In

Gees article, he sets the standard for what a Discourse Community is. This is the central guideline for what qualifies as a Discourse Communities during my research. Gee suggests that to be part of a Discourse, you need to be acknowledged as a member. Because of this, I need to evaluate at the end of my research if I am truly a member of the Discourses I believe myself to be a part of. I also need to clearly define who I consider to be a member of each Discourse that I interact with. Gee also suggests that no Discourse is independent, but is influenced by and influences other Discourses; this supports my theory and therefore drives my theory that my Discourses affect my identity. I agree with Gee when he says that when it comes to language, its not what you say but how you say it. (Furthermore, when discussing language and literacies among those in a Discourse Community, Gee refers to the saying (writing)-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations.) I will observe this in each of my Communities. Gee also introduces dominant, non-dominant, primary, and secondary Discourses; I will use those models to categorize my own Discourses.

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text relates to my doing an autoethnography in that the author of this chapter dealt with being subjective towards observing and doing research on people of her own ethnicity. While my research is not of ethnicity, I am studying myself and those around me with whom I have personal relationships with. This text gave me insight on staying objective in my research, though made the argument that such a task may be impossible; when one is studying a groups behavior, one must interfere in some form or another while conducting naturalistic observation. What I am doing is qualitative research, and therefore, as stated in this text, is an unavoidable journey into oneself. I do not think this approach is necessarily destructive to my research. The texts that I found in the schools library help to validate the research I am doing in the way that I am doing it.

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serves as an artifact for my Gender Excellence Learning Community. The article discusses current events regarding the issues of homophobia, sexism, and how heterosexism plays into both issues. Topics like this are what we as a community combat as feminists; we discuss in each class articles such as this one and use our understanding of the effects of a patriarchal society- one that systemically oppresses women and minorities and even attacks men that do not fit the aggressive, dominating, masculine standard- to construct activism projects and collaborate with modern-day humanist movements.

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chapter of the text focuses more on what I am researching specifically; most of my questions revolve around the different aspects of my belonging and this chapter literally discusses, from a valid academic point of view, how the modes of belonging relate to identity. The three distinct modes of belonging discussed in this chapter are engagement, imagination, and alignment. Like a previous chapter of this text, there is a corresponding chart to but the descriptions of these branches in their most simple forms; following this, each mode of belonging is further dissected and its trade-offs are debated. This chapter delves more specifically into the processes of identity formation, which is the focus of my research. Ill be able to compare the theories mentioned in this text to the observations I make of my own Discourse Communities and how my own personality is affected.

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main aspect of this section of the text that I am using for my research is a diagram explaining how learning is facilitated by practice (learning by doing), community (by belonging), identity (by becoming), and meaning (as experience.) The chapter goes on to elaborate on those four aspects in terms of the social theory of learning. This helps further validate my position in my research of the connection between identity and Discourse Communities. This puts a technical spin on my research, not only confirming that the connection is present, but how and why it is so, allowing me to analyze deeper into my involvement in my different Discourses.

Q: So who would you consider to be in our fairly regular group of friends here on campus? A: Well yours is different from mine. Mine would be Simone, Callie, Abbey, maybe Brooke, and You. Q: I know that I could probably say definitively that I'm around you, Callie, Simone, Karl, Wes and Brooke. [Lily G mentions that our group of friends is more of a web than a circle.] Okay, so what kind of common goals do you think we have as a group of college students or friends? What drives our community, so to speak? A: Well we all really want to be successful. We are all somewhat introverted and anxious about our futures. Q: Do you think we have a good support system despite our individual introversions? A: Not particularly. I mean, as a group. Q: Why do you think so? I thought we, at least in parts, are pretty good at being there for one another. A: Well you would be. But I would never call on Karl, Wes, or Brooke if I was experiencing trouble or anxiety. Q: So then would you say that maybe there are some of us who are more dominant members of our group? I know that when it comes to circles of friends there are a lot of overlaps, so this is kind of a constricting way of going about it. A: Well groups exist mainly because of individual connections. Like we are friends, I know Brooke through you and our bond is less strong. Same with Karl. Q: I can agree with that. When any number of us is hanging out, where are we usually physically? Mentally? A: Your dorm. Mentally we are all generally in our own separate connections. Like when we were in your dorm I talked to Wes mainly and Callie. You talked to Karl and Callie. Q: Well I don't think we're ever just limited to my dorm. I know that us girls hang out in your dorm too or we all go to yoga or [Student] Union or Platos [Closet] or Good Will or something. Do you think that there are times when maybe we aren't present in the group mentally? Maybe one of us is texting someone from home or we're blanking out or worrying about school or work and whatnot. A: I mean, generally I think we are good at noticing changes in each other. So if one person mentally checks out of the group we pursue them and try to bring them back. We ask what's wrong and talk about what they are worried about. In some cases some people check out and don't want to be pursued and completely close themselves of from the group, but stay physically. And that irritates me because that ends the conversation and ruins the whole group dynamic. I personally check out from time to time and if I legitimately don't want to talk about it I either excuse myself from the group or join the conversation - instead of staying checked out I check back into what's going on around me.

