Whitney Parish October 27, 2013 English 1101 Ms.

Hofmann

Inquiry Into A Discourse Community The discourse community I chose to do my report on is an organization that reaches out across the nation. This organization is 4-H. 4-H is the one of the largest outof-school youth program in the United States. They have over 7 million members and 500,000 teen and adult volunteers. ( National 4-H Youth Conference Center, 19022013) This organization helps millions of individuals thought 80 counties. The main purpose of 4-H is to help the personal growth of youth. The organization provides multiple opportunities for the children in many different fields likesuch as; communications, leadership, career development, home improvement, and computer technology. The 4-h program helps the children learn from one another, and help them set and achieve future goals. With the structured learning, with encouragement and adult mentoring provided to the young people that participate, in 4-H plays a vital role in helping them achieve future life successes.
Comment [LH3]: Are these your words and ideas? Do you need to cite here? Comment [LH4]: Can you introduce and interview any? Comment [LH2]: Be consistent with the name. 4-H? Formatted: Indent: First line: 0.5" Comment [LH1]: Why did you choose this? What is your connection? Are you an insider? What did you know about the organization prior to writing about it? Formatted: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 13 pt, Font color: Black, Do not check spelling or grammar

I know many people that are a part of this organization. Usually a church`s youth group, or a girl scout group will participate as 4-H members to help their communities

youth program get involved. (Mitchell, 2013) There are so many different ways that the 4-H community communicate with each other. 4-H is an active participant in several social media networks, where a strong community of individuals has been built who wish to participate in positive, productive conversation. ( National 4-H Youth Conference Center, 1902-2013)The 4-H Online Community has their own web site. They also have their own face book page, and twitter page. All of these pages are watched over and monitored by a 4-H council. This council help provide useful information about community events and they also help answer any questions asked about 4-H themselves or of to get involved. The social media communication is mostly a blog to inform, and to show the public what 4-H does. In the process of writing about the 4-H organization, I was given the chance to interview a prior 4-H member. In the interview I asked many questions about her experience being a 4-H member. I learned that she got involved, and became a 4-H through her church. Her Sunday school teacher was in charge of the churchs 4-H organization. They communicated through weekly meetings that was held in the church. In these meetings they had homework help, gospel sessions, and also talked about community events that they could be a part of to help and get involved in their community. 4-H also has an online newspaper. On this website they do a social media round up of the weeks events with 4-H organizations around the country. They post and praise the biggest event that happens that week.

Formatted: Font: 13 pt, Font color: Black, Do not check spelling or grammar

Formatted: Font: 13 pt, Do not check spelling or grammar

Comment [LH5]: Okay. Good to talk about their communication. But did you go online and look/observe the communications? That was the idea. What examples can you include of communications? Why are they important and what do they show about the community? Do you have access to all these sites as an outsider? Explain. Comment [LH6]: Introduce this person. Can you quote any interesting things she shared? What does she say about the community? What new or interesting things did you learn through the interview?

Communication was not a huge ordeal with the younger members. Each individual 4-h group in different counties go by guide lines, but usually are on their own when it comes to community events. The majority of the communication was between the leaders and the national 4-h council. ( National 4-H Youth Conference Center, 1902-2013)They communicated mostly through emails, and occasional phone calls. It was not until recently that the social media was big with the 4-h organization. With this organization being huge on education literature if very important. Many 4-H groups have study sessions with the members once a week. During this session many volunteers will come in and help the children with their school work, and help them with their reading and writing skills. In an outside perspective communication and literature is a big deal within the organization, because it is such a large expanded organization communication is key to stay connected. I know many people that are a part of this organization. Usually a church`s youth group, or a girl scout group will participate as 4-H members to help their communities youth program get involved. There are so many different ways that the 4-H community communicate with each other. 4-H is an active participant in several social media networks, where a strong community of individuals has been built who wish to participate in positive, productive conversation. The 4-H Online Community has their own web site. They also have their own face book page, and twitter page. All of these pages are watched over and monitored by a 4-H council. This council help provide useful information about community events and they also help answer any questions asked

Comment [LH7]: What does this mean?

Comment [LH8]: Explain. Formatted: Font: 13 pt, Do not check spelling or grammar

Comment [LH9]: Not clear.

Comment [LH10]: More on this.

about 4-H themselves or of to get involved. The social media communication is mostly a blog to inform, and to show the public what 4-H does. In the process of writing about the 4-H organization I received the chance to interview a prior 4-H member in the interview I asked many questions about her experience being a 4-H member. I learned that she got involved, and became a 4-H through her church. Her Sunday school teacher was in charge of the churches 4-H organization. They communicated through weekly meetings that was held in the church. In these meetings they had homework help, gospel sessions, and also talked about community events that they could be a part of to help and get involved in their community. 4-H also has an online newspaper. On this website they do a social media round up of the weeks events with 4-H organizations around the country. They post and praise the biggest event that happens that week. Communication was not a huge ordeal with the younger members. Each individual 4-h group in different counties go by guide lines, but usually are on their own when it comes to community events. The majority of the communication was between the leaders and the national 4-h council. They communicated mostly through emails, and occasional phone calls. It wasnt till recently that the social media was big with the 4-h organization. With this organization being huge on education literature if very important. Many 4-H groups have study sessions with the members once a week. During this session many volunteers will come in and help the children with their school work, and help them with their reading and writing skills. In an outside perspective communication and literature is

a big deal within the organization, because it is such a large expanded organization communication is key to stay connected.

Formatted: Space Before: 6 pt, After: 14.4 pt

Bibliography
National 4-H Youth Conference Center. (1902-2013). 4-H. Retrieved from http://www.4-h.org/ Facebook. (n.d.). Retrieved from 4-H: https://www.facebook.com/4-h Mitchell, H. (2013, October 31). (W. PArish, Interviewer)
Comment [LH11]: MLA format needed. See the OWL site on Moodle for guidance in the correct title and format for interviews. Formatted: Font: Bold, Italic

Whitney: I sense that you struggled some with this assignment. I hope my questions and comments help you bring this a bit further. More from you is needed---not just reporting on

what the organization says about itself, but more on what you observe. I think you can be more specific on the goals and activities of the community and on the values. (you mention education but what more can you say? What other things are valued by this group?)