It’s Saturday and most importantly my weekend off from work lol. It’s a beautiful day outside I’m thinking to myself I think ill run some errands, oh yeah and buy that new book that just came out called “On the Come up” by Angie Thomas. That’s the author of “The Hate U Give”. It’s now 1pm when I arrive at the bookstore, I run into Tia one of my goods friends.
“Hey Dom” Tia said “ Hey Tia it sure is a lot of people out today” I said “Oh you didn’t hear there will be speakers here today for a conference” Tia said “Really... I wonder who” I said “ The famous poet Pablo Neruda will be reciting and signing some of his work” Tia said “No way… I have been dying to meet him,” I said “ It doesn’t stop there his guest speaker is James Paul Gee and he will be doing a Q&A on literacy and how we interpret it”. Tia said “ Oh this is going to be amazing”. I said I hurry and grab a coffee before the reading begins. Approaching the stage Pablo Neruda! Everyone stands and claps as he recites his poem my favorite part is… “ But when I call upon my Dashing being, Out comes the same old lazy self, And so I never know who I am, Nor how many I am, nor who we will be being, I would like to be able to touch a bell, And call up my real self, the truly me, Because if I really need my proper self, I must not allow myself to disappear.” This poem is very deep. It challenges you to look within yourself. When I heard him recite that part of the poem I felt like he was talking about me. Everyday I get up and want to be better than I was the day before, and crush everyday. But I allow myself to disappear behind excuses of work and sleep deprivation. I need to wake and be the real me. “Now that’s deep ”Tia said “What was your favorite part?” I said “ The very beginning he came out so strong saying… “Of the many men whom I am, we are I cannot settle on a single one They are lost to me under the cover of clothing They have departed for another city.” Tia states Neruda makes his work relatable because he really is someone who was seeking to discover his true identity. “Of the many men who I am, who we are I can't find a single one” meaning there is a multitude of selves who live inside him. His sense of being completely lost within his own changeable, self (“they disappear among my clothes / they've left for another city”). The next speaker James Paul Gee is ready for his Q&A… Guys think of the term discourse. By Discourse I mean “a socially accepted association among ways of using language, of thinking, and of acting that can be used to identify oneself as a member of a socially meaningful group “ Social network”. “ So like a group of people that share the same interest?” Tia said “Yes” Gee said You have to being to start thinking of a discourse like an “identity kit” which comes up with appropriate costume and instructions on how to act and talk so as to take on another role that others will recognize. “ So basically a identity kit is everything you need to know and do to become a part of a specific Discourse”. I said “Yes” Gee said He steps off stage and begins to shake everyone hand as he say goodbye. I shook his hand and said Thank you for all this informative information on literacy and discourse community. I now understand the concept of being, knowing, doing. The article by James Paul Gee speaks to the identity of our discourse community because it lets you know discourse shapes your life and give you beliefs and values to follow throughout your life. I agree with this because I believe I’m apart of a discourse community where I work we all understand the medical terms, we all where the same uniform etc. so there is a understanding and for the eight or twelve hours we work we are a community. Pablo Neruda’s poem is relatable to our discourse community because everyone can choose a part of the poem and identify with it in some way shape or form. We all struggle with who we are at times and where we are going. We all feel like cowards sometimes, not smart enough at times etc. We have to push pass the barriers.
4 Comments
3/24/2019 08:46:09 pm
I really like the way you did your reflection by turning it into a story. I want you to please do more of your reflections this way.
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Samantha Flood
3/25/2019 06:24:47 pm
I love the way you wrote this! It was easy to understand and I feel like you did a great job in explaining how you interpret the texts.
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Kenya McDuffie
3/25/2019 08:23:58 pm
This is awesome! I really like the style of it and enjoyed reading it!
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Sabatino
4/3/2019 03:56:14 am
I appreciate the comments being posted here as they speak to the imagination and the genre-choice required to narrate this assignment. Thank you for sharing.
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May 2019
CategoriesAll Identity Narrative Reflection Research Project Writing Process |