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Kristen McClintock
Professor Oberlin
7 July 2013
English Comp 2089
James Paul Gee, Christina Haas, and David Bartholomae all have different opinions on
what defines literacy and discourses. Gee believes that 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” (Gee 526). Haas is taking a
more academic stance, “at the college level, to become literate is in many ways to learn the
patterns of knowing about, and behaving toward, texts within a disciplinary field” (Haas). In this
essay, I will compare and contrast Haas and Gee’s literacy practices that I personally use in my
life. I will discuss primary, secondary, dominant, and non-dominant discourse, how my
understanding of discourse change over time, and which points apply to my education and
career.
The initial Discourse is when we as people first make sense of the world and interact with
others (Gee 527). It is our “primary socialization” in our life at home and in a peer group. Since I
was born I have always been a part of my family, American, and middle class. This was my
primary Discourse and the first group I socialized with so I learn to base my identity off of this.
The initial interactions with my sister made me a better companion, better at sharing toys, and
better at becoming selfless. These are thing I carry with me today as a roommate and sorority
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sister because my primary discourse becomes a “carrier” or a “foundation” for later Discourses
in life.
The secondary discourses are “after our initial socialization in our home community, each
of us interacts with various non-home-based social institutions – institutions in the public sphere,
beyond the family and immediate kin and peer group” (Gee 527). In my life this was my
basketball team, volleyball team, student council, and choir. All of these organizations gave me
an opportunity to broaden my various discourses. They may have conflicted at times. For
instance, my intensity and drive on the basketball court was not as efficient when singing on
stage at my choir concert. This is where I learn to be “linguistic,” because I cannot learn how to
deal with these types of interactions in a classroom but only from personal experience. An
example of using language appropriately may be commanding my hitter “Get up and smack the
damn ball in their faces,” but in a student council meeting I may say something along the lines of
“I think we should address this situation according with the right resources.” Although these
organizations demand more than one Discourse I am able to allow apprenticeship within them
because of my experiences.
There are also dominant discourses and non-dominant discourses. Dominant discourses
are “secondary discourses the mastery of which, at a particular place and time, brings with it the
acquisition of social goods” (Gee 528). In my life, my ability to be able to understand the body
anatomically will overpower someone who did not go to college or ever learn anatomy.
Dominant Discourses are tests that block out non-fluent users, which show that they are not born
with them. Due to the repetition of my education about anatomy I am therefore better informed
and better paid than someone whom is uneducated. A non-dominant Discourse is “the mastery of
which often brings solidarity with a particular social network, but not wider status and social
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goods in the society at large” and are also secondary discourses (Gee 528). I participate in a
sorority on campus, and due to my prior experience in leadership positions in student council I
am better able to lead discussions and fix problems in chapter meetings. While this is something
that is not benefitting me financially I am bringing more to my social group. This is the
difference between non-dominant Discourses and dominant Discourses.
Discourses over time build onto one another. My primary Discourse of companionship
made me a good friend which elected me to student council (secondary Discourse) which led to
have leadership positions in college (secondary Discourse). This will continue into my future life
when I get married, have children, and so on and so forth. My “saying-doing” combination that I
trained to do soon after birth became my “identity kit” and is something that I would have never
learned in a classroom. (Gee 526). My expression of values have improved with time and my
secondary Discourses will change, but primary discourses are the “foundation” of all other
Discourses I will obtain in this life.
At this point in my education, Haas’s study of “Reading as a Sophomore: Eliza
Encounters the Research Paper” applies to my reading skills, way of talking, and understanding
material most prominent. This passage spoke to me a lot considering that I am currently biology
major as Eliza was. I put in a great effort in my classes, take my tests very serious, and spend a
great deal of time on all of my work. There are times that I lack the ambition to do certain
assignments and put them off and do not efficiently complete all of my work. “I believe Eliza’s
limited, even cavalier, approach to the research paper assignment was to due to the fact that it
simply did not occur to her that reading articles and writing a research paper has much at all to
do with her goal of becoming a biologist” (Haas 51). This quote felt like it pertained to me the
most because I sometime feel in similar situations. For instances, tonight I must research a
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foreign country and write a two page essay in Spanish about it. I do not understand how this
applies to biology or foresee the importance of learning Spanish for biology so my investment in
the project is hardly there. I could see the possibility of improving my reading and writing in
Spanish, but my lack of attention to detail will hurt me in my assignment. The question is, will
this ever pertain to my major? Maybe one day I will have a better understanding of this, but at
this point in my education I feel like Eliza in her sophomore year.
Both James Gee and Christina Haas’s explanations of Discourse have opened my mind to
where I stand in life currently. Gee starts from the beginning with primary discourse, making me
think of where my initial values, beliefs, attitude, and body gestures originated. Based off of
these I had to think about all of my secondary Discourses that have influenced me through the
years. Also, I better understand the intertwining conflict between them. Haas offered me another
interesting academic outlook on Discourses. She gave me an excellent example reading about
Eliza’s college experience being biology major. I feel that my reading, writing, and
understanding of homework material in my college career correlated with Eliza’s excellently.
After reading, I have a greater understanding of the different types of Discourses, how I am
affected personally by my Discourses, and how common the timeline of academic Discourses
through college affect me and others like Eliza.
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Work Cited:
Gee, James P. ""Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction and What Is Literacy?""
Journal of Education 171 (1989): 525-544. Web.
Haas, Christina. ""Learning to Read Biology: One Student's Rhetorical Development in
College"" Written Communication 11 (1994): 43-84. Web.