Letter of Recruitment Final Draft
Prompt:
The editors of a writing text book, Community Voice, say that “when you declare a major and select an area of concentration, you move into increasingly specialized fields, each with its own ways of defining and conducting the search of knowledge.”
Whether you realize it fully or not, you have been investing in and becoming fairly proficient, perhaps even accomplished, in a particular discipline. You look at the world a little different from people in other disciplines, fields or professions. Your values align with your major discipline, you are drawn to certain issues particular to your major, and have learned a specific language, certain ways of communicating, among other things. In short, you have become (are in the process of becoming) a member of a discourse community.
The term discourse can mean, according to Merriam-Webster (dictionary):
1. verbal interchange of ideas; especially: conversation
2. a : formal and orderly and usually extended expression of thought on a subject
b : connected speech or writing
c : a linguistic unit (such as a conversation or a story) larger than a sentence
We are going to be focusing more on the following definition of the term, again from Merriam-Webster:
3. a mode of organizing knowledge, ideas, or experience that is rooted in language and its concrete contexts (such as history or institutions): critical discourse.
In your major studies here at SDSU, you have engaged and become very familiar with your discipline’s critical discourse, a bigger more formal kind of exchange of knowledge between people and groups in your discipline and field, such that you are part of this discourse community. We might say that the people in your major, especially those who go on to work in related fields and disciplines, are concerned with studying and developing your discourse, which is the study of “large bodies of knowledge” (Foucault).
The Lumen Learning website from our 5/28 Journal assignment, as I explained, features discussion related to our goals for this Letter of Recruitment: that website shows how one might go about clarifying her/his major’s academic discourse, how one approaches important issues in the world, how research is conducted, how communication occurs with a certain specialized language, genre, history and values.
In this Letter of Recruitment, we are looking to define and share some of the real highlights of our academic discipline (our discourse community) and champion or celebrate, if you will, this way-of-thinking, this approach to personal and/or professional growth.
To extend and clarify this understanding, we turn to scholar Bruce Herzberg:
Use of the term ‘discourse community’ testifies to the increasingly common assumption that discourse operates within conventions defined by communities, be they academic disciplines or social groups. ‘[D]iscourse communities’ […] signify a cluster of ideas: that language use in a group is a form of social behavior, that discourse is a means of maintaining and extending the group’s knowledge and of initiating new members into the group, and that discourse is epistemic or constitutive of the group’s knowledge.
Note here the mention of “a cluster of ideas,” and the importance of language “as a form of behavior,” or “of maintaining and extending the group’s knowledge and of initiating new members.”
Ideas, language, knowledge, and initiating new members.
These are great descriptions of this Letter of Recruitment – what you need to focus on, especially the use of specific ideas, the importance of language and your group’s knowledge and behavior, not to mention “initiating new members”!
Your ability to focus on these elements in this paper (though there are others) will go a long way towards being successful on this writing assignment.
The Context
Your department has been experiencing a decrease in incoming freshmen and transfer students who declare the major, and this, in turn, has affected the department’s funding. You have been asked by your academic department to represent your department on career day here at SDSU, to be attended by local high school and transfer students, in an attempt to raise the number of incoming students who declare a major in your discipline.
You are being asked because you are an upper-classman/woman, and you have a recognized expertise and possess the necessary authority and enthusiasm in your discourse (discipline/major) to take-on this challenge. In this paper, your goal is to illustrate and share the aforementioned qualities of a discourse community (Ideas, language, knowledge) as well as illustrate your authority and enthusiasm.
Your Grade on this LoR
The “A” and even strong “B” papers must evidence the authority of one who is very familiar with the sophistication of the major’s/department’s discourse (arguments, language, values, people: the more academic and professional conversations).
In addition to this authority of knowledge, strong B and A papers also establish a convincing and necessary ethos through the clarification of a discernible and credible value system that people in your discipline advocate, communicate and study.
Indeed, you need to sound like you really know what you are talking about and show, secondly, some of the ways that you endeavor to help others, solve specific discipline-related issues, and address certain crises in the world; in short, show the readers how the work in your field matters, that what you learn and later do in your major and field make the world a better place. This is a huge selling-point, along with sounding informed and knowledgeable.
This strong character argument can really elevate your paper. That the reader trusts your mastery of this academic and professional discourse and comes to believe that work in your discipline is consequential are both critical to this Letter of Recruitment.
Because you are competing with other departments and majors, your task is to develop a communication that really “sells” these students and their parents on your major. You can make references to the job market for graduates and some of earning potential of graduates, but such references should be focused on the kinds of work one can do in various industries, the exciting professional and academic opportunities, etc.
The real concern here is your interesting and professionally informed explanation of what students might experience in the SDSU academic community, specifically in your department, as well as glimpses at the kind of work they can look forward to in the related industries.
Research
You must do research to inform your piece with accurate and relevant detail. In this Letter of Recruitment, you will need to include:
The kinds of assignments and projects these students might be expected to work on during the course of their college career (be resourceful and specific in this research/discovery/discussion; in other words, give your audience relevant and interesting examples and explanations of the types of documents, assignments and projects it will engage). These details enable readers to develop an understanding of the community/industry with which your major and department affiliate. This presentation of the discourse, “your fluency in the totality of codified language and argument used in a given field of intellectual enquiry and of social practice” (Larry Marks) will determine the success of this this letter.
The kinds of people and events that one associates with the major here at SDSU. You are giving your audience insight into “the life” of a member of this discourse community. This involves the faculty and other leaders you and others come to associate with in your studies here. You should want to share, if the opportunity arises, understanding of other leaders, authors, scholars, etc., that are important in your field/major.
By describing the coursework, the people, their values and the way they communicate, you naturally discuss the major issues and fundamental concepts for people of your discipline/field. What kinds of problems are you solving in that field? How does that contribute to the larger community and the world? Remember, the more specific you are, the better your audience will be able understand and perhaps decide to pursue that major.
Let me highlight the importance of this last point: Highlighting some of the current and major issues of the field today. This will really help illustrate the depth of your understanding and authority and is a very effective quality of sales – underscoring what is happening now, why this is important and how we need you (the reader) to help in this mission to investigate and address these issues, which are important to the health of the broader culture.
I will reiterate several times the importance of this kind of relevant and strategic detail in this letter. In order for you to make a compelling argument, you will have to sell your major with a discernible authority and fluency in the discourse, comprised of compelling details that clarify the values, beliefs and arguments found in this major and eventual profession. This is a study of discourse. You are selling your major and yourself as a product of this particular major.
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