Abigail Cline

ENC1101 11:30

11/16/2012

Ballet III as a Discourse Community

Discourse communities have been discussed and debated for years among many writers.

Many have attempted to pin down specific rules while many have simply added ideas to the pot.

For this research assignment, I have mostly used references from excerpts from works by John

Swales and James Paul Gee. Swales is a professor of linguistics who has spent most of his career

working with nonnative English speakers on strategies for improving reading and writing

abilities. He is especially known for his six characteristics that can describe a discourse

community. He discusses these criteria in his book called Genre Analysis, of which an excerpt

exists in Writing About Writing. He differentiates speech communities and discourse

communities, establishing what became the well-known six characteristics that determine

whether a community can be appropriately labeled as a discourse community (Swales 466).

Another resource I used throughout my research is the introduction to an article, “Literacy,

Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction,” by James Paul Gee, also a professor of linguistics. In

his writing, he broadens Swales’ idea of a discourse community and creates another category of

these communities: Discourse communities (with a capital “d”). Gee’s concept exercises that

members “integrate words, acts, values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as

gestures, glances, body positions, and clothes” (Gee 484), rather than academia-style

characteristics, such as feedback and lexis. One can study local or national communities and

determine a personal interpretation or find communities that fit the already-established

definitions; this builds the bridge between the two concepts.

This assignment poses a challenge to identify a true discourse community to Swales’

criteria. To determine this, I have chosen to observe the Ballet III dance course at the University

of Central Florida and interview its authority figure. Within four hour-long periods of observing,

I gathered details, characteristics, and patterns within the sweat-smelling dance studio vibrant

with piano music. Using Swales’ very specific six rules, one can test if this community fits the

projected characteristics. Throughout this experiment, Gee’s idea may interfere, testing whether

this Ballet III community can be considered a discourse community (with a lowercase “d”), since

true discourse communities tend to lean more toward academia and text-heavy communities.

First, I acquired permission to observe the community from its authority figure, the Ballet

professor named Mrs. Judi Siegfried. Attending four classes of approximately an hour, I

observed characteristics of the location, Mrs. Judi, students, relationships, and specific

tendencies within this group of dancers (Appendix I-IV). Instead of observing from the same

spot each class, it is best to observe from various areas of the room to allow any opportunities to

notice something more. When writing notes, take note of visuals but also of smells, sounds, and

miscellaneous environmental factors. This adds detail to the community’s natural environment

and any influences they may make on the observer or the members of the community. Before or

after acquiring observation notes, it is helpful to interview the figure of authority, in this case, the

professor (Appendix V). I generated questions to ask Mrs. Judi, then contemplated how she may

respond so I can be prepared to ask further questions about certain answers and ideas. Then pick

a method of recording the interview so that writing full answers out do not restrict any flowing

dialogue during the interview. I chose to use the program, Evernote, on my iPad. I typed out the

questions I planned on asking and chose the option to attach an audio note. Some people may be

ready to answer questions as the interview happens; however, be prepared for them to prefer

seeing the questions and thinking about them prior to the recording. When I approached Mrs.

Judi, she requested this so she spent about ten minutes forming most of her answers in her head

because she claimed she is not a comfortable speaker. She also did not understand the wording of

several of the questions so I had to explain what I was searching for exactly. She answered and

elaborated on every question within the official interview, providing useful opinions and

characteristics about her Ballet III class and its students. Her responses provided information on

details of the process to taking Ballet III and other aspects of the Dance minor program that

could not be observed just in class, such as the Dance Concert and the requirements and

expectations of students that choose to participate. After gathering all of these observations and

interview responses, I can determine whether this community is, in fact, a discourse community

according to John Swales.

