Gee Blog Post

“’Discourses,’ with a capital ‘D’ (‘discourse’ with a little ‘d,’ to me, means connected stretches of language that makes sense, so ‘discourse is part of ‘Discourse’). Discourses are ways of being in the world; they are forms of life which integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes.” This is Gee’s definition of the two. To me, Discourse basically means who you are being/acting like when you are in any given environment, and discourse is just communicating. Communicating of course exist in every environment, and communicating is more than just talking. It could include not even talking, but how you interact with other people. There are many different types of discourses, but I think that there may be even way more Discourses. As I sit here and type, I am trying to think of some of the Discourses that I live within. I do know that to think of them all would be impossible, and I will not try to list them all. There can be no possible way any of us could list them all because there are too many to be aware of, and we change our Discourses pretty much everyday. I think of the obvious Discourses I live in like School, Parents, even for my Grandparents I have to act ‘better’ than when I’m with my parents, Friends, and Work. Another one I’m sure not many people think about would be when I am alone. We all act differently when we know that we are completely alone whether you realize it or not. One Discourse that I almost immediately thought about when I first read this article was my roommate’s. One of my roommates is Black, and he changes his personality (as we all do including myself) when he is around White and Black people. Most of the time he is around White people, that is the bottom line, and myself being White, we both realize and know this. However, whenever anybody of a different race comes around to hang with us he changes himself a little. I know that I do the same thing at times, but how he acts around Black people and how he acts around White people is different. Which one is the real one? I don’t know, I guess that I never can really know. I think that nobody can truly say which Discourse is another person’s primary Discourse. It actually is quite impossible. Only that person can say which is his or her primary Discourse because no one else knows that person’s life.

Gee’s definition of literacy to me is a little off. I agree with what Gee is saying kind of, but to me being literate so some degree has got to include reading and writing of that Discourse. Maybe it’s because it has been drilled into my head ever since I was a kid, but reading and writing to me is being literate. I am learning that being literate includes way more than just those two things, but those two things still need to be included for me.