Schaefer 1

Aidan Schaefer
Branson
Writing 2
29 April 2016
Discourse Analysis
Discourse communities form for multiple different reasons, sometimes out of necessity
but often for pleasure. College dormitories regularly function as a discourse community,
especially an LLC, or living and learning community, where students apply to live there
specifically rather than through random selection. Each LLC has specific qualities that define
both the residence itself and the residents within it. The La Cumbre House, defined by its
LGBTQ affiliation, creates a perfect example of how a discourse community functions. Much
like other discourse communities, La Cumbre relies on members common goals to work as a
mechanism for creating a functional society.
As outlined in John Swales essay, The Concept of Discourse Community, the first of
six essential characteristics of a discourse community is having a broadly agreed set of common
public goals (471). In the La Cumbre House, goals are oriented around the well-being of the
LGBTQ members that reside there. The Rainbow House, another name for La Cumbre, serves as
a safe place for members to live and express themselves freely, thereby creating the best college
experience. Each member within the community strives to create a safe, respectful environment
through inclusion of all gender and sexual identities, correct use of gender pronouns, and
politically correct language. Overall, the rainbow house is geared toward maintaining a

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comfortable living atmosphere while simultaneously providing resources that aid to the sense of
security and community.
As in other social group settings, La Cumbre House depends on numerous forms of
intercommunication and involvement from the residents. The Rainbow House utilizes social
media platforms such as Facebook and GroupMe, flyers, and posters around the halls in order to
create and relay information such as notifications about meeting times and locations or other
important events. These networks are the main source for organization of meetings and events.
Certain communication channels, such as Facebook, are used primarily to provide information
and feedback (472). Aside from simply providing information, these channels allow for
members to give feedback, which is consequently crucial to keeping a safe, sustainable
environment.
Within each community exists specific genres which, for the Rainbow House, includes
sign-in sheets, posters, and online texts from social media, email, or phones. In a discourse
community, there is a specialized jargon or lexis that applies mostly to the LGBTQ
community. These could be acronyms such as LGBTQ, PGPs (preferred gender pronouns), POC
(people of color), or other applicable terms. The specific lexicon is understood by members
through learning and being active within the community. These specific group oriented
guidelines are often picked up from experts within the group by the novices. The experts in a
discourse community are the more experienced members who have gained knowledge over time
from personal experience. This results in a relationship between novices and experts that relies
on new information outside of the community (from the novices) as well as learned knowledge

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from within the community (from the experts). Resident Advisors, or RAs for example, make
sure the new residents understand the rules of the hall, both explicitly and very often
implicitly, especially in terms of comprehending the community's lexicon. Essentially, the RA
teaches new members how to be literate within this new type of distinct living community. Being
literate in the Rainbow House includes residents understanding how to use correct pronouns,
knowing the different flags, speaking in language that will not trigger others, and understanding
the difference between sex and gender.
In order for the Rainbow House to function smoothly, we have quarterly meetings led by
our RA that outline the importance of acknowledging all identities. One important recurring
rhetorical need in our house is a name and pronoun chart. This text produced by my discourse
community is displayed on the wall in our lounge for the residents to use as a reference.
Residents write down the name they prefer to go by and the pronouns they prefer to use.
Individuals may occasionally change their preferred name and pronouns; therefore it is necessary
to keep a name and pronoun chart displayed indefinitely. In Kerry Dirks essay Navigating
Genres, she describes genre in the words of Amy Devitt; genres have the power to help or hurt
human interaction to enable someone to speak or to discourage someone from saying
something different (252). Residents of the Rainbow house use this genre to maintain the
feeling of a safe environment, through courtesy and respect. Each member understands that in
order for this genre to work, everyone must take it upon themselves to review and comprehend
the chart. Within a discourse community such as the Rainbow House, there is an unspoken
expectation that other people will treat you a certain way; in this scenario, everyone expects to be

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referred to by the names and pronouns theyve specified on the chart. The chart fulfills an
important purpose in our community, which is to display PGPs so that trans individuals feel safe
and comfortable. The chart establishes a baseline for what it means to be literate in our
community. The first chart inspired other charts that educate residents and set guidelines for
living in the Rainbow House. The posters serve as an example, both as a structured system for
communication, and for the unspoken guidelines that shape behaviors and personal conduct.
Overall, the Rainbow house functions as a discourse community, utilizing all six of
Swales points. The communities main goal in this case is to create a safe, positive environment
for all students that reside in the La Cumbre house. This functions as a focal point for the
community, thereby effecting the different ways individuals communicate and interact with one
another. There are multiple levels of intercommunication including online forums as well as
post-it communication where information is posted throughout the residence hall. These
different outlets for communication offer easily accessible information to all the members, both
novice and expert. In this setting both forms of communication are two-sided in the sense
that members may post new information and respond to old information. Consequently, the
residents circulate this information throughout the residence in order to keep members up to date
on names and pronouns as well as current LGBTQ related events. Through effective
communication channels such as these, the community is able to achieve their goal of creating
and sustaining a positive, safe, productive living situation for USCB students that live there.