DCA 1st draft PDF

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First draft of Discourse Community Essay...

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Fine-Arts as a Discourse Community We have all been asked to analyze the rhetorical appeals mastered by ourselves to become an active member of a discourse community. The text Everything is an Argument defines a discourse community as “a group of people who share common interests, goals, values, assumptions, knowledge of a topic, and… discursive patterns…”. Since we are all enrolled in (and ostensibly a participating member of) ENGL 1301, by the time the course concludes that will be one discourse community common to us all. I claim that the fine-arts community also fits the definition of a discourse community and that I am a participating member of that community. My academic and work experience (ethos) have allowed me to master the lexicon particular to the fine-arts community (logos). I hold the belief that the ideals (pathos) of creation and exploration inherent to the fine-arts is valuable to everyone and work to be an ambassador for the community. As college students, we have all begun the process of gaining excellence in a field of study by pursuing an academic major here at UTA. In gaining excellence in our field of study we will also be joining its discourse community. Excelling in your major may seem difficult, but it is actually a task no different than joining any other kind of discourse community such as the ENGL 1301 or fine-arts communities. By identifying the elements of the fine-arts discourse community I hope to demonstrate that the steps to joining discourse communities of any kind are similar. My credibility argument (ethos) comes from extensive experience in the field of fine arts. I have experience making art, working in a museum, and I am currently in docent training. With the fine-arts, as with many fields of study, a college degree is a great way to grow from one who knows absolutely nothing about the field into one well versed in the intricacies of the trade. Entering into college for the first time, I knew absolutely nothing about the fine-arts as a living

field of study. I had never even stepped foot into an art museum that displayed works by artists still living. What attracted me to the fine-arts was the studio. I felt comfortable there surrounded by its tools and work tables, and it was much nicer than any work space I had been able to use before! I was hooked. I received a BFA studio art degree with a focus on sculpture from TCU in 2011. During the process of earning a studio art degree I learned many things about the physical processes employed in making art as well as the planning and purpose behind it. We also received extensive training on how to talk about our own art through formal and informal critiques. Four years working at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth information desk has taught me that the preconceptions held about art (what it is, what it should accomplish) are varied. I have learned how to introduce visitors to an art space and to frame the discussion about art differently depending on their background. I have recently begun training at the museum to strengthen my verbal communication skills and art knowledge so that I can begin striking up conversation with museum visitors about the art on display. This training has allowed me to become more comfortable with the language used in the art world as well as methods of examination and research needed in the study of a work of art. Broad fine arts experience has made me proficient in the specific terminology (logos) used in its discussion. Comfortable in an art studio, I am familiar with the tools and mediums used in art creation. Having participated in numerous art critiques, I am familiar with the types of ideas, and contexts often explored. Having worked in an art museum for many years, I am familiar with art and art conversation in that context as well. For example, a useful method used to help understand a work of art is the formal analysis. Formal in this context means related to the form of the work of art. This is a study of the elements of art (the basic building blocks used

by artists in the creation of a work of art) and how they relate to the principles of design (how they are incorporated into the work of art). A belief that artistic expression is universally meaningful and pertinent is the pathos argument continually made by us in the fine arts community. Working to connect other communities with the art world (and vice versa) is an ongoing, and important, process we all participate in. Artists such as KAWS and Takashi Murakami successfully bridge the gap between fine-arts and pop culture by having successful museum exhibitions and creating album art for Kanye West. Personally, the training that I am currently receiving at the museum will better facilitate communication about the art on display with anyone who may visit. Some may say that by pursuing an engineering degree I have set aside my fine-arts credentials. My belief is that the engineering discourse community is one more community that can be used broaden the scope of the fine-arts discourse community. The analysis of ethos, logos and pathos in the context of discourse communities and the realization that the concept of a discourse community can be easily connected to that of a social group or, in our case as students, field of study at UTA, reveal the elements common to all in the task of becoming an insider in a chosen field. In analyzing the rhetorical appeals that I have mastered to become an active member of the fine-arts discourse community I hope to have conveyed the similarities of joining a discourse community of any sort and, as such, eased concerns one may have that they may not have what it takes to succeed in their field of study....