Alexandra Scott!

ENC1102!
Unit 1 Paper

Scott 1

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During the decision making process re: what kind of Discourse Community to investigate, I

first thought about what interested me most. I thought about my past. I was a cheerleader, a
diver, and an International Baccalaureate student. I thought of the things I enjoyed. I have a

I bet you
could write
about most mermaid obsession. I enjoy cat memes. Then I thought....you cant necessarily write much about
of those
things.
those things. So, in a final ditch effort, I thought, Well, I'm a Nursing major. Luckily enough,

this fact seemed to avail to me an opportunity to avoid discussion of the often reviewed cliche
Discourse Communities . I chose the living learning community Nursing@Nike as my topic. This
living learning community is specifically made for Pre-nursing students. I felt I could relate to
these individuals because I lived there my freshmen year. This personal connection will only help
me to present an insightful look into the community. This prior association will give me the
advantage of having had access to details most wouldnt know just looking in. I also hope to
have the opportunity to step back and see what outsiders see. The fact that I'm currently a
sophomore, and it's been a year since living in this community, means that there is a whole new
set of residents. I think that this will allow "looking from the outside" to be easier than you may
think. I look forward to comparing the differences and similarities between the interactions of the
members from when I lived there to those living there this year. !
!

This sounds like an interesting community

When most people think of Nursing, they think of a profession that has taken the

responsibility for the care of the sick, the injured, the disabled, and the dying. Nursing is also one
of many professions that promote the encouragement of health in individuals ,families, and
communities. This is a personal interest that I have. Both my mother and father currently work
within the healthcare field. My mother works as a Physician Assistant, while my dad works in a
lab. Both have a job that involves the care of patients. Nursing is a position in healthcare that I
am more interested in than my parents jobs. Dont get me wrong, they are both very helpful jobs,
but lack the level of patient contact that I am interested in. My father never sees those whose

Alexandra Scott!
ENC1102!
Unit 1 Paper

Scott 2

blood he is testing. While my mother does converse with the patient, it is only for a brief time to
diagnose the individual. The nurse is the primary person the patient talks to. I feel that this is
something that I would be better suited for. Because of the versatility of nursing, nurses can also
be part of healthcare research, management, policy deliberations, and patient advocacy. Those
nurses with post baccalaureate education can choose to be an autonomous primary health care
clinician or provide speciality services to individuals, families, and communities. But in order to
go into this skilled profession, you have to be admitted into the college of nursing first. The

Gatekeeping

community that I will analyze has, as one of it's goals, the preparation of it's members for
application to Nursing at the end of their sophomore year. This community helped me to take on
the mindset needed for a Nursing career. Having lived in the community, I feel, has prepared me
and others for the application process. There are many times when I see previous residents of
the community and the concept of nursing@Nike is brought up in conversations and during
class. There is even an option to select on the application whether you were a Nursing@Nike
resident. !
Provide a little context on Swales for your reader

The criterion for a Discourse Community, explained by Swales, is perfectly exemplified by

the Nursing@Nike community. These criteria are as follows: A Discourse Community has a
broadly agreed set of common public goals. A Discourse Community has mechanisms of
intercommunication among its members. A Discourse community uses its participatory
mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. A Discourse Community utilizes and
thus possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. In addition to
owning genres, a Discourse Community has acquired some specific lexis. Finally, A Discourse
Community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and
discoursal expertise. !
!

A Discourse Community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals. The

Nursing@Nike community has the primary goal of preparing its inhabitants for the Nursing

Alexandra Scott!
ENC1102!
Unit 1 Paper

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application process. As freshmen, the community prepares and provides its applicants with a
I always
find applications
to be really smooth start to their college education as well. There is a required class that the residents have
interesting
genres to study
to take. This class is an SLS class specifically for Nursing. This class provides guest speakers,
including the head of the College of Nursing admissions. This opportunity allows both of these
goals to be met simultaneously. Another goal for residents is to successfully pass classes. Many
students meet in the common room to study for classes. Most residents take the same classes
with the same teachers. The people in charge of the community have a goal to encourage its
residents to work with each other and get along. There are required team building events that
the members take part in which serve that purpose. Two such examples include renting out the
ropes course for the exclusive use of the members of this community and getting to know each
other games mandated for the residents.!
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A Discourse Community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members: To

me the term intercommunication refers to a more relaxed, but still effective way of spreading
information or ideas. The community is on the first floor of the Nike building 102. Most of the
time, intercommunication happens between rooms within the hallways. Most of the residents are
encouraged to become friends and therefore are able to informally communicate through texting
and just simple, friendly conversations. An example of a more organized mode of communication
within this Discourse Community is the Facebook group purely dedicated to the residents of
Nursing@Nike which allows questions to be answered and opportunities to converse informally
about topics distinct to the community and its residents.!
!

A Discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide

information and feedback: One of the requirements of the group-bonding activities is to fill out a
before and after survey about the community. This is one of the most obvious ways of ensuring
feedback about the community. A less formal way to provide feedback emerges through the
conversation among its participants. I.e member to member, member to teacher, member to

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ENC1102!
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administrator. The community is a free community for any Pre-Nursing freshmen new to UCF.
There is, however, an application. This is a way to produce a situation similar to a subscription to
a free program. !
!

A Discourse Community utilizes and thus possesses one or more genres in the

communicative furtherance of its aims. The Nursing@Nike community uses several techniques
for intercommunication within the community as well as to communicate with those not already
part of the community. This way is more organized than just having conversations in the
hallways. An example within the Nursing@Nike community occurs each time the residents meet
for their twice a week SLS class. This is where new information about events within the
community and opportunities for future nursing benefits are discussed. Once or twice a semester
there is a housing community meeting where other events are advertised. Another genre
employed by the community is the utilization of the administration associated with the
community, who attend freshmen orientation for all semesters, and who inform incoming
freshmen of this great opportunity to get a leg-up on their nursing education, and essentially an
advantage over other future applicants. These administrators are separate from the normal prenursing info session. They have their own meeting essentially advertising the opportunity. It
obviously worked on me.!
!

In addition to possessing genres, a Discourse Community has acquired some specific

lexis. A first rate example of the lexis distinct to the Nursing@Nike community is its name. Those
who have not heard about it have no idea about it and its goals. There were many times when
students would ask me what the heck it was and what the point of it was. Most nursing@Nike
terms are the same ones that would emerge in the conversations of an average nursing or prenursing student. There are very few terms exclusive to Nursing@Nike. A topic such as the TEAS
test (An entrance exam for the college of nursing required for application) represents a stellar

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ENC1102!
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example of something most pre-nursing students would know without being a part of the
community.!
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A discourse Community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of

relevant content and discoursal expertise: The Nursing@Nike community is only open to prenursing freshmen starting their first or second semester at UCF. There is an application which
diminishes the number or members. After this first freshmen year, a new set of members joins
the community, while the old ones go on to live separate lives. Because of the utilization of an
application and an ever-changing demographic, the program ratio is always the same, with an
equal amount of people coming in as leaving. The application also ensures that the number will
never change. There is only a certain number of rooms, so there is no possible way to add

students .!