Running Head: Susan G.

Komen for the Cure Discourse Community 1

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Discourse Community

Miguel A. Cortez Sosa

The University of Texas at El Paso

RWS 1301
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Susan G. Komen for the Cure Discourse Community

Introduction

In English we have conclude that there can be multiple definitions to a certain word, and

this can vary depending on how a person understand it. This is the example with the

definition of discourse community that in the dictionary states that is A group of people

sharing a common and distinct mode of communication or discourse, especially within a

particular domain of intellectual or social activity. Which basically say that is a certain

group that joined together and communicate in order to achieve a common goal of their

same interest. The discourse community that I found more interesting was the Susan G.

Komen for the Cure that is an organization that fight against the breast cancer by doing

research to cure and prevent about the breast cancer. This discourse community captured

my attention because one of my career goals is to become into a doctor, because I like to

save lives and give hope to the people and that is the same goal of this discourse

community they give hope to the women that is suffering by an illness that have had coast a

lot of female lives.

Within this paper this discourse community will be analyze by using Swales and Porter

test to determine if the community fulfill all the requirements based on the thoughts of

Swales and Porter to be a successful community. Also another thing that will be analyze is

how they communicate in order to achieve their goal, because almost all the groups or

organizations share an specific lexis which is a unique vocabulary that only the ones that

are in the community will understand.

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Literature Review

The author John Swale that was a professor of linguistics at the University of

Michigan was interested on showing the difference between discourse community and

speech community and also how discourse community relates to every group and their way

of communicate. Swales did a lot of research on what both terms mean to give a better

understanding of both concepts also he studied groups to determine whether they are using

discourse community or speech community providing with examples both of them. The

limitation that Swales faced was that a lot of people had a misunderstanding of both

concepts which make it harder at the moment of sharing his ideas. Swales provided with a

definition and examples for each one of this concepts, learning more about the differences

of both but also how they relate to each other. The audience after reading this article would

be able to identify these two terms and also change the definition they had of this two terms

to one that is more clear and specific.

The ideas the stick out to me were that discourse community is the way of how the

members of groups communicate to each other using words that only they will understand,

the methods they use to communicate and what is their common interest. Also that speech

community is only a group that have the same language and is a group to socialize. I am

agree with what he said about the definitions of both terms because he used clear

information and examples and also he differentiated both terms and specify what the

differences were. I follow what he said because in this course we have discussed how there

are groups that share the common interests no matter if they dont share the same language

such as the Harry Potter group that used that common interest to help others. This will help

me in how investigate groups and what specifically I should write about the group.
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The author James E. Porter was interested in showing what the meaning of

intertextuality was and how it relates to discourse community, also what the definition of

discourse community was based on his research. James based his research on theories that

were made by other researchers, he also used examples which made easier to understand

the meaning of both terms also he used books as references to do his research. The only

limitation that he faced was the in the culture of writing there was one assumption that

writing is a simple linear a one way-movement which meant that writing was the same no

matter what. Base on this document the author learned what the two terms meant and also

how they relate to each other at the moment of composing any writing.

The ideas that stick out for me were what intertextuality mean and how it divide into

two definitions that were iterability and presupposition, because before reading this article I

didnt know about this terms and their meaning. In this case I am also agree with the author

because he showed how this two concepts relate and also because he used examples that

helped me understand his ideas. Based on what I already know about discourse community

I think the author ideas are right, this relate to what we have already covered in the class

because it involves analyzing groups and that is what we are talking in the recent classes. I

consider this will help me to be a better writer because it helped me by showing what do I

have to examine in a group when I am doing a research about that specific group.

The two authors share the common meaning of discourse community which is a specific

group that share a common interest, also they are agree that there are different types of

genre depending on the thing that is being written and the way how they analyze the groups

is almost the same because both examine the common interest, the methods they use to

communicate and in both all the members can participate. However, there also exist
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differences which are that in Swale method they also analyze the lexis which is the specific

language they use to describe certain things, also they differentiate the levels of expertise

which mean that there are specific positions to everyone and he also analyze the genre. In

comparison with Porter that he does not study the lexis, but in comparison he think that

there is no clear leader and also the participation of any member is acceptable if they add

knowledge. They both have almost the same things to analyze but I will totally prefer the

Swale method because in my opinion his analysis gives a better understanding of the group

in it goes more deep when researching information of the group rather than Porter because

is more vague, it seems to be just a quick overlook.

