User:Atcovi/ENG111-M26B/Essay 1

What is discourse community?
A discourse community is a group of individuals who are talking about a certain subject. An example of a discourse community is a family sitting down at the dinner table talking about a certain issue or college students categorized by majors. Other discourse communities are friends, place of employment and sports teams.


 * Genre - Type of texts that have a certain background to them. These develop over time because we have rhetorical needs to keep using them. For example, weddings are a different context vs. a doctor's appointment. Both methods of invitation [conventions] are different, as a wedding's invitation would be more upbeat and colourful compared to a doctor's invitation (which is presumably serious and plain).

Professor John Swales comes up with 6 characteristics:


 * 1) A discourse community has a broad set of common, public goals: It's the goal that ties together a discourse community, not an object of discussion. An example: the topic of "God" is different between the Abrahamic religions.
 * 2) A discourse community has means of communication. If the individuals do not know each other, they cannot be a part of a community that they don't know exists.
 * 3) A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. Being a fan of a football club: the fans naturally want to improve and my provide feedback on various platforms (Arsenal TV, for example).
 * 4) A discourse community utilizes and possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. For example, ISIS uses media outlets and speeches as ways of communication.
 * 5) In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis. I'm assuming these are specific terms or methods for each community's method of intercommunication ("Artists, for example, have a specific lexis used to explain tools, techniques, and mediums.  Cyclists have a specific lexis that refers to riding techniques, bicycle parts, and equipment.  Biologists have a different lexis from Marine Biologists, but each community has its own lexis" - https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/984277/pages/what-is-a-discourse-community).
 * 6) A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise. In discourse communities, members come in as beginners and “leave by death or other less involuntary ways” (Swales 27). These communities develop and grow and there must be "experts" in these communities, otherwise the community will die.

Brainstorm
"'take time this weekend a brainstorm a few ideas in relation to discourse community that would interest you'"


 * Liverpool FC - "The Reds"
 * "You'll Never Walk Alone"

Questions
1. What is the community you will be focusing on for essay 1? I will be focusing on Liverpool FC, a football club based in Liverpool, England that plays in the highest division of football in England (the EPL).

2. Why did you select this and why do you think readers would be interested in reading about this community? '''I selected this because I've always been a fan of Liverpool FC for their colors and players. I think people would be interested in this as this is one of the biggest football clubs in the world and is a great club for any newcomer in the sport of football.'''

3. Are you a part of this community or closely affiliated with it in some way? If you are not part of this community, what connection do you have or why did you select this? I'm a part of the Liverpool FC fanbase as I'm subscribed to its YouTube Channel and keep up with all of the games/updates.

4. What is the general purpose of the community? Why does this community come together? '''The purpose of this community is to host entertaining football for the masses. This community comes together to string people together based on one passion: football.'''

5. Is there history about this community? When did it begin? '''The Football Association officially recognized Liverpool FC in 1892, established at a field known as "Anfield" after a location dispute between two club owners. From 1892, Liverpool FC was born.'''

6. Who are the members? Who are the newcomers and who are the experts? Is there a hierarchy to this community? How does one become a full member and accepted in the community, if applicable? '''The members of Liverpool FC are the professional players that have been signed for the club. The newcomers are the newest signings (example, Thiago who came from Bayern Munich in 2020) and the experts are the 'senior' players who've been there for a considerable amount of time (example, James Milner and Jordan Henderson). There is no hierarchy in the football club. A player is accepted in the community when they are officially signed for the club.'''

7. How do group members communicate with one another? When do they meet? '''Group members talk to each other at the training grounds in Liverpool verbally. They can also talk together on social media apps, such as Instagram and Twitter.'''

8. What kind of specialized language and terms are used within this community? A special term used is the "You'll Never Walk Alone" slogan, which comes from a successful 1963/64 season - where the "Reds" (term for Liverpool players and fans) won their first FA Cup.

9. Are there stereotypes about this community from an outsider's perspective? '''A stereotype for Liverpool FC is that the goalkeepers are poorly trained. This comes from a German goalkeeper named Karius' performance in the UCL final in May 2018, who delivered a horrendous performance and costed the Reds a UCL title.'''

10. Will you need outside research? Will you be interviewing anyone? I will need outside research and I will not be interviewing anyone.

How K-Pop Stans Became an Activist Force to Be Reckoned With
Why did the author choose to profile this community? Who is the target audience? How do you know? Don't focus on your opinions or your own perceptions of the community. Instead, you want to focus on the writing style and how the author uses words, phrases, examples, text, to get their point across.

Excerpt

 * It already seems like the article favors K-pop stans [seems like his audience is people that understimate K-pop stans and their power], and this is evident in exaggerated praises: "A K-pop stan is simply an enthusiastic and active fan of Korean pop music..." (Wired.com, 2020). They are also containing a bias against Trump, which is evident with all the bias mentionings of incidents against Trump: "Earlier this month, when the Trump campaign asked users to wish the president happy birthday on Twitter, they flooded the replies with rude messages." [potraying this in a light manner]
 * From the exaggerated praises and the mentioning of K-pop's biggest achievements and statuses: "K-pop fan groups are large, active, and growing—#KpopTwitter was included in 6.1 billion Tweets in 2019...".
 * Already listing requirements of a discourse community, mentioning a shared "goal": "Their shared obsession with K-pop idols makes it easy for them to mobilize"; and a method of communication: "And these fans were members of online discussion groups, forums and chat rooms of Asian popular music"; mentioning significance: "The website of the label, believed to have forced Tzuyu to apologize against her will, was taken down in a DDoS attack, in which Williams believes K-pop stans played a role." (and in the Twitter mentioning).
 * An interesting mentioning of potential racism within the community: “So there’s a sense of ‘giving back,’ but the more important ideological source is anti-racism,” he says.