Response to Gee, Boyd, and Cooper 4/13/11

I think we had to read these articles because they teach us to elaborate on our writings. The reader can gain more insight into our writings if they have more details to read. My freshman year in high school I remember writing a personal narrative and having to read it in front of the class. Mine was a scary story that actually happened to me. I had the hardest time elaborating on it but when I finally did it came out well. I described every little detail down to color, size, smell, sound, and emotion.

            From the Gee reading, I gathered that discourses are the way we speak and act based upon our surroundings. For example, a doctor would be a master of medical terminology while a car salesman would be a master of persuasion. Both of these fields require a certain language in order to be successful. Gee said that discourses were hard to join but I disagree. I think that you can join any discourse at any time as long as you can speak the language

            I think of discourses as different cities. I am from the northern suburbs of Chicago. We tend to speak slower and with less of an accent than the people in the city. When I would go down town on the weekends all of the locals would talk extremely fast and draw out their “A’s.” Especially in Chicago, if you don’t speak the lingo you are not openly welcome. People in the city tend to be much cruder than those in the suburbs. I had family from Boston who came to visit Chicago and were not impressed by the attitude the locals possessed.

            Hopefully I can learn more about elaborating on my writing and what terminology to use based on my audience. We all have our own styles of writing that pertains to our majors. In my major for example we use a lot of medical terminology. As athletic trainers, we write documents called SOAP notes. They are summaries of the athlete’s injury and rehab process. The entire document is medical terminology and abbreviations for words that we use. This is a perfect example of both rhetorical and discourses. When writing a soap note we have to include every detail but in terms that only other medical professionals will understand, otherwise it is considered unprofessional. I would much rather just write it out in my own words but I do what I’m taught!