paper 1: discourse community

analysis
English 1301: Rhetoric and Composition I

the rhetorical situation

A discourse community is a group of people who share com-

mon interests, goals, values, assumptions, knowledge of a topic,
and—most important for the purposes of this paper—discursive
patterns, i.e., specialized vocabulary, speech genres, and ways of
communicating. A discourse community might be made up of
Dallas Cowboys fans, military veterans, gamers, members of a
sorority or fraternity, followers of a particular television show or
fiction writer, contributors to a Facebook group or subreddit, etc.
As a first-year college student, you have begun the process of
entering the discourse community of your major field of study.
Becoming an “insider” in an academic discourse community is
a daunting task that takes years to complete, but the good news
is that you already have experience joining numerous discourse
communities. Any time you learned the lingo and began to
communicate in a new school group, a new group of friends, a
new workplace, a new place of worship, a new interest group,
etc., you joined a new discourse community.
The main purpose of this paper—and a primary purpose of
ENGL 1301—is to demystify the process of entering an aca-
demic discourse community by demonstrating for you that this
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 Paper 1: Discourse Community Analysis

process is not so different from the process by which you’ve

joined other discourse communities. Our hope is that by having
you reflect on and analyze the discursive skills you mastered as
an insider in a discourse community, you will better understand
the process by which you will enter the academic discourse
community you pursue.
Your audience for this paper will be your classmates and I.
The content will be an analysis of your experiences in a dis-
course community, which you will examine through the lenses of
ethos, pathos, and logos.

brainstorming and drafting

• Jot down some communities to which you belong (or once

belonged). Are these communities discourse communities,
meaning that you communicate with other members in ways
that would be unfamiliar to outsiders? As you think about
which of these communities to write about, make sure you
choose one that provides you with plenty of examples of
times you communicated successfully with other members in
ways that would be foreign to anyone not in the community.
Keep in mind that belonging to a group does not mean you
necessarily belong to a discourse community. For example,
simply making the football team or getting promoted at work
or reading every book in a series does not mean that you have
joined a discourse community. Only when you communicate
with other members, in community-specific ways, can you
claim to have joined a discourse community.
• Once you’ve decided on the discourse community you’ll
write about, do some brainstorming and write down several

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 E N G L IS H 1 3 0 1 : R H E T OR I C AN D C O M P O S I T I O N I

examples of times you communicated effectively with other

members of the community. These examples can be one-time
events that are particularly illustrative or ongoing practices
that demonstrate your deep immersion in the community.
• Now you’re ready to start drafting. Take two or three exam-
ples of successful communication and analyze them under
the ethos lens. Remember that ethos focuses on you as
speaker or writer, so you’re looking for examples that showed
off your insider knowledge and credibility, your adoption of
community values, your commitment to the good of the
community, and so forth.
There are two main things we readers need from you in this
section: (1) a vivid description of the examples themselves
(i.e., what happened), and (2) a detailed breakdown of how
these examples reveal your community-specific credibility
(i.e., how and why they illustrate your ethos).
If you choose enough examples and analyze them in suf-
ficient depth, you should generate at least one or two pages
of content in this section.
• Choose two or three examples and examine them under
the pathos lens (feel free to reexamine the same examples
you examined under the ethos lens). Remember that pathos
focuses on the audience’s emotional response, so you’re look-
ing for examples in which community members responded
emotionally (in a good way!) to something you said.
Give us a vivid description of your examples (i.e., what hap-
pened), and break down how these examples provoke emo-
tional responses in a manner specific to the community (i.e.,
how and why they elicit pathos).

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 Paper 1: Discourse Community Analysis

You should produce at least a page or two of content in this

section.
• Choose two or three examples and inspect them under the
logos lens (again, it’s fine to reexamine the same examples
you examined under the ethos and pathos lenses). Remember
that logos focuses on “the argument itself,” so you’re looking
for examples in which you reasoned and used evidence in
ways that only a fellow insider would fully understand.
Provide us with vivid descriptions of your examples (i.e., what
happened), and explain how they represent typical forms of
community-specific reasoning and evidence (i.e., how and
why they function as logos).
You should produce at least a page or two of content here.
• Imagine a naysayer (see Ch. 6) who says something like, “I’m
not convinced you’re really a member of this community.”
Draft a response. You might concede that you’re not the
ultimate insider, but still you want to insist that you are an
insider. Basically, you need to answer the following question:
why is your level of discourse proficiency in this community
sufficient to qualify you as an insider?
You should produce at least half a page to a page of content
here.

putting it all together

As you prepare a draft that you’ll share with readers, begin

with an introduction (which need not be limited to a single
paragraph) that accomplishes three goals:

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• Acknowledges what “they say” (see Ch. 1)

• Provides an “I say” (see Ch. 4)
• Answers the “so what?” and “who cares?” questions (see Ch. 8)

