Sean Emmert
Dr. Cripps
ENG110I
10/10/18
Paper 2
There are many variables that play in to the analysis of a discourse. The main focus is allocated around the seven building tasks that James Paul Gee talks about. The seven are significance, practices/activities, identities, relationships, politics, connections, and sign systems and knowledge. They are the main elements of a discourse, and once you have become fluent in each aspect of the building tasks then you are fluent in the discourse. The main discourse that these building tasks will be focused on is the the Discourse of the social and natural sciences that Christina Haas, the IMRaD sheet, and Nair and Nair talk about. Each piece of writing is somehow involved with at least one of the seven building tasks.
There are many relations between Gee and Haas, especially when Haas mentions rhetorical reading. Gee’s description of how to enter a discourse suggests that you must have prior knowledge of a certain discourse in order to enter a discourse. You should have some knowledge of the participants, the way they act, and their beliefs. Haas mentions a similar method for when you rhetorically read. She mentions the idea of rhetorically framing. “Elements of the rhetorical frame include participants, their relationships and motives, and several layers of context.” (48 Haas). These are elements that if you have prior knowledge of you will be able to understand the contents better. The connection aspect of Gee is what allows this connection through language to be made. He describes connection as “We use language to render certain things connected or relevant (or not) to other things, that is, to build connections or relevance” (35). Haas then uses discourses as an example which shows the connection to be acquired. “When readers approach a discourse situation, they presumably have some knowledge or representation of the participants, including the identity, knowledge, and background of author and intended readers.” (48). Christina Hass’s idea of rhetorical framing is the Connection part of the discourse. This is because in order for rhetorical reading to be successful you have to know the participants, their relationships and motives, and several layers of context. If you know these things then it allows you to connect to the author on a whole new level, just because you know the background information.
When it comes to scientific writing as part of the overall discourse Nair and Nair have the most material for this. They talk a lot about the more important aspects of writing. One of the most important aspects of scientific writing that they talk about is the abstract. “The abstract should be definitive rather than descriptive ; i.e., it should give facts rather than say the paper is ‘‘about’’ something. Since an abstract will usually be read by an average of 100 times more people than will read the full paper,”(17 Nair). Nair and Nair make the abstract a significant aspect of what scientific writing is about. It is a mini version of the paper and it is read by so many more people, so if you can draw them in with the abstract then people will read the whole thing. The importance of the abstract is why it falls in to the building task of significance. The significance building task, as Gee says, is “We need to use language to render them significant or to lessen their significance, to signal to others how we view their significance” (Gee 32). If you make the abstract extremely significant, then readers will view it as so. This mini version of the paper is what draws readers in which is the whole point of writing, so others will read it.
The building task of relationships is extremely important, especially for reading and writing. Nair and Nair talk a lot about the relationships between the reader and writer. The piece of writing that represents relationships, for Nair and Nair, is the introduction. “A good introduction is relatively short. It tells why the reader should find the paper interesting, explains why the author carried out the research, and gives the background the reader needs to understand and judge the paper.”(18). Nair and Nair tell the author how they can relate to the reader. It helps the reader relate and understand the author. This introduction should “make a case for your new research”(IMRaD). The importance of the introduction represents Gee’s building task of relationships, “We use language to signal what sort of relationship we have, want to have, or are trying to have with our listener(s), reader(s), or other people, groups, or institutions about whom we are communicating” (34). It is the first impression on the reader. If it is good and meets the standards of Nair and Nair and IMRaD then the reader will have a better understanding of the paper and will want to read more.