Methods

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a secondary research that started when in 1980 Nancy

G Brinker promised her dying sister Susan that she would do everything in her power to

end with the breast cancer forever, after two years the Susan G. Komen organization

started. This was the beginning of this organization however at that moment she didnt

realized that the organization would have a lot of success, but in order to accomplish her

goal she also faced some problems that was to found someone who would invest in the

organization. Although the organization started with $200 nowadays has a lot of investors

and has invested about $2.9 billion in groundbreaking research. Their efforts to reduce the

deaths from breast cancer has been successfully accomplish because it has been reduce by

38 percent between 1989-2014, but this hasnt been enough to this organization and they

wont stop until they end with the breast cancer

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This organization have help not only by doing research they also use community health,

global outreach and policy initiatives in order to acknowledge and cause a better impact in

the world. The webpage that this organization uses in order to let the people know about

what they are doing, how are they doing it, and why are they doing this, is really organized

and answer all the question that a person might have. I analyzed all the data that they had

on their webpage to determine if they have enough information and can explain with

precise data what they have done, what is their goal, and what the organization is doing to

reach their goal.

In this case the organization show how the media becomes important in order to

acknowledge the people that they exist. Nowadays the people spend more time watching

the television, or in their electronic devices such as cellphone, tablets, laptops, and

computers; making the newspaper obsolete because the people will find the same

information in their electronic devices. This is the reason why making a webpage works

better for this organization because makes the acknowledgement for people more broad.

Discussion

The organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure is an organization that their same goal is to

end with the deaths of breast cancer, I think this is a really good goal because there are

many women that are suffering from this type of cancer and now they will have someone

that will help them to overcome with this tough illness. One of my goals is to become into a

doctor that is the reason why I wanted to research more about this community, the

organization has a webpage were the convey all the information in order to let the people

know about the breast cancer and how they are lowering the amount of deaths by doing
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research and investing in new technologies to treat cancer. The primary reason why the

group was developed was because in 1980 Nancy G Brinker promised to her sister Susan

that was fighting against cancer that she wouldnt stop until there is world without breast

cancer.

The community used some mechanism in order to achieve their goal which is end with

breast cancer. The organization takes really serious making connections with their members

because the community want to be view as the professional organization that is. The things

that makes this organization a good discourse community is that everyone can participate as

the Swales test, they can participate through email, internships, volunteering opportunities

they also use races and walks to integrate the community and using the mail. The primarily

purpose for this mechanisms is to communicate with their members, also to show to

everyone that anyone can participate within the organization.

The organization uses advertisements, media, emails, mail, phone calls and face to face

meetings. The connection that this organization makes with their members is really

important because most of the members are the ones that make the donations and that is

what makes this organization really successful. The importance to let their investors know

where the money they are investing is going is also another thing that should be primordial

because if the organization do not show this to the members they will lose some trust. This

is the reason why I consider this organization would be a successful discourse community

and if this is not enough to prove that they are a great group, they also have the years that

they have been helping women with breast cancer.

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The organization does not counts with a specific lexis or vocabulary that in my personal

opinion I dont consider this will affect the success of the community. I think the lack of

this specialized vocabulary make a little bit easier to everyone who is interested on the

organization find information about the organization. The benefit of this organization is that

counts with several expertise such as Ellen Willmott and Connie ONeill that are key leader

from the organization however as I mentioned before anyone can participate. The

newcomers can be anyone who is willing to help no matter if is not monetary but doing

research, making advertisements, or also managing the accounts. In order to participate the

one who is interest in participate has to interviewed in order to determine in what aspects

they can help after being interviewed the get a capacitation where all the information of th

organization is mentioned.

Conclusion

I really enjoyed investigating about this discourse community because the organization has

a goal that is to end with breast cancer and that is a good purpose of doing this community.

Breast cancer coast a lot of female lives, but with this type of organization that invest their

money to find a cure or to acknowledge the females to take care from this situation the rates

from deaths in females caused by breast cancer will reduce. To me this organization is

successful discourse community because it fulfil the requirements from Porter test and

Swale test, however, this discourse community lack a point from the two test I will consider

as a successful discourse community. In Porters test he mentioned that only those who has

something to offer to the group can give arguments, and in this community everyone can

participate. In Swales test he mentioned that a successful discourse community need to

have a specific vocabulary, but in this case the community does not follow this rule. Even
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though the group does not follow some rules for both test I can consider it as a successful

discourse community.
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References

Discourse Community | Definition of Discourse Community in English by Oxford

Dictionaries. Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries,

en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/discourse_community.

Porter, James E. Intertextuality and the Discourse Community. Rhetoric Review,

vol. 5, no. 1, 1986, pp. 3447.

Swales, Jhon. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in

Academic and Research Settings. Boston: Cambridge UP,1990. 21-32. Print.

The Susan G. Komen Board of Directors - Our People. Susan G. Komen,

ww5.komen.org/AboutUs/OurPeople.html.