28 Profile: “Danza Bufalo: A Discourse Community
Velentina Cabrera
Instructor JennaRose English
ENG 1013.77
19 October 2022
Cover Letter
When Mrs. English said that this paper was the hardest of the semester, well, she wasn’t joking. This research paper was filled with confusion, relief, tears, laughter, and possibly every feeling imaginable. Throughout this process I have learned to trust the process instead of focusing on the grade.
The first day we were presented with this assignment about a discourse community, I internally said “Oh No”! I had no clue what a discourse community was and when I read through the characteristics, it was like reading another language that faintly resembled English. Luckily, Mrs. English knew and expected this and was very patient when we asked questions, some being dumb.
Overall, I would say my biggest struggle on this research paper was picking a topic and finding the research to support it. Over the next weeks I continued to do research but was on most parts left empty handed. I was finding little information on my topic but was really passionate about the topic, so I continued and I’m glad I did. I was on the verge of switching my topics but then more information and resources were coming my way, so I decided to take it as a sign to continue with the Danza Bufalos.
As we walked into class, I was very stressed, but I was met with a miracle. Mrs. English had decided to push back the deadline to give us more time. I was absolutely thrilled to have had more time, but it really opened my eyes that if we had stayed on the same scheduled due date, we would have had no time to work. I used my time to research but there was still a piece of me that wasn’t necessarily sure what I was looking for in my research. From my understanding, at this point, I thought that the assignment was to write about how our researched community was a discourse community. Let’s just say, I was going down the wrong path.
Now, it’s approximately 2 days till the rough draft is due and I have 200 words written on the page. My mind is completely scattered everywhere but we were served with something I wished we would have received the first day on this paper: This project is not about our research, but about what is a discourse community. I had spent so much time focusing on my research of the Danza Bufalos that I had failed to do any on Swales’ characteristics. Let’s just say this was a major turning point in my essay.
I continued my essay, but I felt that something was missing. The essay felt too boring, and I felt unfulfilled in my writing. Mrs. English had said that this research paper should feel boring. but I thought she was exaggerating, which she was not.
At this point, it is the day before the final essay is due and I’m stressed out because I’m scared of the chance that I didn’t cite sources correctly. I don’t want to risk plagiarism, but I looked carefully and didn’t use a generator so I should be fine. Overall, I’m very proud of the wo