For this paper, the “they say” is not a view you’re agreeing with
or disagreeing with. Rather, it’s simply the conversation we’ve
been having about rhetoric and discourse communities. Begin
by summarizing some of what we’ve been discussing.
Your “I say” will be your thesis statement, in which you claim
that you successfully joined your discourse community because
you learned to be persuasive to other members through ethos,
pathos, and logos.
The answer to the “who cares?” question is you, your class-
mates, and I. To answer the “so what?” question, explain to us
why we should keep reading, why the experiences you’ll share
with us tell us something interesting about rhetoric and dis-
course communities.
Once you have an introduction in place, it’s up to you decide
how to shape and organize the content you’ve drafted. Just make
sure you have discrete sections for ethos, pathos, logos, and your
response to the naysayer.

choosing an appropriate style

Your style should be informal yet clear, retaining your own voice
but making accommodations for the rest of us (see Ch. 10).
Do construct coherent paragraphs because they make it
easier for readers to process your ideas. Generally speaking,
a strong paragraph will include a clear topic sentence that is

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 Paper 1: Discourse Community Analysis

supported by sentences that cluster around it without going off

on tangents.
You don’t need to adhere strictly to Standard English, but
don’t be sloppy. Proofread carefully to ensure that your paper
reads the way you want it to and that you’ve corrected unin-
tentional errors. The Purdue OWL website (https://owl.english.
purdue.edu/owl/) is a terrific resource for information on stan-
dard writing conventions.

Specs

Your paper should be no longer than five pages, double-spaced, in

12-point Times New Roman font, with one-inch margins all
the way around.
Your first submission is due at the beginning of class on
, and you should think of it as a final draft—some-
thing you would be willing to submit for a grade. If your first
submission does not address everything listed in this assignment
sheet, I will return it to you and count it as late. Both your first
and final submissions must be turned in on time; you will be
docked a full letter grade for each day either is late.

Peer reviews are due .

Final drafts are due .

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 holistic grading criteria for the
discourse community analysis
English 1301: Rhetoric and Composition I

grading criteria: C

The UTA Catalog defines a C as “fair,” which means average.

Since this is a 1000-level Common Core class, a C paper is what
a UTA freshman who is writing at an average level typically
produces when they give a strong effort.
To earn a C, your DCA should first indicate the larger con-
versation to which you’re responding (“they say”) before pro-
viding a thesis that claims you successfully joined a discourse
community by learning to be persuasive to other members
through ethos, pathos, and logos (“I say”). You should answer
the “so what?” and “who cares?” questions, analyze examples
under all three rhetorical lenses, and respond to a naysayer
who questions your membership in the discourse community.
The ideas you present should demonstrate that you understand
the rhetorical concepts that we have addressed in class. More-
over, show that you have responded actively and thoughtfully
to peer and instructor feedback on your first submission. The
style of your paper should not impede my understanding of your
analysis.

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 Holistic Grading Criteria for the Discourse Community Analysis

grading criteria: B

The UTA Catalog defines a B as “good,” which means above

average. A B paper is what a UTA freshman who is writing at
an above-average level typically earns when they give a strong
effort (certainly a student writing at an average level can earn
a B with exceptional effort).
To earn a B, first make sure your paper meets all the criteria
required to earn a C. Beyond that, you should summarize what
“they say” more completely and provide more developed answers
to the “so what?” and “who cares?” questions. Your examples
should be particularly well chosen and clearly described, and
you should examine them deeply under each rhetorical lens.
Your paper should fully represent the objection of a naysayer
who questions your membership in the community and respond
with a strong rebuttal that defends your claim to membership.
You should revise thoroughly, responding to feedback with great
comprehensiveness. Finally, a B paper demonstrates strong com-
mand of word choice, voice, and style.

grading criteria: A

The UTA Catalog defines an A as “excellent,” so an A paper

is what a UTA freshman who is writing at an excellent level
(80th percentile or above) might produce if they gave maximum
effort. (Again, students writing at an average or above-average
level may also earn As with extraordinary effort and sustained
hard work.)
To earn an A, first make sure your paper meets the cri-
teria required to earn a C and a B. Then, summarize what
“they say” in a manner that conveys a deep understanding of

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rhetoric and discourse communities. You should answer the “so

what?” and “who cares?” questions in great depth and with
keen insight. Include enough examples to fully illustrate how
discourse works in your community. Describe these examples
vividly and analyze them in so much depth that even outsiders
can fully appreciate their rhetorical significance for insiders.
Finally, your paper should engage deeply with a naysayer, make
any necessary concessions, and provide a compelling rebuttal
that fully defends your claim that you have met the require-
ments of membership in the discourse community.

grading criteria: D or F

If you receive a D on your paper, carefully consider the cri-

teria listed above for a C. I give Ds to papers when writers,
while demonstrating a general understanding of the topic and
concepts, have not fulfilled all the requirements listed on the
assignment sheet or have failed to respond to all my comments
on their first submission. If you misunderstand the assignment;
show little understanding of the required rhetorical concepts;
or ignore the technical requirements of topic, length, or format,
your paper may receive an F.

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