By referencing Swales’ characteristics that make up a discourse community (Swales 471-

473), I have been able to apply all six of them to the Ballet III college course at the University of

Central Florida. The community has an authority figure: the class professor, Mrs. Judi Siegfried;

she very clearly has the authority in this community because she leads and directs the class,

demonstrating exercises and movements that they practice. She is very open to students asking

questions and spending extended periods of time with individual students. For permission to

speak, they just raise their hand or speak out loud in close earshot. Something the she enforces is

a basic uniform attire. Every female dancer had a black leotard with pink tights and pink or beige

tights. The three male students had a much more relaxed requirement to wear sweatpants and a t-

shirt. Typically on Thursdays, the girls wear pointe shoes, a shoe that forces the dancer directly

on their toes. As I watched them put on the specialized shoes, there was an entire process. There

were small gel socks that covered the toes and then the shoe was slipped on. A satin strap was

tightly wrapped around the back of the foot and then several times around the ankle. As they

undressed their feet, they used a special powder to coat the gel socks with to help them last

longer. There were protocols, such as this, that every student understood, adding to the feeling of

a joined community. Everything seems to fit the puzzle of Swales’ list, though texts do not

primarily drive this community. It is not a speech community but debatably can be labeled as

James Gee’s standard Discourse community (Gee 482-494). These are the connections to

Swales’ list that I have found:

The Ballet III class shares a common goal to learn and improve their dance skills

specifically in the art of ballet. As an advanced ballet class, they are taking skills and concepts

they learned in prior pre-requisite courses, then honing and elaborating on them to excel further

in dance. With the naturally passive competition between other students and guidance from their

leader, the professor, each of the students strive to improve and develop more complicated and

difficult dance steps and combinations. Just in the set-up of the classroom, each barre, the metal

rod held onto for gaining balance while practicing exercises and stretches, was used by three

students, allowing interactions for assistance, feedback, or social conversation. While all of the

students have collectively reached a certain caliber of dance to participate in this advanced

course, all of them started the prior pre-requisite courses (ie: Ballet I, etc) at different levels of

expertise and continue to vary in their ability to pick up new choreography or terminology. An

interesting dynamic to the classroom was the presence of another professor within the Theatre

Department. After a conversation with her, I know that she is not enrolled in the course or

required to be there in any manner, but she chooses to attend the class for a personal desire to

revamp her dance skills and improve her abilities after several years of no dance practice. Other

students seemed to treat her with respect but as another peer taking the class. She did not

participate in the terminology and history sections of class, such as the second observed class

when the professor tested the class’ knowledge of terms. She did not act as a more significant

student in the class in any way and executed the idea of the community being individual but all

seeking a similar goal. She especially treated Mrs. Judi as her own professor. After observing a

couple of classes, it was obvious that the course was much more geared towards each

individual’s growth as a dancer; however, each dancer is striving for the same goals. Other than

activities such as partner work or recital-type events, everyone basically concentrated on

themselves.

On that note, discourse communities do need intercommunication amongst its members;

or else how would anybody be connected? While this class is structured very individually,

students did socially talk amongst one another and use each other for feedback and assistance. As

I observed and Mrs. Judi even said during the interview, this was a talkative bunch, select

students even had a scattered attention span as well. Some would not only chat with their

neighbors but the members of their neighboring barres, talking across the room. The professor

does not particularly enjoy that but said that it happens because they are so comfortable with

each other, even between the boys and girls during partner work. There were even instances of

students comparing each other on certain movements or positions. I overheard a female student

commenting to her neighbors on her inability to turn on her right leg, claiming she was much

better on her left. Other students then agreed or offered suggestions. These did not seem like

competitive confrontations, but rather looking for others to agree and admit to their own

difficulties. Students did talk amongst each other between exercises in class, communicate while

doing partner work, and discuss various circumstances in class. Specifically during the fourth

observed class, they worked on lifts as partner work. This required great communication between

the male and female pairs. Mrs. Judi brought in outside male students to provide more partners

for to the many girls in the class. Each boy had to hold the girl’s rib cage and be very in tune

with her every movement and anticipation. This took teamwork and lots of communication to

practice successfully.

Basically everything is learned and discussed in class so text would most likely not be

used unless the professor needed to make an urgent announcement. Text is seldom never a

method of communication, at least to the professor’s knowing. While e-mail could serve as a

textual method of intercommunication, it is not considered necessary within this specific

community. To give an example of communication with text, in the interview Mrs. Judi

discussed an incident with the Dance Concert, a semi-professional recital-type performance for

Dance minors. The annual Concert was threatened to be terminated due to financial concerns. In

class, she announced this news to her students and asked that they send her e-mails explaining

their stance on why it should be continued. In this situation, the students pursued a textual

response to the professor, fighting for something so valuable to the Dance minor program and

their own stage experience. To give an example of communication without text, the UCF club

called Knights and Damsels, a dance group, had a performance the previous weekend and many

of the group’s members were present in the class. Advertisement served its purpose in flyers

(Appendix VI) and by word of mouth. During class, Mrs. Judi gave her feedback of the

performance and permitted a class discussion of the choreography and the execution of it.

