Wardle

Before You Read

Since coming to college, my vocabulary has slightly changed. I have not really learned any new words, besides things like definitions for class and learning vocabulary words. I have not really picked up on these words and don’t use them often. Although I haven’t changed my vocabulary, I have learned new words that are associated with OU that I use in my ever day vocabulary.

Summary

In Elizabeth Wardle’s “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces”, we learn about how our discourse communities influence how we write. In the article, Wardle tells us about her 3 interrelated modes of belonging. These are “engagement, imagination, and alignment. Wardle emphasizes her ideas through a story of a man named Alan. The audience of this article can be anyone but it may appeal to college students who are learning to write in a new environment that is very influential.

Synthesis

Wardle’s article on writing in a new discourse community can be connected to Swales article on what a discourse community is. Both article talk about how to fit in and be an active member of a discourse community. Another article that can be compared to Wardle is Gee. Gee’s article is about being a member of a discourse community. These article are similar because they both discuss the details of a discourse community. Lastly, Wardle’s article can be linked to Glenn because he also talks about discourse community.

Dialectical Notebook

Response	Quotation
I like this quote because it is a good definition of how our identity and ways of life help us chose our discourse communities.	“Additionally, issues of the identity and values are important factors in neophytes’ abilities and willingness to learn and write in and for new workplaces, as they must choose between ways of thinking and writing with which they are comfortable and new ways that seem foreign or at odds with their identities and values.” (pg. 521)
This quote is important because it shows how you must use the right identity and personality if you want to fit in a certain discourse community.	“To tease out relationships between identity and writing in the workplace, we need theories that consider the workplace as a legitimate and important influence on subject formation.” (pg. 522)
I like this quote because I agree with what it is saying and how imagination is good, but it could get in the way of the discourse community.	“While imagination can lead to a positive mode of belonging, it can also ‘be disconnected and ineffective, it can also be so removed from any lived form of membership that it detaches identities and leaves them in a state of uprootedness.” (pg. 524)
This quote is an example of how things could go wrong in a discourse community. If someone’s ideas challenge something, they could not be accepted in the discourse community.	“What happens when a new worker’s assumptions are frequently made obvious to the community, and those assumptions fly in the face of accepted ways of doing things?” (pg. 527)
This quote is explaining Alan’s position in his discourse community, and where he believes he stands.	“”He stressed that his title put ‘only one person above’ him in the university or the department.” (pg. 528)

Questions for Discussion

4. I agree with this statement because I believe that our language is very much influenced by our culture (or discourse community). When we are constantly around a certain way of life, we pick up on things such as forms of language. Because we are around it so often, we pick up the language and start to use it without us even knowing. This makes our language that we speak sometimes unintentional.

Thoughts

Wardle’s article on writing and discourse community has taught me about how our surroundings influence the way we write and speak. This article was fairly easy to read and understand. I liked it because it talked about discourse community with relation to writing and language. It was good to read about discourse community relating to something and not just talking about how to be in one.