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Urban life vs countryside life
Discourse analysis
City life vs countryside
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Analysing discourse is often used by social scientist as an interpretive study of real-life situations, because of its ecological validity (Byford, 2009, p. 198). An article, (which will be referred to as text) taken from the Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council website (cited in Open University, 2010, pp. 25-26), will be analysed in this essay. Firstly, by establishing some of the discourses and then summarising areas of ‘identity work’, which is ‘the performance of identity in (the details of) talk, including how the speaker positions her or himself’ (Taylor, 2009, p. 186).
‘Discourse is a set of ideas that are shared by (some) members of society, creates identity positions and gives a certain view of how the society functions and practices are positively or negatively valued’ (Taylor, 2009, p. 185). The views and identity positions that people hold can be formed in many ways and urbanisation is a good example of how values are connected between people and place in the countryside and in cities. Steve Hinchliffe (2009, p. 224) explains how people are seduced by an ‘imaginary’ of rural life and that people’s opinions of city life are often disconnected. They can associate higher crime, pollution and violence, in cities, opposed to, rolling hills, clean air and a relaxed way of living in the countryside. Yet, during urbanisation, in the 1830s, many moved from rural areas, to take up residence in cities. And although the attraction to move to urban areas was complex, Hinchliffe (2009, p. 210) points out, cities seemed attractive, they gave opportunities to earn a living wage and increase prosperity even if it was mainly through manufacturing. The text from Blaenau Gwent plays on the myth (discourse) of the idyllic countryside,...
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... to these facts. Firstly, it allows visitors to buy into the rural life as it states there are ‘a number of great places to visit, stay and enjoy’ giving the opportunity to act out a personal identity and gain pleasure from the area. Secondly, the constant use of adjectives throughout the text, helps to construct a positive image of the area ‘impression management’ as Goffman suggests.
Overall, we can see how the text uses discourses and the photograph also confirms this, by showing a rural and scenic view of the area. Identities are complex and are made up of more than one thing at a given time, they are not mutually exclusive. The performance of identity in the text is aimed at those who have limited knowledge of Blaenau Gwent. It is a ‘snap shot’ trying to persuade and convince the reader, which aims to attract tourists rather than merely present the facts.
Jonathan Kozol revealed the early period’s situation of education in American schools in his article Savage Inequalities. It seems like during that period, the inequality existed everywhere and no one had the ability to change it; however, Kozol tried his best to turn around this situation and keep track of all he saw. In the article, he used rhetorical strategies effectively to describe what he saw in that situation, such as pathos, logos and ethos.
Discourse communities are groups of people with a unique point of view. There are many discourse communities around your everyday life. These communities are part of the entire human environment. Many discourse communities are distinctly large due to all the societies wanting the same things. My discourse communities are mostly Facebook.
Taylor, S. (2009) ‘Who We Think We Are? Identities in Everyday life’, in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley, S. (eds), Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Pollan’s article provides a solid base to the conversation, defining what to do in order to eat healthy. Holding this concept of eating healthy, Joe Pinsker in “Why So Many Rich Kids Come to Enjoy the Taste of Healthier Foods” enters into the conversation and questions the connection of difference in families’ income and how healthy children eat (129-132). He argues that how much families earn largely affect how healthy children eat — income is one of the most important factors preventing people from eating healthy (129-132). In his article, Pinsker utilizes a study done by Caitlin Daniel to illustrate that level of income does affect children’s diet (130). In Daniel’s research, among 75 Boston-area parents, those rich families value children’s healthy diet more than food wasted when children refused to accept those healthier but
In a quote by John Mill, “Does fining a criminal show want of respect for property, or imprisoning him, for personal freedom? Just as unreasonable is it to think that to take the life of a man who has taken that of another is to show want of regard for human life. We show, on the contrary, most emphatically our regard for it, by the adoption of a rule that he who violates that right in another forfeits it for himself, and that while no other crime that he can commit deprives him of his right to live, this shall.” Everyone’s life is precious, but at what price? Is it okay to let a murderer to do as they please? Reader, please take a moment and reflect on this issue. The issue will always be a conflict of beliefs and moral standards. The topic
Personal identity is an important idea that permeates through life by influencing ideas, determining actions, and in some cases preceding the physical self. Personal identity influences choices in daily life, while also containing identity data that is important to those one will interact with, allowing others to make choices based upon that information. While the additional information contained within the impacts of an identity isn’t personal identity by itself, it is surely part of how personal identity is defined. In his essay “The Unimportance of Identity”, Derek Parfit argues that it is not personal identity that is important when considering the future, but survival. The intention of this writing is to outline the arguments from Parfit’s essay, and reveal that Derek Parfit’s definition and idea of personal identity in “The Unimportance of Identity” are incomplete. By completely defining personal identity, the soundness of the arguments presented in his writing will be disrupted and personal identity will be seen as a worthwhile consideration for the continuation of a person.
