Pitch:
This film will dramatize the concept of a “discourse community.” Each shot will consist of an image or series of images with voice-over narration. The film will first define discourse communities and then provide specific examples. Discourse communities will be explained as culturally specific sets of language conventions. The film will further describe conventions as rules, practices, or methods relevant to a specific field or activity. One example of differences in discourse communities might be the contrast between lawyers and electricians; another might be the contrast between the Christian concept of heaven and the Buddhist concept of nirvana. The film will also convey the idea that any given person participates in many different discourse communities using a series of Venn Diagrams.
Shot list:
| Shot # | Visual | Voice-Over |
| 1 | Discourse Communities | “Today, we’re going to talk about discourse communities.” |
| 2 | What is Discourse? | “So, what is discourse?” |
| 3 | Image of a wordcloud | “Discourse is spoken or written language. It’s socially, historically, and culturally specific language.” |
| 4 | What is a community? | “What is a community?” |
| 5 | Image of a group of people | “A community is a group of people with a shared identity.” |
| 6 | A discourse community is a specific set of language conventions shared by a group | “Okay, so a discourse community is a specific set of language conventions shared by a group.” |
| 7 | What are conventions? | “But what are conventions exactly?” |
| 8 | Image depicting rules | “Conventions are the established rules, practices, and methods of a given activity.” |
| 9 | Image of a circle, representing one’s home discourse community | “Everyone has a home discourse community. That is the language which you use most comfortably.” |
| 10 | Image of a Venn Diagram with two circles—one for home discourse community, one for school discourse community | “But we can all participate in many different discourse communities, almost like learning foreign languages. For example, we can think of school as a discourse community.” |
| 11 | Same as above with a third circle for work | “Each profession is a discourse community, with its own technical jargon, but also with its own ways of thinking, writing, and conveying information.” |
| 12 | Electricians vs Lawyers | “Let’s take electricians and lawyers as an example.” |
| 13 | Image of electricians | “Electricians talk about watts, volts, amps, current, wiring, insulation, and various other technical aspects of bringing electricity to people’s homes and businesses.” |
| 14 | Image of lawyers | “Lawyers, likewise, have their own jargon, including words like perjury, indictment, hearing, trial, jury, and so on.” |
| 15 | More images of lawyers and electricians | “Not only do lawyers and electricians use different vocabulary, but they also follow different conventions. Lawyers are concerned with evidence, guilt and innocence, and the minutiae of legal codes, whereas electricians must focus on the tools and material required to manipulate electric currents. An electrician would not understand a legal brief and a lawyer would be lost in a conversation between two electricians.” |
| 16 | Venn Diagram with four circles for home, school, work, and religion | “Even different religions can act as discourse communities.” |
| 17 | Buddhism vs Christianity | “Take Buddhism and Christianity, for example.” |
| 18 | Image of heaven | “Christian discourse conveys a belief in heaven.” |
| 19 | Image of nirvana | “Buddhist discourse talks about nirvana.” |
| 20 | Images of a church and Buddhist temple | “These are not just different words for the same idea, but fundamentally different concepts.” |
| 21 | Image of people | “So, now we know that discourse communities are groups of people who share a set of language conventions.” |
Hi, Josh. Your idea seems workable and a good fit for first-year writing. I wonder if you might take the video a bit further in two ways. First, I think the Venn diagrams are an excellent idea for helping students to conceptualize how the a person’s discourse communities might overlap. I wonder, though, if in your discussion of those communities, you might talk a little more about the shared motives that seem to lie at the center of these communities. In other words, conventions evolve because people engage in purposeful activity, not just ex nihilo. Second, at then end of your video, can you say something about why first-year students (or anyone, really) should be interested in discourse communities? I’m not suggesting you address the students directly, but a general statement about why this concept is important to writers might be a good way to tie things up.