Jaime Estrada Sagarnaga

RWS 1301: Rhetoric and Writing Studies

Discourse Community Response
In todays society, the most normal thing is to belong to a community because
you learn a lot of them, helping you to improve in your life. A discourse
community sets common goals to all the members (e.g. All the community of
the soccer team has the common goal of win the games, tournaments, etc.),
has ways to intercommunicate among their members (e.g. Blogs, groups of
chat or reunions), acquires some specific genres and lexis (e.g. A community of
doctors researches, possess and applies books of the medical genre, and also
uses a lexis to refer to medical instruments, diseases, parts of the body, etc.),
can have a hierarchy among the members (e.g. The catholic community has a
hierarchy in which the pope is the representative of God, making him the
maximum authority).
There are a lot of types of the communities; these can be social, religious and
even political. You can be part of a community by doing certain activities or an
initiation with them. The communities can be privates (communities in which
only certain type of people can enter) or publics (communities in which every
person that wants to get involved can enter). You can be part of two or more
communities at the same time, even if their activities are extremely oppose,
that depends on you. The good thing of being in a lot and different discourse
communities is that you may learn a lot of things from their members and also
earn experience in certain work fields, but the only bad thing is that you may
overlap.
I am in many discourse communities, but the four more important that are
more involved into my daily life are my family, the school, the Catholic Church
and my soccer team community. I will talk about each of these communities,
contrasting them from four features: the authority, the communication, the
joining and the members of each community.
I think that the most important discourse community in which I am involved, is
my family, because is the community where I develop most of my skills as a
good person, that gives me the real sense of belonging, and also that I know
that it will never abandon me and that will always be with me no matter what
happens.
My Dad is Jaime Estrada and my Mom Ana Claudia Sagarnaga, and they are the
authorities in my family. My brothers are Luis Ramon that has fourteen years
old and the other one, which is younger, is Eric Rodrigo that has ten years old.
Me and my brothers respect and obey my parents in all circumstance because

they know a lot better than us what is good and what is bad. My mom is always
supporting my dad, so he is the person that we respect more.
The communication that we apply is always depending in what kind of situation
we are. For example, if we are in the kitchen eating only my brothers, my
parents and me, we have an informal and friendly language. If we are at a
dinner with other families, we have a formal and polite language. In the case of
the communication between my brothers and me, the communication is always
informal and friendly.
To join this community you have to be a son of my parents, my wife or the wife
of any of my brothers. The members of a family can be from a grandmother to
a cousin, but I have a lot more relation with my family conformed by my dad,
my mom, and my brothers, therefore they the members of this discourse
community.
The school, or college, is also an important discourse community in my life
because is where I spent most of the time. I graduated from a Mexican high
school, and entered to an American college, getting into some changes either
for the language or the way of teaching. It can be said that Im on a new
discourse community because there are different members, authorities, places
to go, etc.
The authority of this community is leaded by the university president, then the
deans and so on, but I dont consider them as part of my discourse community
because I dont spent time with them or talk with them. The authorities that I
consider as part of my school discourse community are the teachers that
give my classes and the alumni staff of my department that assist me.
The communication among us, the students, is always informal and polite. The
communication between me and the teachers is formal and polite most of the
time, but outside of school hours, it can be informal but still polite. To join this
community you have to pass the admission exams, have a high school diploma
and also take placement exams to know which classes you are able to take. But
if you want to become a part of the community as a professor, you have to
apply for the work in the offices of the school.
The members of the school can go from the university president to the janitor,
but I took only the members of the school that are on my discourse community
as I already said. So, the members of my school discourse communities are
the teachers, the alumni staff, the students and other workers that help me in
this community.
Other of the discourse communities that I consider one of the most important
in my daily life, is the Church (Catholic). This discourse community has a strong

relationship with my family discourse community because all the members of

my family are also involved with the catholic community.
The highest authority of this community is God, and then Jesus Christ. In the
earth, the Pope is the highest authority because is the representative of God,
enforcing Gods word. The authority on earth that I consider that is on my
discourse community, is the priest because he is the one with which I have a
stronger relationship.
The communication in this community is always formal and friendly, either
between us and the priest, or among us, the people that hear and apply Gods
word. To join this community you have to be baptized, which means that you
have become a son of God. The members of the Catholic Church that I consider
part of my Church discourse community are the pope, the priest and all the
catholic people that are involved on my life.
And at last but not least. The soccer team is the discourse community is also
very important in my daily life because it helps me getting a healthier life, to
be more disciplined and to learn how to work in team for a same purpose.
In the soccer, the authority is and will always be the trainer. He is the one that
tell us what to do in the field, either in the training sessions or in the games.
The trainer can decide if someone plays or not, and what position. He doesnt
have any authority out of the field, but any bad behavior out of it, can have
consequences on the field. The assistant has authority only if the trainer gives
it to him.
The communication among the players depends on the relationship that they
have outside of the field, but in my discourse community, the communication is
informal and friendly. The communication between the trainer and us, the
players, is informal and friendly but we have to talk respectfully to him always.
To join the soccer team, you had to have played soccer before with other team,
and if not, the trainer will teach you how to play soccer in order to get into the
team. The members of this discourse community are the trainer, players,
doctor and assistant. We can also consider the fans as a part of the team
because they also help us to accomplish our purposes, win the games.
In conclusion, the way that we relation with other people, is thanks to the
communication, and it can be different in each of the discourse communities
you are involved. The discourse communities, as are the Catholic Church,
soccer team, family and school, are groups of people with the same goals and
in order to accomplish them, they have to work as a group, helping each other.
If you are involved in a discourse community with bad purposes or that is not
helping you to grow as a person, you have to quit it.