3. Gee’s first theorem is stating that you cannot be part of a discourse unless you can fluently speak in that discourse. You must be a member of this discourse from the beginning of your lifetime. This could be controversial because Gee is causing a separation in different ways that people talk which connect to their way of life. As well as people could read this as him stating that if you moved from one place to another country you could never truly be part of their discourse even though that is not true.
Gee’s second theorem is that a primary discourse can never have literacy power because a primary discourse is specific to you and what you grew up in. This could be controversial because it is discrediting people’s different ways of reading the writing and speaking. As well as saying there is only one correct way to write.
4. The first term is Mushfake, Gee describes this as a prison Discourse. It is a way of improvising when you don’t have the proper materials. “ […] do with something less when the real thing is not available.” In Discourse this is making due to errors and improper ways of speaking and writing. The next term Meta-knowledge is having the ability to use the Discourse you already have to relate it to a discourse you are trying to learn. “ […] ability, to analyze, to resist while advancing.” (Gee 13) This example shows that when you have the ability to compare your previous knowledge of Diction to new Diction you have more power over those who can not. The last term is resistance, Gee is stating that we need to resist the mainstream way of participating in Discourse. “ […] resisting students full of meta-knowledge.” (Gee 13) He wants students who are learning their own Diction to challenge themselves to use better Diction and resist using the easy diction.
5. Cuddy discusses faking it until you make it during her Ted talk, she uses an example from her own life when she had to fake till she actually made it. “You are going to fake it. You are going to do it and do it and do it, […] until you have this moment where you say,’oh my gosh, I’m doing it.” (Cuddy 17:56) This faking it until you make an idea is a tool people can use to join a Discourse they are not yet part of. In Gees paper, he discusses how secondary Discourse must be learned, and practiced. “Discourses are not mastered by overt instruction, but by enculturation into social practices through scaffolded and supported interaction with people who have already mastered the Discourse.” (Gee 7) The only way to learn something fluently is to make it part of your every day, so by using Cuddy’s fake it till you make it you will be able to learn and join new and different Discourse faster and easier.
6.
This annotation is an example of putting what the author said in your own words.
This is an example of text to text example to further explain what the author is saying.
Text to text connection to understand how Gees work connects to other peoples work.
Annotating by putting the author’s definitions into your own words.
Task II
- Engaging in other people’s views is important because it tells the readers why you are making an argument. “ […] they say you’re responding to, your own argument probably won’t have a point.” (Graff and Birkenstein 4) We need to provide a reason for the point we are defending or trying to prove by recognizing what the opposing group says. This also helps you sound more like an unbiased source because you take into account the others opinions.
2. Graff and Birkenstein in chapter one discuss how starting with a summary of someone else’s views can help with writing, because you can have the readers already have an understanding of the other person’s views before hearing yours. This way throughout the reading they can compare and contrast your views and the contradicting ones. “ you let those others do some of the work framings and clarifying the issue you’re writing about.” (Graff and Birkenstein 21) A good way to deal with this tension is to first write an introduction that gives background on what you are writing about and start to mention that others disagree. Then in the next paragraph acknowledge the other sides views, this way you give purpose to your essay and set a framework for the essay on who or what you are disagreeing with or agreeing with.
3. During high school we were taught to couch the quotes, first, you would introduce the quote, the place in the quote so it flowed with what you were saying and then to add commentary about the quote. That is where you put in your own ideas. A passage by Graff and Birkenstein that most accurately represents what I did during high school would be “ […] statement introducing it serving as the top slice of bread and the explanation following it serving as the bottom slice. The introductory or lead-in claims should explain who is speaking and set up what the quotation says.” (Graff and Birkenstein 47) This quote provides a more descriptive example of how I was taught to place quotes into my own work to help prove the point I was trying to make. Furthermore, it gives a great method on how to approach incorporating others work to your own to further prove your point.
