Month: September 2018

My biggest concern writing this draft was making my point made while also reaching the word limit. I felt like my essay talked without a purpose. While I was not feeling very confident in my essay, my peers thought differently. Justin mentioned in my intro paragraph, “In my opinion, it is sometimes risky to start a paper with a question. However, I think you use this method very effectively and this gets the reader actively thinking about your question early in your paper”. Justin stated that he enjoyed my thought provoking hook, while Sam enjoyed my vocabulary. While they thought my paper was good, my peers thought that it could use some improvement. They told me that I understand the definition of Discourse very well, but I need to explain the idea of little d discourse, and big d discourse. I enjoy Cuddy’s work more because she seems more motivational, and I think I conveyed her enthusiasm for positive change in my essay. Although, My peers think I needed to make a better introduction to her, instead of just mentioning Cuddy right off the back. 

After discussing my essay with my peers, we determined my two biggest challenges for writing this essay. The biggest challenges in my work would be essay structure and hitting the word limit. While I understand Discourses, I need to be able to explain every aspect of Discourses that relate to Cuddy and to make it flow smoothly. I agree with my friends, after reading through my essay, I realized that I need to stronger, more understandible point. I will work on this my writing out only what flows with the point of my essay, rather than writing to write. I will try to get my readers into my perspective by asking them questions they don’t usually ask themselves, it draws readers in and makes them curious. This is why my hook was so engaging to my peers- “What is the root of your personality, the way you act, how you talk, what makes you, you?”. Questions like the ones shown in my quote engage readers in their own perspective, but once reading my essay, can see those questions from my perspective as well. 

1. Engaging readers in your text is probably the most critical factor of writing an essay. Without reader engagement, if they are not fascinated and interested in your text, they most likely will not be moved by what you are saying. 

2. To write an opinionated essay means you need to be persuasive, and to use claims that the other side makes. As Graff and Birkenstein put it, “ To keep an audience engaged, a writer needs to explain what he or she is responding to”. You need to explain that ideas that you are arguing against to so the reader can draw distinctions between either claim. Writers should use “what others say” in their own essays so they can break down the claim of others and emphasize their own points. In high school, I had to debate with other people. When it would be my turn to rebuke I would say “Diana believes that overfishing is necessary for a growing population of people, but I am here to argue against the use of unsustainable fishing practices”. I mention what my opponent is stating and what my claims are. 

Cuddy’s idea of “Fake it till you become it” is a tool that works well with Gee’s idea of “Muskfake”. A “Mushfake Discourse” means partial acquisition coupled with meta-knowledge to “make do”(13). If you are not confident with a certain topic use the term “Fake it till you become it” and push until you are. As Cuddy states “You’re going to do it and do it and do it, even if you are terrified and just having an out-of-body experience, until you have this moment where you say ‘oh my gosh, I am doing it, I have become this’ 16:54. Use your Mushfake discourse and make do, make do till you can become it.  

“Mushfake” is turning something you have, into something better than you don’t have. A “Mushfake Discourse” involves strategies to make do with what you have, and to make up what you don’t have. I see this as one of the essential elements from Cuddy’s catchphrase “Fake it till you become it”. Gee states that practicing “Mushfake resistance” and using meta-knowledge are successful for students. This is because they gain the skill of “psyching out” their interviewers into making them believe they are well versed in a certain topic. I think this is a good practice. People respond well to confidence. Seeing someone who is confident, you usually can assume they know what they are talking about. If you teach students to act confident, eventually they will actually be confident. 

Gee’s first theorem states that when it comes to a discourse, “you are either in it or you’re not”(9). If you do not fully display the identity of a discourse you are a pretender. If we are using the study of language as a metaphor, you can only be a fluent speaker or a novice, no in-between. I find this to be very controversial because the world of discourses is so vast. The idea of being either in or out is too limiting. 

The second theorem states that Primary Discourses can never truly be liberating. For literature to be liberating it needs to have a set of “meta-elements” which can be analyzed. It also states that Primary Discourses are not liberating because they require more than one discourse. Furthermore, this theorem states that “ Primary Discourses are initial and only contain themselves”(9). If this is true, then how can you add in a new discourse for liberation. You can’t have liberation if you only contain yourselves. You need to bring in new ideas to get new perspectives.  

Kiara Frischkorn

6 Sep 2018

Michael Cripps

English 110 I

Cuddy, Gee, and more Part II: Reading Response

1. Gee defines Discourses as “saying writing-doing-being-valuing, believing combinations”(6). Why is this “combination” important for Gee?

A discourse holds everything we value in a sort of “Identity kit”. You need to have intensity for a certain subject to make it a discourse. You need to believe and value everything around and in a subject, for it to be your discourse.

 

2. Gee writes “While you can teach someone linguistics, a body of knowledge you can’t teach them to be a linguist” If so, how does one become a linguist, a sociologist, biologist, etc.

You can give someone the knowledge of a certain topic, but it is up to them if they want to pursue that subject. Teaching a person to give CPR will not make them become a doctor. We pick our jobs based on passion. I am taking a marine biology class, but learning about tides and animals will not make me a biologist. The extra effort I put into my passion will drive me to become one. “Discourses are not bodies of knowledge”(7), but rather “Instructions on how to act, talk, and often write”(7). Having the knowledge of a veterinarian won’t make you one. However, if you wake up every day with the drive to save animals, that makes you a veterinarian.

3. Gee breaks down discourse into some different types of categories. What is the difference between primary and secondary discourse? Why is Gee’s distinction between dominant and nondominant discourses important?

Primary discourse is learning from an intimate group of people, it can be your family for example or a tightly knitted church group. “Primary discourse constitutes our original and home-based sense of identity, and I believe it can be seen when we are interacting with intimates in casual social interactions”(8). Primary discourses can become foundations that later discourses that you acquired later in life. Secondary discourses are the discourses we experience in the community, a local bar or shopping mall. They require certain commands if we acquire fluently, we become more apprenticeships with. The way I distinguish dominant discourses and nondominant discourses it imagines working for money compared to volunteering. “Dominant discourses which have the potential acquisition of social good like money”(8), while “Nondominant discourses brings solidarity with a large social group, and social goods for the community at large”(8). Dominant discourses keep personal gain in mind, while nondominant are better for the community.