MWA 1: Discourse Community Profile website1

First Draft Due: 9/23 before class as a link on the Discussion Board
Second Draft Due: 9/25 for class; update link on Discussion Board if necessary
Final Draft Due: 9/30 before class via Assignments > Sequence 1
Value: 80 points

Thus far this semester we have been discussing discourse communities and the ways in which people use
genres to get things done within those communities. For SWA 1, you wrote a comparative analysis of two
informative websites written for two different but related discourse communities. For SWA 2, you began
creating a usage guide for words and phrases specific to a discourse community to which you belong. For
Major Writing Assignment (MWA) 1, you will create an informative website that profiles the same discourse
community whose terms you explained in your usage guide.

Rhetorical Situation
This class is a discourse community, and we are all new to it. Every discourse community is influenced by
the communicative knowledge, assumptions, and experiences that its members bring with them from other
discourse communities to which they belong, and this class is no exception. This assignment gives you the
opportunity to share with other members of the class some information about the language knowledge that
you are bringing with you as a result of your membership in other discourse communities.

Genre: Profile

Medium: Website

Purpose: Your primary purpose is to inform your audience about your discourse community. However, you
might also want to persuade your audience to think one way or another about your discourse community.
And you will likely strive to entertain your audience with humor, anecdotes, rich descriptions, and details or
images.

The Task: Using a website builder that you’ve approved with me (e.g., Weebly, Spark, or Google Sites),
create your own website profiling a discourse community that you belong to outside of this class.

Audience: Your classmates and I will be the primary audience for your profile website. We will use the
sites to get to know each other and to learn about each other’s communicative backgrounds. The secondary
audience might be prospective future members of your discourse community.

Content: Include the following for your Discourse Community Profile:

● A creative title.
● An introduction to yourself and your discourse community. Try to grab your reader’s attention here
with an interesting angle.

1
Adapted from Cris Elder, Jacob Ketcham, and Steve Howe
 ● A description of your discourse community that allows your readers to visualize and imagine it. Be
sure you provide some focus on language. For example:
○ What does your discourse community sound like? What kind of language practices are
unique to your discourse community? What does this language reveal about the discourse
community? How has the language shaped you and other members? How have you and other
members shaped the language of the discourse community?
○ What does your discourse community look like? Describe the social positioning or hierarchy
in your community. (Is there a person or group who has the most power or influence in your
community, a person or group who has some influence, a person or group who has very little
influence, etc.? [This is only an example. The relationships in your community may, of
course, be very different from this description.])
■ How are these positions determined?
■ When you communicate, in what ways do people in your community acknowledge
the social positions within the community? Are there different words, gestures,
protocols, etc. used for people in high, middle, and lower positions in your
community?
● Describe two or three of the genres (either spoken or written) that are most commonly used within
your discourse community.
○ For what purposes are these genres used?
○ What are the common features of each genre?
○ How do these genres relate to the values and/or goals of the community?
● What have you learned from participating in your discourse community?
● Offer access to related information. This could be links to other websites for your discourse
community or links that provide contextual information that readers might need in order to
understand the value of your discourse community.

Submit a link to your discourse community website via Assignments > Sequence 1.
MWA 1: Discourse Community Website Grading Rubric (80 points possible)
Element Excellent
Title 5 points
The title is creative, attention-grabbing, and
indicates what the website will discuss.
Introduction 5 points
Starts with a good grabber, identifies the discourse
community for readers and gives a sense of its
importance and uniqueness; provides background
information about the writer that is likely to draw
readers' attention.
Description of Discourse 25-24-23 points
Community (body) Provides a rich description of the discourse
community, including vivid details that provide a
picture of what it would be like to interact in that
discourse community.
Angle of Profile 25-24-23 points
Writer explains a) why the discourse community is
special/unique and important; and b) the role of
language and/or genres in the discourse community.
Organization and expression of 20-19-18 points
ideas The paragraphs and sentences progress from one
idea to the next in a way that is not confusing to the
reader; descriptive and interesting headings and/or
page titles are used to help readers navigate the site;
all sentences are easy to follow; each section and/or
paragraph makes a point.
Grammar and Mechanics Comments:
Good
4 points
The title is somewhat attention-grabbing and
indicates what the website will discuss.
4 points
The introduction identifies the discourse
community and provides some background
information, but it needs development and/or
could do more to grad the reader’s interest
more to grab the reader’s interest.
22-21-20 points
The description of the discourse community
would benefit from more detail.
22-21-20 points
The value and uniqueness of the discourse
community and/or role of language needs more
detail and development. Or, the importance of
the discourse community has not been fully
considered with respect to the primary
audience.
17-16.5-16- points
Only some paragraphs and sentences progress
easily and understandably; headings or titles
are not always descriptive; some sentences are
difficult to follow; some sections or paragraphs
have a point.
Needs Improvement
3-2-1-0 points
The title simply indicates what the website will discuss,
there is no title, or the title does not indicate what the
website will discuss.
3-2-1-0 points
The introduction does not identify the discourse
community to be described and does not provide any
background information.
19-17-15-10-5-0 points
The discourse community is not described in much
detail; a reader could have trouble understanding what
defines the discourse community.
19-17-15-10-5-0 points
There is little or no sense of the value of the discourse
community and/or the role of language is not
addressed.
15-10-5-0 points
Few paragraphs and sentences progress well; headings
are not used; sentences are difficult to follow; or too
many paragraphs lack a point.

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