BEFORE YOU READ (Writing about Writing)
     A time I have felt out of place was not too long ago.  I had gone to a hockey game with a few friends.  I don't know very much about hockey, at all.  This made it hard for me to follow the rules of the game, understand what was going on, or engage in conversation with my friends.  I wanted to be able to talk about the sport with them, but I felt like I didn't know much about it to even know where to start.

    In John Swale's reading, "The Concept of Discourse Community," his audience are students, or anyone who wants to learn about discourse community.  He argues that there are six different characteristics that make up a discourse community.  He uses a study group that he tried to become a part of as an example in his reading.  It was called the Hong Kong Study Circle.  He came to realize that this was not a group that you could just join, and was denied admission.  He explains that discourse communities have shared languages, goals, and purposes.  He discusses how literacy is always changing, and we change to fit into other groups.  We learn their teachings and ideas so we can go into conversation, and be apart of their ideas too. 

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
5.) A discourse community I am part of is my church back home.  I am part of St. Mary Catholic Church in Martins Ferry.  We all share the same goals whether it would be raising money for poor families around Christmas/Thanksgiving, or even by helping direct a play for a certain holiday.  I would have to say the genre would be Catholic, because that is the type of religion we are following; the Catholic religion.  Lexis is the stock of words in a language.  This could be when the priest sings they hymns in different languages through the Roman Catholic Church.  This could also be brought up for when the priest talks about people in Jesus' time talking in tongues.

      In Cathy B. Glenn's article, "Constructing Cosumables & Consent: A Critical Analysis of Factory Farm Industry Discourse," I was really bothered by this article.  Her audience is anyone learning about discourse community.  She focuses on the widespread use of "double-speak" to describe particular processes internal to the industry.  She also talks about the creating of "speaking" animals in advertisements to sell the products of the industrial processes.  A main point that stood out to me, was when she talked about if a piglet was a runt, it was often beat to death.  The piglet would usually not die the first time it was slammed against the wall, so it was brutally beaten.  This does not just happen to piglets, but cows, chickens, etc.  She talks about how animals are basically used to promote business, but in reality the way they are portrayed in a commercial is not the way they are actually cared for or handled.  It is much more brutal than a person may think.

QUESTION FOR DISCUSSION
2.) A commercial I found on youtube, was for California Milk.  It showed a talking cow in the commercial.  The cow is known to being slaughtered and killed for its beef, but not for milk.  I think this would still fit for the question, because in the end, the cow is always killed after it is no longer in need of milk.  I normally would have not reacted to this commercial in any certain way, until this question was asked.  It in a way, bothers me, because children watching this probably think that the cows are just used for milking, and live a nice peaceful life.  In reality, the cow is being used for its products, and butchered when they are no longer needed.  This cartoon, story time, talking icon is in reality, just a used, soon to be killed farm animal.  They try to make this animal seem human, because she talks to the wife about her "mom pants," and gives her advice.  She is also, in the house just like a person would be, yet she is a cow. 

     The reading that stuck out to me the most was Cathy B. Glenns.  I am a HUGE animal lover.  I honestly got very upset when I read about the beating of animals, especially for them being runts.  I personally, have a puppy I had gotten from the shelter, who was the runt, and it just upsets me to think of that happening.  I don't want to sound like a hypocrite, because I do eat meat, but I try not to think about those things, unless brought to my attention.  As it may be cute for a commercial to have a talking animal, it also hurts to know that while this animal may be portrayed as a happy talking human-like being, they will soon be killed just for their products.  It is not as happy as people may think, and it is basically a front that a company puts on to get you to want and buy their product.