Providing information and feedback are extremely prominent in this community. As the

students practice dance movements, the professor constantly provides feedback and suggestions

to individual students by circling around the classroom searching for mistakes and bad habits

during barre exercises or as they perform their longer routines, called a “grand allegro.” Each

person is physically built differently, therefore, making certain exercises easier for some than

others, not because of lacking talent, but because sometimes a body can stretch one side and not

the other, etc. The students progress with various paces and some movements are significantly

more difficult for some. As they figure out what works for them and what is more challenging,

the professor and the individual can assess what they need to focus on and the professor can

provide alternative ways of thinking about the movement. In the interview, Mrs. Judi mentioned

that many of the students have small bad habits that she consistently picks at throughout classes

due to not teaching them from the very beginning of their dance training. For example, they were

working on a combination of movements on the barre that included one called a “frappe.” This

was a movement that consisted of wrapping one foot around the other ankle and striking the floor

with the ball of the foot. Some of the dancers were not striking the floor hard enough and the

professor gave the note, “Try to stay out longer than coming in,” meaning to allow more of the

movement hitting the floor than returning to the ankle. There are a myriad of examples of

feedback given within the class. If she noticed a student not grasping the concept of the step or

having difficulty balancing or maneuvering a movement, she would stop to assist them in

confronting it differently. Another example: they worked on a movement called a "tour," which

consists of sinking down, turning while jumping, and landing in the same position. This was

difficult for some of the students so Mrs. Judi instructed them to think "up" instead of "around,"

providing a helpful method for thinking about the step. The professor's primary goal is to provide

skills to every student to help them reach their fullest potential as a dancer. There was an

interesting segment of class when the professor allowed them to partner with another student and

help each other stretch. In pairs, they spread out across the walls and worked on each other’s

flexibility. The first student would rest the one against the wall’s straight leg on their shoulder

and walk forward, pushing it closer to the second student’s face, then the stretchee flipped

around and pushed the leg toward the back of their head. As somebody who is not that flexible,

this looked incredibly painful, however, they were in constant communication and were very

mature about pushing to get a helpful stretch but not hurt their partner. The student against the

wall had the control and notified the stretcher if they could push further or needed to stop or

release at all. This was an exercise that challenged the students to encourage and help each other

without the professor’s interference. On another note, to be quite literal, the mirrors in the room

served as another method of feedback. The mirror covered two entire walls and permitted the

students to observe their own movements and notice any of their own mistakes and see the

improvement they make over time. Between exercises, many of the less talkative students

practiced dance combinations in the mirror as a productive use of time.

In this community, text is not the main course of communication. However, it is very

important in the role of further education of the students. They each possess two required

textbooks, “Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet” by Gail Grant and “Ballet

Basics” by Sandra Noll Hammond (Appendix VI). They were acquired most likely only online

because these are not books that people outside of a similar, or broader, dance community would

come across. Any buyer can find these books on an online store, such as Amazon.com or

ebay.com. The first textbook consists of a dictionary of pronunciations and definitions of

hundreds of French classical ballet terms with details and instructions for every movement and

preparation for a movement. The book then features fifteen pages of diagrams that illustrate

common positions of the arms and legs. These illustrations are specifically to assist students to

imitate and embody (Grant). The second textbook provides a manual for how to basically learn

ballet. It instructs proper ways to hold a dancer’s arms, how to utilize the barre, practice exercise

to acquire specific strengthening of certain muscles, and perform traveling movements

efficiently. It offers many examples for students and professors to use in and out of class. It goes

on to emphasize a dancer’s connection to their own body, the profession of ballet, and the history

and development of this classic style of dance. While I do not believe this manual is read much

in class, it seems to be a great reference to students who are interested in further education or

needing further assistance in ballet or its potential opportunities (Hammond). The students do not

complete assignments pulled out of these texts, though they seem to reference them often,

especially the terminology dictionary. Both books encourage and guide students to participate

and instruct themselves in the extensive vocabulary of advanced ballet. This document is very

important to the community's goal of education because it holds the definitions and explanations

of terminology that are critical to succeeding in ballet.

