Discourse Communities I belong to

Cynthia Reyes
The University of Texas at El Paso
Writing is something we use everyday, everywhere and all the time. Writing has
essentially become the primary form of human communication. There are various types
of writing forms one can use to communicate with others, although it all depends on the
situation or the kind of message one wants to portray. These writing forms can be
separated into the different discourse communities one usually belongs to. For instance,
one will not write to a family member that live far away in the same way that one will
write to his or her boss in a more professional setting.
The professional discourse community I belong to is Dennys. I am a server there
and as such it is my duty to server customers. The audience members of this discourse
community include, other servers, customers, managers, cooks, dishwashers, bussers, and
hostesses. Writing is especially critical when it comes to leaving messages for managers
to see or when a guest asks the server to make some kind of alteration to a dish that he or
she is ordering. The general manger leaves messages behind in her office for the other
managers to see, these messages can include but is not limited to having special guests,
such as inspectors, visit the restaurant. The messages left behind must be concise and
clear for failure to leave out details can result in the restraint failing inspection. Some
abbreviations that use will include writing down OE thats stands for over easy on the
eggs or when we are out of a particular item we use the term 86 on whatever it is that
we no longer have. The genres used in this setting are typically hard written notes on
notebooks, though messages can also be conveyed through cellular text messages when a
managers needs to communicate with us. Topics that are written about in this discourse
community are the food such the menu items that are listed on the menus. The wording
must catch the attention of the customer and most provoke appetite.

The academic discourse community I belong to is The University of Texas at El

Paso. I can say that writing is probably most important in this discourse community than
in any other. Writing is essential here for most of our work, tests, and projects require
writing. To answer a question on a an essay question that is on the test, one would need to
utilize informative writing at its finest. To write an essay about discourse communities
would also be a purpose for writing in an academic setting. The audience of this
discourse community includes students, professors, and article reviewers, among many
others. The genres that are utilized for this discourse community might include a
computer program for writing, such as Microsoft Word, hard copies, such as notebooks or
sheets of paper and even texting to communicate with peers. There are special terms used
in an academic discourse community such as APA or MLA. Topics that you can write
about in an academic discourse community might include scholastic subjects such as a
Biology research paper or an English essay.
I belong to the civic discourse community of Ciudad Juarez. The audience
members that are included in this discourse community include a wide range of people
such as citizens, soldiers, and elected officials, among many others. There are many
words that Juarez citizens use that are uncommon in other places such as the slang term
neta which would be the same as the term for reals. The purpose for writing in this
discourse community would be far to many to even name, but would include writing for
newspaper, a police officer writing a crime report would also be a purpose for writing in a
civic discourse community. The genres used in this discourse community are also great in
numbers. Billboards, cellphones, computer programs, notebooks, and instant messaging
are some of the few genres for writing. Topics written about in this community might
include announcements on billboards, bills that could potentially be turned into a law,
biographies of elected officials, and many others.
The final discourse community I belong to is the family one. The audience here is
my parents and my daughter. To become a member of this discourse community you

either have to be born or get married into it. The purpose of writing in this discourse
community is to show interest and affection, to give information and to communicate.
The sources we use to communicate in my personal discourse community are by sending
text messages, emails and notes. When writing to each other we write about our location,
how we are doing, what we need, under special circumstances we gather for meetings
though not often. When a family emergency occurs a meeting or gathering is usually
necessary. We use writing in so many ways and so many times that we take it for granted
in our family.
Indeed, writing is an extremely important part of life and at any given moment,
writing is essential in most discourse communities such as academics, family, civic, and
professional. Writing is used to convey important messages, inform, entertain, and learn
in most of these communities. Though they may not be much, I am proud to be a member
of each and every single discourse community that I belong to.