Zorovich 1

Ashley Zorovich

Dr. Nelli Cirineo

ENC1101

25 October 2019

Alpha Delta Pi

Have you ever been a part of a group so close that it felt like family? Well that’s what

being in a sorority is like. Starting college in a new town at a new school is a huge change and is

hard to get to know people. Joining a sorority was something I was so excited about becoming

apart of, as it gave me new opportunities to get involved and meet new people on campus. My

discourse community is something I am proud to call Alpha Delta Pi. My DC uses writing to

communicate by writing messages and announcements on various social media platforms

including GroupMe, Omega One, Snapchat, and Instagram.

First of all, my discourse community is my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. According to

Swales, the definition of a discourse community is, “a group of people who share a set of

discourses, understood as basic values and assumptions, and ways of communicating about their

goals”(par 7). My discourse community’s goals are to promote sisterhood, philanthropy, and

leadership. We have multiple events throughout the week to accomplish these goals that involve

a lot of giving back to the community, studying, meeting with our sisters to discuss our goals,

and getting closer with one another. According to the Alpha Delta Pi website our motto, “We

Live For Each Other” which promotes our values and goals within our sisterhood and reminds us

that we support each other no matter what.

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In addition to having set goals and values, my discourse community has a certain lexis

that only members would understand. An example of our lexis would be the Greek language as

we must know every letter of the Greek alphabet, understanding what certain written or hand

symbols mean. In order to understand these terms each new member must go through the

recruitment process to see if they get a bid from the chapter they want or not. All our new

members had to meet a certain criterion in order to be accepted into Alpha Delta Pi. In order to

stay apart of the sorority, each member must accomplish a certain amount of goals and activities

per semester. Staying involved and understanding what is expected of you is a huge part in

maintaining membership of this discourse community.

Lastly, my discourse community communicates through email, meetings, and various

social media platforms. We hold Chapter every Sunday, to discuss upcoming events and

activities, and to vote on specific things such as whether we have time to participate in an event

or not. Whenever there is a large announcement, someone will most likely send something in

both group me and Omega one explaining what the task is at hand, or what information we might

have to know about an upcoming event. Members will then know how to follow through with

the tasks at hand and be able to accomplish certain goals in time. Messages may also be sent out

through Snapchat and Instagram when a sister may need help with something, or someone would

like to show appreciation for another sister. Additionally, our DC goals are constantly being

reminded to us through word of mouth from our council, or from informal newsletters sent out

through one of our social media platforms. Overall, our chapter communicates very well and

very often, bringing us closer together and more likely to accomplish our goals.

In conclusion, the members of my discourse community, Alpha Delta Pi, communicate

through writing posts on Omega One, GroupMe, email, and various social media platforms.
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Being apart of this discourse community has brought me so many things. For example, I would

have never thought I would meet some of my bestest friends and be able to become so close with

people over such a short period of time. Being apart of something so big yet so close has

brought so much to me in my start in being a student at USF. It has brought me confidence,

empowerment to do good, better myself, be kind to others, and overall become a better version

of myself. The values and goals implemented in this community whether it be the entire Greek

community at USF or just Alpha Delta Pi alone, truly exhibits what it is to be a true discourse

community and exemplifies what the meaning of Greek life should be. Empowering others and

yourself is major key to success in this world, and I thank my sorority so much for giving me

these keys in life.

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Works Cited

Swales, John M. “The Concept of Discourse Community: Some Recent Personal History.”

Composition Forum, 2017, compositionforum.com/issue/37/swales-retrospective.php.

“Week of Service.” Alpha Delta Pi, alphadeltapi.org/.