Ballet is not possible without understanding the terminology and meanings of the words;

it is vital to improving one’s ability and understanding. Without this special form of lexis, this

community would blend into any other community of dance. Observing this class over a course

of two weeks really broadened my concept of specificity. Each move is so extremely precise and

the need for such intricate terminology is understandable due to the smallest details for a single

movement. Without such a specific term for each movement or direction of that movement,

ballet would be sloppier and more difficult to keep in sync with other dancers in choreography.

Throughout the classes, there were an overwhelming amount of unfamiliar terms, specific to this

community. Just a few of the words observed include “pirouettes,” to whirl or spin, “pointe,” a

type of satin shoe that raises the body on the tips of the toes or action of stretching the toe to its

fullest extend, and “demi-plié,” to half bend to the floor without lifting ones heels off the floor

(Grant 84, 89, 38). In the second class I observed, the professor spent the period practicing terms

for the course’s upcoming final instead of dancing. They were filling out definitions to the terms

on a printout from Mrs. Judi to use as a study guide. This is one of the most useful texts that she

referenced in the interview. She would ask, “What does [term] mean?” or “What is the opposite

movement of [term]?,” regarding the English translation and the movement. The class would

collectively come up with an answer and usually a student would present it or a majority of the

group would act out the foot’s movement with their hands. If they could not come up with an

answer or only a few students could, Mrs. Judi would demonstrate it and try to reference it to a

similar movement or combination in which they would remember it.

Swales describes his final requirement of a discourse community as “[having] a threshold

level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise” and puts

out the idea of changing membership status (Swales 473). Members of this community include

Dance Minors at the University of Central Florida and select students who have received

permission from the professor prior to the semester. When I originally asked the professor what

type of students the class consisted of, she responded with "Dance Minors" and actually posed

the question to the class. One student was not a minor, though she announced that she was going

to audition for the program next semester. While the community’s majors greatly vary, many of

the Dance Minors included students majoring in Musical Theatre. It was discussed that Musical

Theatre majors have to take most of the dance classes offered in the Theatre program, though the

students that choose to add on the Dance Minor take the even more advanced classes, such as

Ballet III.

All of the students come from different backgrounds and various years of dance,

especially ballet, experience. Almost all members auditioned out of Ballet I and II, entering with

diverse but still advanced levels of expertise. Mrs. Judi mentioned a seldom situation of a Dance

minor being accepted because of talent in jazz and/or tap dancing; therefore, having to take the

basic ballet classes to catch up with the other minors. While students begin with an individual

level of education, they all reach a similar stage of accomplishment as they progress into the

more advanced classes. Mrs. Judi made a comment during the first observed class about her

expectations in each level class. When the students were having a difficult time tackling multiple

pirouettes, a spinning movement with the arms in front and one leg bent against the other, Mrs.

Judi stated that she expects Ballet I students to master single pirouettes, Ballet II students to

master double pirouettes, and so on. While all of the students are very talented, as an observer I

could still notice some dancers moving much more gracefully than others and some picking up

the exercises in class faster. By the time they all have reached the Ballet III course, they have all

achieved an impressive level of excellence in the art of ballet, regardless. An addition to the

everyday students, there were other students and adults who would occasionally participate in a

day’s class as a refresher or workout, similar to the participating professor mentioned earlier.

Gee says the members of a Discourse community share how they “integrate words, acts,

values, beliefs, attitudes, and social identities as well as gestures, glances, body positions, and

clothes” (Gee 484). The Ballet III community does share words, possibly social identities, and

definitely body language and clothes. To take this explanation quite literally, ballet dancers have

similar body language because that is the essence of what they practice. To succeed in ballet, its

practitioners must master the established movements and stretch their bodies and muscles to

become flexible and able to accomplish more complicated movements and choreography. As far

as clothes, it is very standard in other or more general ballet communities to have a leotard,

tights, and ballet shoes to make up the expected attire. Supporting the individuality of this

community’s members are the additional articles of clothing that these students wore. Almost the

entire class had small, loose skirts of different colors and patterns as well as brightly colored

sports bras and flowing shirts that differentiated them from their peers. I believe this community

is too specific and fitting to be a Discourse community and fits Swales’ criteria well enough to

be labeled as a real discourse community. It embodies his established characteristics and thrives

as a community of individuals striving for excellence in the art of ballet.

