Alessa Amante

Alessa Amante
RWS 1302
Discourse Communities

Alessa Amante

Humans have this need to be part of a community and fit in, within our ancestry we have
developed over time that to be part of a group enforces security and knowledge. We drive to be
equals with other individuals in order to feel accepted and form friendships. While, technically
since birth, weve been part of a group or community i.e. our families, humans crave
relationships outside of the family circle because we experience more, learn new information,
and become part of a larger community. Discourse communities come into play by forming
somewhat of like a clique within communities. They all learn to communicate with one another
using specific lingo and terminology while also understanding the tone thats appropriate to use
within that group. Discourse communities allow for people with the same common goal and
interests to form open mindedness, different communication skills and friendships. Everyone,
while coincidentally or forced are part of a discourse community. I for example am part of
several discourse communities which are; family, student, artist, and friend, discourse
communities.
Within the artist discourse community one doesnt necessarily have to be in a club or
organization. An individual who calls themselves an artist and understands the different lingo
that an artist may use while also participating in artistic activities, by default becomes part of a
discourse community. Artists all usually have a common goal which is to create, inspire, and
change. Granted, many have some more individual and personal goals however as a community
they all usually share one. Within the community there has been formed specific terminology to
explain art or mediums or even materials being used. This terminology can be used to give art
critiques, and explain the history of the art. Artists can usually communicate by writing via email
or a social media platform to invite others to social art events and are mainly in studios. Some
terms that artists can be seen being used are; gradient, value, weight/mass, impasto,

Alessa Amante

impressionism, and medium to name a few. And while some of these terms seem obvious to a
non-artistic person they actually hold different meanings to an artist community. Similarly to the
student discourse community who uses obvious yet different vocabulary such as; credit, or hours,
use certain terminology that allows for them to get their points across to other members of their
communities in their work space, whether that be a studio or a classroom. Both groups also focus
on the betterment of themselves and to gain more knowledge upon different subjects. These
groups share different modes of communication such as e-mails and social platforms.
In addition to the discourse communities that I am a part of are; family and friends. These
are very similar to the other two stated above for that they share many traits. Within my family
community we have formed a very close connection that physical body language is enough to
clearly explain our thoughts to one another, friends may also have this trait however within the
family community it is much stronger due to years and years of practice. Within the both
communities texting and social media communication are heavily used, at least in my
experience, and its usually casual how we talk to one another. Given, that within my family
discourse community I have to be a bit more reserved and polite than with my friends because of
a different respect that is given to both groups. The goal within both communities is fairly the
same which is to achieve happiness and comfort with one another. In order to create these
communities is to form trust through communication, keeping the same mentality and striving
for the betterment of one another.
In conclusion, discourse communities arent always as singular as they might seem.
Whether they be student to artists communities and family to friend communities, they all
correlate with each other one way or another. They all have goals which can be achieved through
inner communication in order to spread knowledge and form trust within the community.