Q: How was our particular circle or "web" of friends, in your words, established? A: Well, I think it really revolves around you. Q: I wasn't expecting that answer, what do you mean? A: I'm your friend, your Brooke's roommate, Karl is your boyfriend. You have the most defined relationships in the web. I'm Brooke's friend because she's your roommate. I talk to Karl and Wes because you date Karl and through him you know Wes. Q: And Simone and Callie? -I get what you're saying. A: Well I have Callie and Simone linked to you through me. Q: I was asking because in more defined Discourse Communities, like say your job at Rock Bottom, people gather for food or for a job. It revolves around the place, not the person. I was expecting you to say that we revolve around the campus, but you and I met before college. So do you think it revolves around you and me, or do you still think I'm at the center of this "web"? A: I still think you are at the crux of it all. I [drew] a web and we almost have the same amount of solid connections, but you connect the most people to each other. If there was a key friendship it would be ours. Q: I agree. Do you think we gain any social/quantitative/tangible goods from our connections with one another? A: Yes. You want examples? Q: Please, m'am. For instance, I know Callie used you as a reference for her application to Rock Bottom. A: Yeah Callie used me as a reference. Simone and I talk to each other about issues we face that the rest of the group has issues relating to and you could talk to Wes as members of the LGBT community- maybe- and you me Simone and Callie talk about feminist issues and I talk to Callie the most about politics. I talk to you about art. Basically everyone is fulfilling a need in the others- or in most cases several needs. I'm not sure about tangible, we all have each other's stuff in our closets. So that's nice. Q: Okay, last bit how have our members changed? Are there people we've (let's say you and I) grown closer to? Apart from? A year or two ago, our circle of friends was very different. Have these changes been for the better or for the worse? A: I think that it kind of relates to the need fulfillment thing. As we grow up we have different needs. Also, a lot of our old friends moved away, so it's been difficult to continue communications with them, impossible from them to serve our needs, or us to serve theirs, long distance. So, we have to find more people to fulfill most of our old needs and some of our new needs. I personally, feel like I don't hold a secure and necessary position "our" group, so generally in the bigger group I don't feel as comfortable. For you, Callie, and Simone I serve a definite and difficult to replace purpose. For everyone else I'm more or less a face in the crowd. Q: I disagree. I think it's the same sentiment that a butterfly can't see its own wings. Brooke really misses you and Karl always asks about you- and oh god, his mom worships the ground you walk on. I think that you and Wes are compatible in that you can both be soft spoken introverts when you want to be- mellow. Even if your connection to Karl is through me, he sees your closeness to me and therefore he cares because I do. A: But to Brooke I'm a nice girl that she likes, and she's really the same to me. If we never spoke again I would be bummed yeah but I would be okay. I would be so upset if that happened with you. Upset is downplaying it. Q: I see what you mean. You and I are closer. A: I think time also plays a big role in relationships. Q: I can agree with that and I think that's especially relevant to where our general group of friends is right now. A: Me too. I think the longer someone is around the freer you are to trust them with more of your emotional needs.

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is an interview I had with a close friend of mine, who will go by Lily G (her nickname followed by the first initial of her last name.) We discuss the relationships of our social Discourse Community and make clear definitions as to the goals, members, and values of this Community. We make sure to define our community as one that can be classified as a Discourse and we evaluate what our roles are. This interview proves to me that this is a dominant Discourse (one of high priority) and a primary one (one that is intimate or unmonitored.) Although we may gain few social goods such as networking from one another, the categorization by Gees standards of this Discourse is obvious.