Works Cited

Gee, James Paul. “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction.” Writing About Writing.

Ed. Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 481-497.

Print.

Grant, Gail. Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet. 3rd ed. New York: Dover

Publications, 1982. Print.

Hammond, Sandra Noll. Ballet Basics. 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2004. Print.

Siegfried, Judi. Personal interview. 16 Nov. 2012.

Swales, John. “The Concept of Discourse Community.” Writing About Writing. Ed. Elizabeth

Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 466-480. Print.

Appendix I (Observations: Class 1)

(continued)

Appendix II (Observations: Class 2)

Appendix III (Observations: Class 3)

Appendix IV (Observations: Class 4)

Appendix V:

Interview with Mrs. Judi SiegfriedFriday, November 16, 2012 at 10:15am-10:30am

Me: Alright, so, let’s see. Within the community, what are some of the goals that you have and that the students have?

Mrs. Judi: They have to perfect their technique, they have to learn more than the basic ballet terminology – um - get a little more detail in what they have to learn. They – umm - as you saw in class, they do lifts, which they don’t do in any of the other classes as well. They work with a partner.

Me: What are some of the characteristics that the Ballet III class has that the other ballet or dance classes don’t have?

Mrs. Judi: They are at a higher level. Umm, they’re more comfortable with each other. They know their bodies better because they’ve been taking ballet for a really, really long time. Umm, [Pause] they’ve often – real comfortable with – comfortable with the class and with me because a lot of them have had me three to four – or five – semesters so they’re always not real quiet. Umm, another thing that sometimes happens if they’ve skipped a lot of levels is - is correcting their bad habits where if they take the lower levels, I can correct them before they get into the Ballet III but that’s really the tough - is getting everyone out of bad habits. I think that’s probably a characteristic of this class – I have to do that – a handful of them that have bad habits.

Me: Okay, other than the two textbooks, are there any texts that are shared around the community or e-mails that go out, any kinds of discussions?

Mrs. Judi: Umm, they have – uh – they have the club, Knights and Damsels, that most of the people of that class are in so – um – I don’t think I answered your question. Try that again.

Me: Are there any texts that are specifically used throughout the group?

Mrs. Judi: No, I give them handout sheets for – um – for what they need to know. There’s lots of text for Ballet students. There’s a lot of history but they have to take Dance History if they’re a Dance minor anyway.

Me: So that’s more in the other class? The Dance History class?

Mrs. Judi: Yes.

Me: Are there any – I remember you said something about the Dance Concert and how there were e-mails being or you wanted them to-

Mrs. Judi: Oh I wanted them to e-mail – because we didn’t want the Dance Concert to go out of the Dance minor program so we wanted them to fight for it a little bit. So they would have a

semi-professional venue for – for dance other than the Knights and Damsels that is – uh - a club. They just set up a stage in the Pegasus Ballroom. I wanted them to have a stage and lights and costumes and have a professional venue for – so I wanted them to fight for it a little bit. So I wanted them to send me e-mails on why the Dance Concert is so important to them because these are the kids that will lose out if it goes because the Musical Theatre kids have plays but the Dance minors don’t because to get in a play here, you have to do a monologue and sing. Well most of the Dance minors don’t sing and are not in acting.

Me: What exactly is the Dance Concert?

Mrs. Judi: It is – um – where student choreographers choreograph a piece, they cast their – they have an audition, they cast their piece. Well they audition their piece first to see if they can get into the concert and then once we decide that it is – um – advanced enough, or good enough, or creative enough, then they audition for dancers and then they do a piece for the concert. They rehearse it and perfect it and then they get student lighting design students to lighting design it and costume designers to costume it. That’s why it takes so long. And then we do it at the Repertory Theatre. Its part of their requirement of performance – the requirement they need to finish their minor. So it’s good for them. They get to dance in costume, under lights, and its more of a concert where it’s not – the pieces are a little bit longer than if you were doing a competition piece or a recital piece. Things are a little more creative; they have a storyline rather than just dancing.

Me: What are – if you have an announcement, like if you get sick and have to cancel class or something like that, how do you - do you have a webcourses or just a group e-mail that you send out?

