Sarah Seeley, Kelly Xu, & Matthew Chenn Melzer Volume 4 Chapter Description This chapter is a collaboration between a professor (Sarah Seeley) and two former students (Kelly Xu and Matthew Chen). We begin with a discussion of a key concept: the discourse community. In doing so, we illustrate why it is necessary to examine the […]
Read the Room! Navigating Social Contexts and Written Texts Read More »
Brad Jacobson, Madelyn Pawlowski, & Christine M. Tardy Volume 4 Chapter Description When approaching new genres, students often wonder what kind of information to include and how. Rhetorical moves analysis, a type of genre analysis, offers a useful, practical approach for students to understand how writers achieve their goals in a genre through various writing
Make Your “Move”: Writing in Genres Read More »
Cassie Hemstrom & Kathy Anders Volume 4 Chapter Description This chapter extends John Swales’ theory of discourse communities into the sphere of information literacy, as it is conceptualized in the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. We propose the concept of research communities, where discourse communities with the common goal of research use,
Creating, Using, and Sharing Information in Research Communities Read More »
Dan Melzer Volume 3 Chapter Description This chapter uses John Swales’ definition of discourse community to explain to students why this concept is important for college writing and beyond. The chapter explains how genres operate within discourse communities, why different discourse communities have different expectations for writing, and how to understand what qualifies as a
Understanding Discourse Communities Read More »
Kerry Dirk Volume 1 Chapter Description In this chapter, I introduce students to genres as rhetorical responses to reoccurring or similar situations. After defining genre in the context of rhetoric and composition scholarship, I use examples from popular culture, discussion from contemporary scholars, and personal experience to show students how genre awareness requires a rhetorical
