Harris- The Idea of Community

In The Idea of Community in the Study of Writing, Joseph Harris challenges the term "communities." Harris feels that there is nothing behind the term community. Since community is such a broad term, Harris explains that it has no positive opposing term therefore it is meaningless or sentimental. Harris criticizes Bartholomae's Inventing the University for trying to make communities distinct. Harris argues that students or writers cannot "reinvent" something that has already been invented. Harris claims that all writers, especially students, have access to any language or style of writing but choose to not use it. If writers have access to this language, they should have the ability to negotiate different styles in order to become a better writer. I do not agree with Harris' point. As a writer, I do believe there are different communities of writing. For instance, when creating my resume I would use a much different style of writing than when I am at school. I would have to adapt to the business community in order to have a successful resume. Using different styles of writing, language, and tone I am adapting to the different communities of discourse. There are different communities of writing for a reason. Each person takes in information differently and therefore needs specific styles of discourse to relay certain information.