Choose a personal, professional or academic discourse community that interests you, and that you hope to become a member, if you are not already. Make sure that your discourse community has a clear enough definition so that you can make focused observations. (For example, choosing “English studies” is o.k., but “literature faculty” gives you a better opportunity to compare a subgroup to a larger community. “Humanities” is, in fact, a discourse community, but has so many subgroups within it, you won’t have a clear enough focus.)
You will gather data by observing those within your chosen discourse community (just reporting on a teacher in a class does not count – observing a community may be better for a professional community), interviewing at least one member of the discourse community, analyzing their discourse by considering the texts that they produce (journals, newsletters, emails, websites, etc.), and by doing any additional research that will help you come to some conclusions about the discourse within your chosen community. (Think about genres, think about style of writing, purpose for communicating, audience – all those things rhetorical.) Use your textbook to help you understand the concept of discourse communities (Chapter 4 is full of good sources! Pages 314-15 in your book provide some good data-collecting and data-analyzing ideas. I would not begin this project without looking at those hints).
Be sure to identify at least one person that you have interviewed who is a member of the discourse community that you are analyzing. The transcript does not have to be verbatim (though it can be), but you are expected to quote extensively from the interview. The purpose of this exercise is both to demonstrate that you are making progress toward the DCLA paper through interview research, and also to demonstrate your use of interviewing generally as a means of data collection.
Assignment Sheet for Major Writing Assignment #3
Discourse Community Literacy Analysis

Assignment Rational
Thus far this semester, we have looked at who you are as a reader/writer and who influenced you in becoming that writer (tracing your literacy sponsors). In Unit 2 we took an extensive look at rhetorical analysis. For Unit 3, we will research and analyze a discourse community that interests you or that you would like to become a part of. You can choose an academic, professional or personal discourse community. By becoming conscious of the genres and influences that shape a discourse community and its activities, my hope is that you gain power and understanding of who you are as a writer within that community!
Assignment Description and Instructions
Choose a personal, professional or academic discourse community that interests you, and that you hope to become a member, if you are not already. Make sure that your discourse community has a clear enough definition so that you can make focused observations. (For example, choosing “English studies” is o.k., but “literature faculty” gives you a better opportunity to compare a subgroup to a larger community. “Humanities” is, in fact, a discourse community, but has so many subgroups within it, you won’t have a clear enough focus.)
You will gather data by observing those within your chosen discourse community (just reporting on a teacher in a class does not count – observing a community may be better for a professional community), interviewing at least one member of the discourse community, analyzing their discourse by considering the texts that they produce (journals, newsletters, emails, websites, etc.), and by doing any additional research that will help you come to some conclusions about the discourse within your chosen community. (Think about genres, think about style of writing, purpose for communicating, audience – all those things rhetorical.) Use your textbook to help you understand the concept of discourse communities (Chapter 4 is full of good sources! Pages 314-15 in your book provide some good data-collecting and data-analyzing ideas. I would not begin this project without looking at those hints).
Be sure to identify at least one person that you have interviewed who is a member of the discourse community that you are analyzing. The transcript does not have to be verbatim (though it can be), but you are expected to quote extensively from the interview. The purpose of this exercise is both to demonstrate that you are making progress toward the DCLA paper through interview research, and also to demonstrate your use of interviewing generally as a means of data collection.
Final Paper: Due on D2L AND in class (hand in) on Friday, November 11th
The format for your final paper should follow MLA, APA or the citation style for your chosen discourse community. You will have a Works Cited page that is not included in the 4-5 page count for your research paper, including an interview and no less than 3 outside sources. I highly encourage you to use scholarly material, otherwise it will not count. Also, one of the sources must be something besides a website, not including the interview. Your paper should be double-spaced, a standard 12-point font (Times New Roman) with 1 inch margins all the way around. (Make sure you check this. Often times, the default is 1½ inches.) Please make sure you have a title, and that you have your name on every page. Also, please make sure that your pages are numbered.
File-Naming Instructions
Please name your paper as follows:
YourName.DCLA.101.pdf
And Also…
If have questions about MLA citation form, a great resource with lots of answers and examples to use is the Purdue University Writing Center “Owl” Citation website. The URL is: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
You are encouraged to make an appointment at the Writing Center to assist you in brainstorming, drafting or proofreading your paper.