Discourse

Definition of Discourse

Discourse is the dialogue in literature. It is any form of written communication, often seen through conversations between characters and descriptions of the setting. (2022)

Interesting fact: The word “discourse” comes from Latin “discursus ”- meaning “the act of running about.” It is a reference to the movements of language and its natural flow. Discourse. Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). 

Some examples:

1.     Narrative and argumentative discourse.

“I Have a Dream” Speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. 

This famous speech is an example of narrative and argumentative discourse. 

Here are a few lines: In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” King’s words are clear, mostly formal, and to the point. He has a specific message he’s trying to spread, and he does not spend time adding in flowery language to obscure it. (2022)

2.     Expressive discourse.

The Diary of Virginia Woolf

The author Virginia Woolf kept a diary, recording her personal recollections and emotions in its pages. This example is where we can find expressive discourse. 

Here is a quote from her diary: I enjoy almost everything. Yet I have some restless searcher in me. Why is there not a discovery in life? Something one can lay hands on and say “This is it”? My depression is a harassed feeling. I’m looking: but that’s not it — that’s not it. What is it? And shall I die before I find it? In these lines, she expresses her emotions- her own ideas and points of view. (2022)

References

Discourse. Poem Analysis. (2022, June 6). https://poemanalysis.com/definition/discourse/#:~:text=Discourse%20is%20defined%20as%20communication,a%20longer%20novel%2C%20and%20more.

Discourse. Wiktionary, the free dictionary. (n.d.). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/discourse

Learn English grammar. EnglishGrammarSoft. (n.d.). https://englishgrammarsoft.com/

Author of the page: Malak Harezová