Swales, Gee and Porter all give their understanding of how they believe a discourse community operates and contributes to society. It can be seen as a type of language used to connect between particular groups and integrate social identities into the world (Gee 484). The building of a discourse community starts with creating a type of communication plan. It is necessary that all members connect and confer alike in order to maintain a set of documented decisions and actions. A discourse community connects people to a lifestyle and provides a form of order that stretches the interconnections of words, writings, values, attitudes, and beliefs (Swales 220). Those interconnecting contacts though sometimes conflict with select purposes of other discourses, leading to confusion or even anarchy. When this occurs, awareness and a choice of acceptance or doubt sets into place (Porter 400). For a discourse community to continue all doubt and awareness have to be tracked and suppressed. The discourse community needs to insure that its values are well convinced and received by its members and potential new members, in order to remain accepted in a
The movie trailer “Rio 2”, shows a great deal of pathos, ethos, and logos. These rhetorical appeals are hidden throughout the movie trailer; however, they can be recognized if paying attention to the details and montage of the video. I am attracted to this type of movies due to the positive life messages and the innocent, but funny personifications from the characters; therefore, the following rhetorical analysis will give a brief explanation of the scenes, point out the characteristics of persuasive appeals and how people can be easily persuaded by using this technique, and my own interpretation of the message presented in the trailer.
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in April of 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of several civil rights activists who were arrested in Birmingham Alabama, after protesting against racial injustices in Alabama. Dr. King wrote this letter in response to a statement titled A Call for Unity, which was published on Good Friday by eight of his fellow clergymen from Alabama. Dr. King uses his letter to eloquently refute the article. In the letter dr. king uses many vivid logos, ethos, and pathos to get his point across. Dr. King writes things in his letter that if any other person even dared to write the people would consider them crazy.
A discourse community is a group of individuals all with relatively the same ending goal or original interest that all have their own way of participation and have different motives, it is easier to feel more included in a discourse community once literacy achieved. Discourse communities can be found in many different places; it is just a matter of what is being looked for. These communities can come from the entire population, all of the people who speak the English language, any place of education, restaurants, any home, or even at the gym/ recreation center. In order to become literate in the fitness discourse community the differences in basic motives, the values that are important, and the places available to work out at must be understood.
Physical surroundings (such as a home in the countryside) in works of literary merit such as “Good Country People”, “Everyday Use”, and “Young Goodman Brown” shape psychological and moral traits of the characters, similarly and differently throughout the stories.
Burnham, Denis. 2002. What 's New, Pussycat? On Talking to Babies and Animals. Science. Volume American Association for the Advancement of Science. Downloaded from
Weedon, Chris. Identity and Culture: Narratives of Difference and Belonging. MPG Books Ltd. 2004. Print.
In his article “The Concept of Discourse Community,” John Swales describes a discourse community as a group of people that “have a broadly agreed set of common goals, contain certain mechanisms of intercommunication among its members, have acquired a specific lexis, and have a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content discoursal expertise” (Swales #). An example of such a discourse community is the legal profession. The legal profession has the common goal of understanding and applying general principles to particular factual situations. In doing so, lawyers use language, concepts, and methods that are unique to their community. In order to become a recognized member of the legal community, a person must graduate from law school and pass the bar exam thereby demonstrating an in depth knowledge concerning all areas of the law and the specialized rules, methods, and jargon used by lawyers to communicate about legal principles.
”Contemporary identities can therefore be fluid or consciously delimited. Any number of factors are likely to be under negotiation in either case; whether of religion, nation, language, political ideology or cultural expression” (P Brooker, 1999,109).