To: Rebecca Agosta From: Taylor Fromm Date: February 27, 2014 Subject of Inquiry: How My Involvement in Many

Discourse Communities Affects Me as a Person (Autoethnography) Initial Inquiry Subject: While brainstorming different ideas for this Inquiry Project, it occurred to me that with all of the self-reflecting and changing Ive been doing since the beginning of college, why shouldnt my person of interest be myself? Albeit unorthodox, this would be a good opportunity for me to reflect on my personal growth and how Ive evolved in my interactions with people in said communities. Of course this will require me to reflect on myself in an objective manner and take a step back, but that is also a healthy mental tool that I would use while talking about my goingons with a therapist or counselor; this type of thinking is something I am growing accustomed to. I will include the Discourses of my Learning Community, my circle of close friends (and the further inner circles of friends inside of that), family members, my relationship with my counselor as it acts as a more intimate version of a Discourse community, and dorm- and hallmates. Methods: To begin my research Ill have to look at various physical traces of my Discourse communities in the recent past to see how they have changed and which ones have become my Primary or Secondary Discourses. Ill have to interview friends, colleagues, and peers about how they might have noticed my growth in certain communities; before I even do that Ill have to figure out which Discourse Communities are most prominent and which of my peers belong to each communities or where they may overlap. If possible, I will ask my counselor to partake in this research, and ask her what she may think of how my evolution through the last two semesters has changed me as a person. This will all be supplemental research to make sure that any observations I might have are objective; self-reflection will be key. Questions: 1. Which of my Discourse communities provide me with social goods? (What kinds?) 2. Will all of my Discourse communities fit the six criteria of Swales or will I look at them from the perspective of Gee? 3. How have my Discourse communities shaped me as a person? 4. Which Discourses have I dropped and which communities have replaced them? 5. Am I an active participant in all of my Discourse communities? Am I actually a part of all of the communities I initially perceive myself to be in? 6. How have I become a part of the communities I am involved in? Would I be in them if not for college? 7. Which communities are Dominant v. Non-Dominant? Primary v. Secondary?

8. What is understood of these communities from an outside perspective and how is it different from the members points of view?