February 22nd HW

Johns Summary- In Discourse Communities of Practice, Ann M. Johns tries to fill the gaps between what Swales and Gee have talked about with discourse communities. She also explains a new phrase we haven't heard anything about called "communities of practice". This is more along the lines of what practices and values hold communities together or separate them from others. She also talks about the problems that can occur within these discourse communities.

1) Some of the complications of joining a discourse community is that people can be excluded because they lack social standing, talent, money, or because they live in the wrong part of town.

2)  Members can rebel, and this may form a new community and rules will be changed. She gives the example of this happening at her own university (page 511). People change through time and they develop new ways to do things. I use to be a bad writer but through practice I have gotten a lot better at it over time through change.

3) No I have never felt the need to change my values or beliefs inside a discourse community because I value those a lot more than the community itself and wouldn't change those for anything.

4) I agree to a certain extent that there are some trade-offs but I believe these are more minor than she makes them out to be. You don't have to give up anything major to learn how to write or speak in my opinion.

5) In college I have not had the same authority over my writing as I did in high school. At my high school we were able to pick what we wanted to write about almost every time. Now in college we have some say over it but we have to follow a lot different guidelines.

6) I think it is a minefield because it is a very risky thing to do, your not sure what the outcome will be when you do so. I have never tried to break the rules with a school assignment because I am always too worried of the consequences.

MM) Johns' text would help me become a better writer because it opens your eyes about discourse communities and kind of helps you decide if this is something you really want to be a part of or not. Also we learned that some good things may come from rule breaking a little because the outcome can be positive.

Reflection- I thought that this wasn't a very interesting text to read but I know it was important and it will definitely help me with our fourth and final paper. I still am sort of confused when it comes to the difference between the Swales, Gee, and Johns texts we have read. Other then that it was beneficial to read.