Mrs. Judi: Umm, I can probably do it by group e-mail. I would probably just put a sign on the door, which doesn’t help y’all much, but I’m not allowed to be sick.

Me: What are the rules for becoming a member of this class?

Mrs. Judi: You have to fulfill the pre-requisites for the course and/or audition.

Me: And if they audition they can just go to wherever their level fits?

Mrs. Judi: Um hmm. If it fits into their schedule.

Me: How easy is it to get in?

Mrs. Judi: [skeptical facial expression] Well, you have to have the skills to get in. You have to be an advanced dancer. Just because you’ve taken Ballet I and Ballet II doesn’t mean you’re gonna get into Ballet III and that you won’t find Ballet III hard. I use it for specifically the Dance minors. Umm, so the expectations are a little bit higher for them. My expectations are that they have to be a good student to get into the class. So as far as audition goes, they can come and take another class and I can watch them to see if they have the skills, or – umm - if they made it in the Dance minor - the majority of them would be able to skip to ballet III class instead of the Ballet I

class. But, you know, sometimes in the Dance minor there are really good jazz dancers but the ballet is still not there so they have to go back and do the pre-requisites. If they are a Dancer minor, I expect them to be in Ballet III.

Me: And how many Acting or Musical Theatre majors, would you say, end up tacking on the Dance minor because the MT’s have to take Ballet I and II anyways

Mrs. Judi: Yeah, actually, except for three courses, the BFA Musical Theatre kids have all the pre-requisites to get into the Dance Minor program. All the classes except for three. And that is Dance History, Improv, and Modern. Those are the only three courses they don’t have to take. Most of them got their performance credit in a theatre class or we try to get them to – the Musical Theatre kids - into the Dance Concert. Earl [the coordinator of the Musical Theatre and Dance program] will do a piece for mainly Theatre kids so they can get that dance credit. But – uhh – but if they wait till their senior year to do it, they can’t finish their requirements because some classes are only offered in the Spring and if it backs up to an Acting class or a different class, they can’t get their Improv class in. If they’re gonna do it, they have to take their Improv and Modern before their senior year.

Me: How do you measure the success of your students?

Mrs. Judi: I think my students are very successful. Umm, yeah we have students all over the United States. Josh Gold, for instance, he’s coming to do Spring Awakening [the Spring semester musical] he was in the BFA Acting program before they took out all the dance so he had to take a year of ballet and a year of jazz where now you only get a semester and a semester. And – umm – because he had that much ballet and jazz on his resume, he’s gotten jobs doing choreography for all these plays all over everywhere. We have - the Theatre Department has people in New York who are all moving and all dancing. I have people at my studio who are working dancers and teachers. But you have to have the want. I can only give the skills.

Me: Is there anything else you think goes with the community - the Ballet III class?

Mrs. Judi: Umm, you know, if they really want to be there and they want to try hard, they’ll be successful. So I think that even if you’re not a really great ballet dancer or you started really old – if you didn’t start at 3 years old – your success rate is gonna be really high if you want it bad enough. The extra – take advantage of the things being offered. You know, all the kids that are registered in my classes can take free classes at my studio. That option on you – that, what do you call it – take advantage of that offer. If you put the extra time in it. And if you just take what’s expected of you and you don’t add to it, then it won’t be a successful adventure. You won’t be as successful as you could be. Noted, that the kids that have gone over and beyond. The school can only give so much. The Dance minors take as many classes as they can. The group, Knights and Damsels, meet twice a week for their show and the have choreographers in there, they just want it so bad and they’re the ones that are gonna be successful.

Me: Well thank you for doing this interview.

Mrs. Judi: I hoped I helped you.

Appendix VI: Course Textbooks

Appendix VI: (Knights and Damsels Flyer)

.

Peer Letters:

To Abigail,

After reading through your first draft I think the overall products is good but needs some

tweaking here and there. I suggest that you should establish a niche to help out your intro and

also have a brief overview of what the entire essay is going to be about. You also need to expand

on some of the ideas about your discourse community. Also add the interview you said you

conducted that morning cause I believe that can help your paper a lot. That's pretty much it aside

from some spelling and grammar errors. I wish you the best of luck on the rest of your paper.

-Kenny Nguyen

I did not electronically receive a letter from Castia.