Discourse Analysis Essay
The world is made up and classified in groups. If you think about it, society has divided the human population into groups and class. You have the lower class, middle class, and the upper class. You can then go even further into the segregation of race, religion, and even gender. People are classified into these Discourses and then expected to participate and conform to those certain Discourses. So, can we change or enter a new Discourse, and if so, how do we do it? Personally, depending on the situation, I think, entering a secondary Discourse may require a combination of modeling, mentorship, and practice.
So, what is a Discourse? According to Gee in Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction, “A Discourse is a sort of ‘identity kit’ which comes complete with the appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, and often write, so as to take on a particular role that others will recognize” (Gee 7). What Gee means by this is that a Discourse is what makes up you who you are and how you act. Gee goes on to talk about the separation of primary and secondary Discourses. Gee says
“Our primary Discourse constitutes our original and home-based sense of identity” (Gee 8) and “After our initial socialization in our home community, each of us interacts with various non-home-based social institutions- institutions in the public sphere, beyond the family and immediate kin and peer group” (Gee 8).
What he means is that a primary Discourse is your home environment and your values, beliefs, and actions. Secondary Discourses are social or public situations outside of your primary Discourse, such as, church, school, clubs, etc.
Gee writes that
“Discourses are not mastered by overt instruction, but by enculturation (“apprenticeship”) into social practices through scaffolded and supported interaction with people who have already mastered the Discourse” (Gee 7) and “Someone cannot engage in a Discourse in a less than fully fluent manner. You are either in it or you’re not” (Gee 9).
By this he means if you are a part of one Discourse you cannot transition into another discourse without an “apprenticeship”, or mentor with someone who is already a part of that Discourse. Gee also believes that if you do have an “apprenticeship” into a Discourse, can can not fully belong, and it will be obvious to those already in the discourse that you are an outsider.
However, Delpit has a different argument. In The Politics of Teaching Literate Discourse Delpit brings to light her idea that Discourse is can be taught and that one has the ability to move `1up in Discourses considering class. Delpit states “the status of individuals born into a particular discourse tends to be maintained because primary discourses are related to secondary discourses of similar status in our society” (Delpit 546). Delpit believes that one can be taught and gain access to a different Discourse, despite the class you’re born into.
Lastly in the TED Talk Your Body Language Shapes Shapes Who You Are, Amy Cuddy talks about the idea “Fake it, until you make it”. Cuddy’s’ question was “Do our nonverbals govern how we think and how we feel about ourselves?” (Cuddy 6:57) and if so “Is it possible that we could get people to fake it and would it lead them to participate more?” (Cuddy 6:33).
What Cuddy means by “Fake it, until you make it” is, if you want to be in a certain Discourse, but have no way into that Discourse, you can potentially pretend and act like you belong, until you actually become a part of that Discourse. Cuddy brings up an example of how she was involved in an accident and because of that, she felt she lost her identity of “being smart”. So she worked hard and pretended like she belonged to that Discourse, or identity, until she became part of that Discourse. Cuddy says “She can fake it, she can become it” (Cuddy 18:07).
In my personal opinion, I do not particularly agree with only one of these theories. I believe that in order for a person to enter a secondary Discourse, it may require a combination of modeling, mentorship, and practice. Now with that said, I also believe that is depends on the situation, what kind of Discourse you are entering, and what you may, or may not have to leave behind from a primary Discourse in order to successfully enter that secondary Discourse. For example, in The Politics of Teaching Literate Discourse, Delpit gives an example of a man who is born into the primary Discourse where he is expected to be in a gang and do heroin. This man is then torn between his primary Discourse and wanting to enter the secondary Discourse of doing well and succeeding in school. The man says “I saw no middle ground or, more accurately, no total ground on which anomalies like me could gather” (Delpit 551). This is an example where a person would have to give up a part of their primary discourse, in this case it would be drugs and gang life, in order to fully succeed in the entering of the secondary Discourse of succeeding in school. However this is not always the case. Another example where it is not needed to give up part of your primary discourse is marriage. In past and present society the expectation when a woman marries is to take the last name of her husband. However, if a women doesn’t take the last name of her husband, does that mean she is not married? No it does not. So if you do not leave behind your last name (part of your primary Discourse), that does not mean you are unable to enter another dominant Discourse. In order to enter a secondary Discourse solely depends on the situation and what you want out of it.
In my own personal experience, I had to use different pieces of each Gee, Delpit, and Cuddy’s theories in order to enter the secondary Discourse of college. Growing up my mother was very controlling of me. I had no freedom, was expected to always do as I was told, and had to ask my mother for permission before I did anything. I almost never did anything on my own. I was very sheltered. I came from a small town where everyone knows each other, and so I never really had to make new friends. This was all part of my primary Discourse, and so when I made the transition into college it was a long process to become part of that secondary discourse.
When I got to college it was a very different atmosphere for me. I suddenly had so much freedom, I could do whatever I wanted, and I had no one trying to control me. For the first time in my life I was able to think freely and do as I pleased; but it didn’t start like that right away. I had to transition. I was able to do that with the help of my roommates. I have two roommates, and both of them are very different from each other. One is very social and talkative, but doesn’t like to be alone. The other is less talkative, but still social and has a strong sense of independence. I on the other hand I was not very talkative, or social, and didn’t have very much independence. Even though I didn’t have much, if any, experience in the secondary Discourse of college, I was able to eventually transition and become part of that discourse through modeling, mentorship, and practice. In the beginning of this transition, I relied a lot on my roommates to meet new people and force myself into the social lifestyle. I saw this opportunity as a mentorship. They were essentially teaching me what to do. I observed the way they acted, how they talked, and the things they did. I saw that even though they were starting to enter the same secondary Discourse as me, they seemed to be doing it with ease. I used these observations as a model for myself, and as a path to where I wanted to be. Lastly I began to practice these things for myself. I started going places by myself to try and practice my independence. I started to go to, and be a part of more social situations, like clubs. I also started to talk to people and make friends on my own. With a combination of all of these things I was eventually able to become a part of the college lifestyle, my secondary Discourse.
Being able to prove that a person can enter a secondary Discourse despite the classifications and segregation that society has placed us in, we are able to prove that we are above a label. We are able to accomplish anything that we want, despite the expectations that we as people have been oppressed by. We do not have to conform to these Discourses just because we are born within them. With this knowledge of Discourses we will be able to overcome racism, sexisim and discrimination for good. Especially in present day society, nothing is more important than breaking those barriers and putting an end to those ideals that are holding us back not only as a single person, but as a whole society. You are not stuck in one place in the world, and it is time to prove it.
