1.

In Organization of a Research Paper: The IMRAD Format, Nair and Nair both explain that when writing a scientific paper there are common practices one does. They state that you, “Do not go into an extensive literature review; two to four most relevant and recent citations should be adequate to corroborate a statement. Do not repeat well-known facts nor state the obvious (Nair and Nair 18)”. In the excerpt, a common practice of not overstating obvious facts is being told to the reader. It shows that in scientific papers, reader are expected to come in with previous knowledge and common facts on a subject are expected to be know prior. In James Gees article, Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistic: Introduction, he claims that to follow a Discourse you must follow rules. He says that member of a Discourse all act similarly in the Discourse; that’s why their in the Discourse. In Chapter 3 Building Tasks he says similarly that in a Discourse there are practices. He says that a practice is, “a socially recognized and institutionally or culturally supported endeavor that usually involves sequencing or combining actions in certain specified ways (Gee 32)”. What Gee is claiming is that a practice is a common task done by those in a Discourse. Practices are part of a Discourse for many reasons but must be followed. The rule of not overstating information in a scientific paper is a practice of the Scientific Writing Discourse. If on was an apprentice of the Scientific Writing Discourse, make sure to follow this practice.

 

2.

Both James Gee and Christina Haas have similar ideologies when it comes to scientific writing. James Gee in his article discusses his idea of Discourse. He defines Discourse as the, “writing-doing-being-valuing-believing combinations (Gee )”. Gee is saying that a Discourse is a specific identity one has based on how they act and interact with other. Similarly Christina Haas in her article talks about scientific literacy. She defines scientific literacy as, “the mastery of scientific facts and concepts (Haas 45)”. What Haas is saying is that to achieve scientific literacy, one must be able to recognize scientific concepts and data and be able to show that understanding. This relates to Gee’s ideas of Discourse. Haas’s idea of scientific literacy goes hand in hand with being part of the Scientific Discourse.

 

ENG110J