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Jocelyn Lee
Professor Joy McDonald
Eng 101-05
11 September 2016
Discourse Community Map Response
Throughout our lives and experiences we find ourselves being a part of many different
diverse groups of people and organizations without even thinking about it. There's no official
handbook for how to interact with family. The ways we behave and communicate with our own
personal families are almost natural. We grow up developing certain morals and relationships
within our families and thus have a particular way in which we participate in this discourse
group. However, sometimes we enter discourse groups that require us to follow their already
established rules and regulations such as school and church. Whatever the case may be, I
would like further explain the discourse communities of Facebook, Pen Pal, poetry slams, and
professor to student relationships.
Facebook is a worldwide network that connects millions of people in an instant. This
community includes any type of person. A Facebook user's' audience includes the entire world.
To join, one must be at least 13 years old, go to the website, and register for an account.
Facebookers use this platform to give the public updates or "posts" about their lives, thoughts,
beliefs, etc. by means of creating a status or sharing photos and video on their timeline. There is
no specialized vocabulary used in this community, though most dialect is informal and the use of
urban acronyms and slang is common. Content that goes against community guidelines are
restricted, which include: content that contains threats to public safety, violates laws,
disrespectful and vulgar content, and discriminatory posts.
Pen Pal is also an international program in which two complete strangers contact one
another in order to educate each other on their respective cultures. These two people are usually
from two separate countries. They communicate mostly by composing casual, question-driven

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letters, but may also contact each other using video chat and telephone. In order to join Pen Pal
one must sign up for an account online. Communication between the two people is very casual,
friendly, approachable, and appropriate.
A student/teacher relationship is a professional one. I communicate with my professors
by email using complete sentences and proper grammar. The emails start with "Dear, (Professor's
name)" and end with "Sincerely, (First name, Last name)". All content included in these emails
are appropriate and education related, meaning it is formal and concerns questions or
conversation about the course, coursework, and personal matters related to grades, performance,
etc. In order to join this discourse community one only needs to attend school and be assigned a
teacher.
Poetry slams and open microphone (mic) events bring in a crowd of very diverse, artistic
people who serve as both performers and audience members. The ages for this group usually
range between 16 and 30 years old. Participants in a poetry slam write original spoken word and
poetry pieces. These events have no restrictions; participants might also recite raps or perform
songs as well. Joining this community is simple; one just signs their name on the sign up list and
performs their piece when their name is called, or one can sit in the audience. It is a very open
and honest atmosphere where only respect for the mic and support is demanded of the audience.
As you can see, different discourse communities bring a wealth of dialects, means of
communication, and types of people. It is important to recognize different discourse communities
in order to better understand them, their morals, and their goals. Discourse communities play an
important role in educating people on different ways in which we can communicate with each
other.