying. It’s so very true that there really are different
types of grammar. It all depends on your setting. I complain about the length
in almost every personal response, so I won’t mention it this time, even though
I sort of just did inadvertently. This concept could make for a really great
research paper. There is so much material, and so many different stances one
could take. It’s worth looking into.
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