Wardle

Wardle:

Before you read: Membership to me means a since of belonging. Being a member of a group means you behave up to the groups standards and you actively participate in the groups activities. You can be a member of sports teams, clubs, bands, groups of friends or other organizations.

Summary: Wardle  talks about how discourse communities shape a persons identity. She talks about finding your identity in writing, and in the workplace.  She tells the story of Alan who struggles with finding his place in several new work environments. Alans main problem was he didn't write or behave the way the long time members of the company thought was appropriate, rather than Alan adapting to what would be aceptable for the community he continued to be set in his ways. Wardle uses alan to discuss authority.

Synthesis: Wardle can first be synthesized with Swales and Gee because those two authors discussed key ways to be in a discourse community, and what it means to have a discourse community.  Swales gave 5 characteristics of what a discourse community is and Gee talked about how discourse is about an individual. Wardle connects to Gee because wardle is about an individual finding their identity in the group. Wardle could also relate to McCloud's mask idea, Wardle says sometimes you have to adapt to fit in a group, this would be like putting on a different mask when you are in different situations.

Response	Quotation
It is important for a new comer to become a member of a group that they put their full dedication into becoming a member.  They have to be willing to learn the behaviors and how to write for the group to fit in.	"Additionally, issues of identity and values are important factors in neophytes', abilities and willingness to learn to write in and for now workplaces, as they much choose between ways of thinking and writing with which they are comfortable and new ways that seem foreign or at odds with their identities and values."
Assuming a new identity is about negotiating, you have to compromise some of your own way by adopting the ways of the group. Also you may bring something new to the group you are joining that they may end up including permanently as a behavior.	"Wenger specifically focuses on matters of identify within workplace groups and activities, describing identity as a negotiated experience... a layering of events of participation and reification by which our experience and its social interpretation inform each other."
you must talk with people already in the group, find out what is expected. If your entering a new job maybe ask long time employers about things.	"To find their own unique identities within new organizations, new comers must choose levels and types of engagement; they much find modes of belonging."
I picked this quote because I thought it had a lot of truth in it. It is easy for a person to join a situation and understand how to act in that setting. If you are with friends you would interact and talk differently than you would at a job interview or on the job itself.	"Conversely, a person can understand clearly how to speak in ways that are acceptable in particular circumstances."
This grace period is your time to learn what you need to about the group, when it is up you are going to be treated just like a member of the group. it is important you are treated like a member of the group so you felel like you belong.	"While newcomers to a community normally experience a "grace period" for adopting community practices, it does not last forever and soon the neophyte must express her authority in her new community appropriately."

#4: I think that in certain situations a person may think more carefully about their language choice.  if you are in an interview session you may more inclined to use your vocabulary different than you would talk to your group of friends when watching a movie.  Like wise you wouldn't talk to your grandma the same way you talk to your siblings.

Thoughts: I thought Wardle had some interesting topics.  Thinking about identity and finding a since of belonging made me think about how I made my way into my own discourse communities and how I would have adapted to the behaviors of those communities.  Wardle also made me think of how my identity changed because of my discourse community.