Gee Reading

SummaryIn James Paul Gee's article, he discusses the topic of "Discourse" and how it differs from discourse communities. From what I gathered about the reading, Discourses differ from discourse communities because discourse community can be taught/learned. However, Discourse is the art of being/doing/believing in something. This cannot be forced/taught/learned. It is a personal process that can only occur if someone is ready and willing to take that step. A discourse is your identity, and a discourse community is your membership due to that identity. Gee also outlines two different kinds of discourses: primary and secondary. Primary Discourse is the first and natural way of communication we go to. Secondary Discourse, would then be the second, or third, mode of communication we innately use when communicating with others. He also goes into detail about literacy, and how it plays into Discourse (and vice versa.) He defines literacy as "the master of or fluent control over a secondary discourse.

Questions For Discussion 3-8, 11, 12 or 13
3. This distinction does not make a whole lot of sense to me. I think there should be two separtate words for their definition, however, that is not the case. Discourse (capital D) is the being/believeing/doing of literacy and knowledge, and discouese is simply put as "the connected stretches of language". While the definitions are rather similar, I still believe that there should be two words instead of this one word with two defintions.
4. Primary discourse is the way of communicating that comes most natural to you. Secondary discouse, being the 2nd most likely discourse(s) that you would be likely to use in everyday casual conversations.
5. "Discourses are connected with displays of an identity" means that (like the doctor example) anyone can get their medical licence, but not everyone can be calming and comforting to their patients. It is a way of life, and an identity that someone takes on based on their discourse community, or vice versa. I do find this claim to be true.
6 . First off, I don't really agree with this claim, or find it to be true. However, I believe, insaying that- Gee meant that you can teach reading/writing, but you cannot teach the desire to aquire these abilities. That desire is a part of a person's identity, thus, thier desire to read/write is a part of their Discourse.
7. In this example Gee is talking about how professionals "test" new comers by using their jargon to see if not only the new comer knows what the professional is talking about- but can reflect, and act upon their technical terms. An example I can think of is at the place where I work, older lifeguards will talk about things that have happened at the pool in the past to see if the new guards know about it/remember it.
8. I do believe that these "tests" happen. However, I do not believe that they are planned out or done consciously. Professionals probably don't even notice when they're doing it to interns or new coworkers, but I'm sure it does happen in the real world. It would be beneficial to members of a dominany discourse community because they would usually and technically have the upper hand in decision making, and they are the "know-alls" in the situation. Which means that they are valued as part of the group, and they are relied upon.
11. Meta Knowledge is a reflection using your own thoughts and opinions. For example, when we are done with readings, sometimes there are MetaMoment questions, which are usually thought provoking and an important step to learning how to think ciritcally.
12. I consider myself to be a part of the Ohio University Discourse. I know I have membership in this Discourse because I am here by choice, and I am with a group of people with common goals: to graduate-- on time.

Meta Moments
I wouldn't say this article helped me to unerstand my/other people's experiences better- I thought it was more about how Discourses work vs discourse community. I didn't think it helped me to see life through other people's eyes, perhaps I learned about how people begin to/learn how to associate with a certain Discourse/discourse community.

My Own Thoughts
 I thought this was a reeeeally long article, and could have been summed up a lot more. I also read it basically back to back with the other reading,  which made it kind of confusing because we talked about two differen things with the same name, and I didn't really understand at first if they were the same things. I would use this reading to understand how people get into other discourse communitties, and why they maintain their relationship in the community.