The unspoken rules of language for my primary source is that the content is not filled with engineering jargon which makes it easy to understand. Another unspoken rule is to make it easy for outsiders to understand in that there are a lot of pictures explaining what is being stated. Along with the pictures there are different sections to the site that have a very specific meaning and have their own way of communicating the information. Some of the language is very forceful in getting the message of the website across, for example, it states in big bold letters: “Every family, every community, and every business needs infrastructure to thrive.”
The American Society of Civil Engineers does not use language in their website that is full of jargon related to civil engineering so that new members of the civil engineering discourse community or everyday people can better understand the information that is being presented. This is change from the handbook analyzed in paper two because the website is written an audience that does not know or understand structural engineering. This relates to the prompt in that the civil engineering discourse community has changed their way of communication because it is on the internet and nonmembers can see and read it just as easily as members of the community.