Maxwell Gallahan

Major Garriott

ERH-101-03

2 October 2016

Analyzing the Purpose of the History Discourse Community

“The Importance of Studying Change”

Most people these days think history is pointless, but I don’t agree with that statement. Here is a quote from an article, written by Penelope J. Corfield, on why history matters; “Understanding the linkages between past and present is absolutely basic for a good understanding of the condition of being human. That, in a nutshell, is why History matters. It is not just ‘useful’, it is essential.” The quote suggests that history is how the past and the present are linked together and if you can understand that link between the two, then it will be easier to understand the human condition. Essentially, the purpose of history is to gain a better understanding of the environment surrounding you and how it all works.

The Hanover College’s department of history “Why Study History?” article, written by Frank Luttmer, talks about the multiple reasons you should study the discourse of history. A few of those reasons are to gain an understanding of the past in order to understand the present, understand how certain ideas came about, and because history is fun. This article is doing more than just explaining why you should study history. Hanover College’s “Why Study History?” page is defending the purpose of the history discourse by using mechanisms, genres, and lexis to communicate the goals of the discourse community.

The Hanover college website is using an online website to communicate the purpose of the history discourse. Swales explains that; “A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.” (Swales, pg. 221) This quote is describing the reason for mechanisms. The Hanover College’s “Why Study History?” website is playing its role as a mechanism because it is the forum that is displaying information about the discourse. The way that this mechanism is affectively communicating the goals of the history discourse community is by trying to reach a certain audience that would be interested in joining this discourse. That audience is students of Hanover College history department and prospective Hanover College history department students. This is another quote from swales; “membership implies uptake of the informational opportunities.” (Swales, pg. 221) This means that the audience of the website is already members of the discourse community since they looked up this article in the first place. Mechanism essentially is what puts your information where you need it to, be read by the specific audience you are aiming for. Also people with in a discourse community communicate using genre to articulate with each other

Genre is used in this article to communicate goals of the history discourse. Swales quotes that; “discoursal expectations are created by the genres that articulate the operations of the discourse community.” (Swales, pg. 222) This means that genre is the act of communicating the operations of the discourse community, meaning that the Hanover College’s “Why Study History?” article is a genre. The article says; “Historians seek not only to explain historical causality–how and why change occurs within societies and cultures. They also try to account for the endurance of tradition, understand the complex interplay between continuity and change, and explain the origins, evolution, and decline of institutions and ideas.” This quote is going on to explain what experts, historians, in the field of the history discourse are proficient in. This is a genre because it is communicating to the audience an operating procedure of the experts in the discourse community. Another quote from Hanover College’s “Why Study History?” article says; “The purpose of historical inquiry is not simply to present facts but to search for an interpretation of the past. Historians attempt to find patterns and establish meaning through the rigorous study of documents and artifacts left by people of other times and other places.” This is a part of the genre that is describing the purpose of the discourse community. The quote is describing why you should study history by proposing that the interpretation of the past and applying that to modern day contexts will help you understand the human condition. The last quote about the genre that is describing the purpose of studying the discourse of history is from the end of the article; “There is another reason to study history: it’s fun. History combines the excitement of exploration and discovery with the sense of reward born of successfully confronting and making sense of complex and challenging problems.” This is the last bit of the genre that is describing the purpose of history. The quote is saying that history in addition to being essential to understanding the human condition is an enjoyable field. It includes things like exploration and discovery as well as helps you be successful as a human being. In addition to mechanisms and genre, lexis play an important role in communicating the purpose of the history discourse community.

Lexis are important in getting the purpose through of the overall discourse community. Lexis are words that are specific to the context of a discourse community. In Hanover College’s department of history “Why Study History?” article there are many specific lexis that need to be understood in order to help understand the purpose of the history discourse community. Here is a quote from swales about lexis; “Most commonly, however, the inbuilt dynamic towards an increasingly shared and specialized terminology is realized through the development of community-specific abbreviations and acronyms…for efficient communication exchange between experts.” (Swales, pg. 222) In the article “Why Study History?”, there are no abbreviation or acronyms which proves that this article was meant for novice readers rather than experts, due to the kind of specialized language that was used or not used in this case. In the though there were a couple lexis. One was “human condition”, which can be best described in the context of discourse communities as, characteristics, key events, and situations that compose the essentials of human existence. The reason “human condition” is an important lexis is because it is a main part of the purpose of the discourse of history as a whole. Since the whole discourse is based on understanding the “human condition”. Another important lexis to the history discourse is “tradition”. The lexis “tradition”, as it is used in the article means something that someone or a group of people consistently do over time. That is essential to the history discourse again because the purpose of the discourse is to study change, and to determined weather things have changed or not you usually look to a society’s “traditions” to find the answer. “Evolution” is also an important lexis to the discourse of history. Evolution is a slow process in which over time things change. Evolution is one of the key terms in history because history is centered around the idea of change, which is evolving. Last of the lexis that I am going to refer to is “interpretation”. Interpretation in the context of the history discourse means what and how you make meaning of something. This concept is key in history because the purpose of the discourse is to interpret situations in the past and determined how those events can be related to modern day events.

The Hanover College’s department of history “Why Study History?” article uses mechanisms, genres, and lexis to communicate the goals of the discourse community. The goals of the discourse are to interpret the traditions of past societies or people and how they changed over time. Then take that information and try determined how and why those changes happen and apply them to the context of today’s society to help better understand the human condition.

Work cited:

  • Stearns, Peter. “Why Study History? | AHA.” Why Study History? 2013.
  • Luttmer, Frank. “Why Study History? History Department: Hanover College.” Why Study History? History Department: Hanover College. 1996.
  • Corfield, Penelope J. “All People Are Living Histories – Which Is Why History Matters.” Why History Matters. 2008. Web. 01 Oct. 2016.
  • Wardle, Elizabeth A. Writing about Writing: A College Reader. Leasa Burton.
  • “Human Condition.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Oct. 2016. Web. 02 Oct. 2016.

 

Help Received:

Thesaurus

Dictionary

Writing Center

Meeting with Major Garriott

Peer Review

 

_____Maxwell Redmond Gallahan________

 

 

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