Jesus Machado Discourse Community 2

Everyone in this world belongs to several discourse communities. Although, we may not realize it, we are all part of many different discourse communities. Your community is defined by the groups of people with whom you share common goals and interests and communicate in a distinct way. I will be describing some of the discourse communities that I belong to and how those communities have shaped the way I think by describing words or events that helped me deal with difficulties in my life. For example, I belong to a discourse community, which is my family. My dad, mom, brother and sister-in-law make up this discourse community or family. We share common values in our faith. We also share the value of doing the good thing above all. Other purposes of a family could be for financial needs, to make their children into men of honor and to guide their family into the right paths of life, etc. My family and I come from Mexico. I only lived there as an infant for two years, which didnt allow me to form part of a discourse community . We like to go out and eat. In the afternoons we enjoy going to the park and taking walks. A couple of years ago my brother decided to transfer to Phoenix, Az. This obviously limited our communication. Therefore, we began communicating through written text. When we write to each other, usually we use formal words because we are not really close to each other. I try to avoid using a lot of symbols and abbreviations such as @, tht, wht, u, etc. Whenever my family and I communicate through written material such as letters, cards or texts, we communicate in spanish. Only my brother and I communicate in English and sometimes Spanglish. One thing we absolutely avoid using is any profanity and foul language. My family is not a big fan, of saying profanity. For, this same reason we communicate politely towards each other. We tend to say sorry, thank you, your welcome, excuse me etc.

Jesus Machado Discourse Community 2

Many people view church from a different perspective and find a different purpose to it. Personally, the purpose of church is to have fun, make friends, to find love and support and to have a relationship with God. Other purposes of my church are to serve the community as well. My family and I have been attending since 2008. In church they communicate in writing for a lot of things. For example, the pastor each Sunday uses a power point to illustrate and use as his outline. He also gives out the outline to everyone. So, that people can follow what he is saying and that they have a space where to take notes. The pastor uses a casual language. Words such as faith, loyalty, offerings, etc. are words used often that are not heard outside of church. The first 30 minutes of the service there is worship songs. The lyrics of the songs are also placed on the screens so that people can read and sing to it. Some lyrics include from my heart, to the heaven, Jesus be the center, I give it all to you or I am free to run, I am free to dance, I am free to live for you. Ive met several of my closest friends in church. I meet with them every Sunday and Wednesday. My church and discourse community is seen by others as somewhat liberal. My church every once in a while makes these special events that are opportunities for new people to go. Several people see it as just having parties and nothing else. Yet, there are others that see it as a family. When someone goes for the first time, they give him a gift and they ask for his address so that they can invite them to special events. In a couple of weeks, those people will receive letters saying that it was an honor meeting them and inviting them to come back. I think its something very unique, especially the language they use when they write the letters. The letter contains words and phrases that will make the people feel special. For example, it was nice meeting you or hope to see you again are a couple of phrases that are continuously being repeated often. People in

Jesus Machado Discourse Community 2

this discourse community share a common belief in God. The people also share a common goal to grow in their spiritual life. Some people that shape the way we think are our friends. Everyone has friends, and a great number of people have known the feeling of a friend moving away. That happened to me a couple of years ago when my best friend, Carlos, moved to Mexico. I thought I was never going to talk to my friend. He did not have a phone or an email. Therefore, every time we wanted to talk to each other he would go to a caf to get internet so we could chat through Facebook. Our way of communicating is unique. We would talk about subjects that only he and I would understand. Our way of communicating is unique because we would use phrases such as q, ora, pues, sarro, etc. I remember how any time I would feel sad, mad or upset they will always cheer me up. My Carlos has taught me that no matter what happens, life should be full of joy and happiness. He has always been there for me and every time I need to talk to someone I know I can count on him. Carlos and I share common beliefs in God and in people. We both like to think the best of people. My family, my church and my friends are three different discourse communities I belong to. Yet the three of them compliment the way I see things in life. From my family I have learned to leave the past and to enjoy the present and to see the future. This has impacted my life whenever I fail at something. It reminds me of their words. Church has impacted my life in the way that I have found peace and I can be confident that no matter what happens God is by my side and hell take care of me. To make it even better my friends make it even better by picking

Jesus Machado Discourse Community 2

me up when I fall. When the bad times come around I know I can overcome all difficulties due to the three discourse communities that I belong to.