Ada Benjamin

RWS 1301
1/29/2016
RESPONSE TO COMMUNITY DISCOURSE MAP
Discourse community is a group of people that is involved in a community to discuss
about a particular topic or issue. They also share a common language, and communities about
their goals. It is because these people share common goals, by writing standards that they
specialize in vocabulary and specific genres in one goal. For example, athletics, college, family
and volunteering which may be different topics but still means that the people who integrate
these communities share the same values and ideas.
To begin with a common discourse community based on athletics tasks; we can talk about
track and field, their set of goals and schedules, such as practice times, doctor appointments,
getting treatments, going to classes, and study hall hours. Although athletes have practice five
days in week, every day is divided in different segments of training and conditioning. They also
have specific ways of distinguishing people in the community such as running 400meters,
100meters, 200meters and one mile etc. These are because in the track and field community,
there are lots of people with diverse events, so in order to have less confusion stating the event
you run, jump and or throw is the best solution. Governing the sport itself are certain rules and
regulations that all members of this community must obey. The rules are made by committee
board of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Since I am in the collegiate
community of athletics, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the board in
charge of the rules and regulations. Some of the rules include passing certain number of classes
in order to compete, meeting the required number of practice times, participating in community
services, keeping a certain cumulative GPA, among others. Failure to comply with these rules

and regulations could lead to suspension, loss in athletic eligibility years, or even termination
from the sport by the school board. The diet in the track and field community is also very strict.
Athletes have to make sure they dont eat bad things because it affects their performances. With
diet, also comes rest. In order to perform at the peak level, you must rest your body unless it will
break down. Track and field is a very physically demanding sport, so rest is very much needed.
The next discourse community is college. It is recommended for most people in our day
and age to attend college in order to have a better and a more successful life. College is nothing
like high school, this is because it requires more effort and responsibility. Back in high school,
students are in a certain building from 7am till around 3pm but in college it is different. Classes
are broken up into different times, there are more free times which means students have to be
very proactive with their times in order to succeed. The biggest factor to success in the college
word is Time Management. This is because it prepares the students for the real world. Students
have to be more independent unlike in high school everything is taught to them. In college, the
professor just give little explanation and the rest of the work as to be taught either through
tutoring, reading, doing research or finding group of people that can help, and other resources.
Also the professors dont force students to do their work, unlike in high school. The professors
see it as you paid for it; you come to the lectures and pass the class, and just treat you as adults.
The colleges goal is to encourage students to graduate and be successful in the future. The
different ways of communicating in this community is most by face to face, telephone, email,
and educational interface such as blackboard, and moodle.
The next discourse community is family and friends. Family is said to be one of the most
important things in our lives, although not everyone could boast of a good family. People
become part of a family by blood, marriage, and or adoption. Family is where we get our first

trainings, morals and ethical believes from. Family is usually always there for us through
difficult times and the good times. Usually families will comprise of a father, mother, and
children in the nuclear homes. But in the polygamous homes, it consists of step mother/father,
step siblings. And an extended family consists of grand pa/ma, uncles, aunties, cousins, nieces,
nephews among others. A person can belong to a family based on adoption. Adoption can either
be by word of mouth or by legal documentations. The main goal of a family is to be a support
system for us. Ways of communicating in the family community can vary such as phone calls,
video calls (Facetime, Skype), Messaging platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, IMessage,
etc.), and face to face communication. Not every family is perfect, so various issues arises due to
various circumstances for example conflicts among the siblings, or between the siblings and
parents, or even between the parents which can then lead on to divorce.
The next discourse community is Volunteering. The goal of volunteering is to give back
to the society. In order to join this community, you have to either sign up, have background
checks done (if necessary), or just go to a company you want to render your service. The more
community service people render, the better the society becomes and the happier people get. The
means of communication in this community is mostly by face to face. Some of the places where
volunteering services can be rendered is hospitals, schools (especially elementary), recreation
centers, orphanage homes, rescue homes among other places.
In conclusion, there are various discourse communities available. Athletics, college,
family and friends and volunteering are a few of the many other communities. It is evident that
each community has different goals and ways of communicating with each other. At the end of
the day, people from each community come together to share the same goal.