READÂ “Understanding Discourse Communities” by Dan Melzer. Write a response to the questions below. Make sure to thoughtfully respond to the questions. Do not just write a few words in response, write a meaningful answer that is based in the text. Use evidence and examples from the text to support your thinking.
RESPOND to the post of at least ONE classmate! Use the tips for effective online discussions to help you with your response! Remember some of the probing questions!
- I agree or disagree with ____ because ____.
- What do you mean by ___ term?
- Could you clarify that remark/ comment / idea / concept?
READING QUESTIONS
- What did you think of the piece? Be honest! Really! I want to know! Was it hard to understand? Interesting? Boring?
- According to John Swale (and Dan Melzer) what features do all discourse communities have? (List all 6!)
- What were the shared goals of Melzerâs guitar jam group? Explain! Provide an example!
- What is a mechanism for intercommunication? What example does Melzer provide? Explain!
- How does Melzer explain the idea of discourse communities having genres that further the goals of a discourse community? What genres did Melzerâs guitar jam group use to further their goals?
- What does it mean for a discourse community to have a specific lexis? What is an example of the specific lexis (language) that Melzerâs guitar jam group used? Explain! Provide an example!
- How do the beginners and experts in Melzerâs guitar jam group work together? Explain!
- Can you think of a Discourse Community you might belong to?
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1. I think this piece was very informative and contained a lot of relevant information. This piece seemed very repetitive and lengthy which made it a bit harder to stay focused. The author supported his claim by sharing a personal experience about this life, which made his claim relevant and much stronger.
2. According to John Swale and Dan Melzer, the six different features that all discourse communities have are common public goals, methods of communicating among the members, participatory communication methods, genres that define the group, lexis, and a standard of knowledge needed for membership.
3. The shared goal of Melxerâs guitar jam group was to meet its goals through genres. He provided an example of The Meetup.com site, which was one important genre that was critical in the formation of the group and to help it recruit new members. Another way was the handouts with song chords and lyrics.
4. A mechanism for intercommunication is when members have some way to communicate directly with each other about the communityâs goals. The example Melzer provides is the Meetup site. He stated in the text, âBut a Meetup.com group like the Sacramento acoustic guitar jam focused on a specific topic with shared goals and a community of members who frequently interact can be considered a discourse community based on Swalesâ definition.â
5. Melzer explains the idea of discourse communities having genres that further the goals of discourse community the discussing the importance of visual and of the social action of the genre.
6. For a discourse community to have specific lexis means the group uses these specialized terms according to their group in order to work together as a group.
7. The beginners and experts work together in the group by allowing the members to show up with songs to play, they bought copies of the lyrics and chords. visual of the chords, shared and taught the vocabulary, allowing to copy what the other person is doing, and gave good advice.
8. I think I could belong to a Discourse Community either with the same major as me in college or the same culture/religion I follow.
Hi Tehmina,
I enjoyed reading your answer to number 5 as it had similar to my response but with an angle that I hadn’t really thought of. The inclusion of “discussing the importance of visual and of the social action of the genre” stood out to me as it never occurred to me that there would be a social aspect to genre’s.
1)I think the common trend with the few past texts that were assigned was initially it looked long and boring at first glance but after actually reading it didnât seem too bad. This text was no exception of course and I felt that thus far this was the best one due to it just being so relatable. The only reason Iâd say this is because I myself feel like Iâm in a discourse community just like Melzer and his group and to me that really stood out because of the similarities. Me and other individuals came together to share our interest in one topic and I feel like that can be said about a lot of people. Having that connection point with the text really made it all the better and enjoyable and really just brought out the best points of the piece.
2)Both John Swale and Dan Melzer mention that thereâs a total of six different features that all discourse communities have in common. The features are listed as follows – common goals, communication between members, feedback and suggestions to build off critique, varying genres that benefits and assists its members, specialized languages that’s inclusive to the community, and a set of more experienced members.
3)The common shared goal between the members of Melzerâs group was to just be in the presence of others and enjoy music together as people who just enjoy music. Melzerâs very own example of this was Meetup.com as it served to connect Melzer with similar interests and allowed for each member to build off one another in order to become better musicians.
4)Mechanism of intercommunication refers to the direct communications of exchange of ideas and information inside a group to build and progress upon the communityâs goals. To further elaborate, mechanisms of intercommunication are used in instances in which a group may be around each other in theory, however, not all of them share the same interests so they branch off into smaller groups to relate information about the common goals to one another. This is exactly how Melzer describes the inner workings of intercommunication of Meetup.com. He states ââPeople who use Meetup.comâ are not a discourse community, because even though theyâre using the same method of communication, they donât all share the same goals and they donât all regularly interact with each other. But a Meetup.com group like the Sacramento acoustic guitar jam focused on a specific topic with shared goals and a community of members who frequently interact can be considered a discourse community based on Swalesâ definitionâ . This demonstrates how there can be one common factor among the people but that doesnât necessarily mean they are in for the same reason thus bringing out the use of intercommunication to reach one another.
5)Melzer describes that having genreâs within a discourse community actually furthers their goals. Melzerâs example is a chord sheet that had brought in. Having being brought in, it allowed for the group members to follow along and have a reference so that the group would be able to work together harmoniously.
6)For a discourse community to have lexi means to have a specialized term or lingo that is often used within the group and cannot be easily understood by outsiders. These terms exist to either shorten a phrase or be able to explain a process through the use of a single word. Melzerâs example would be âWe talked about the root note of scale, a 1/4/5 chord progression, putting a capo on different frets, whether to play solos in a major or minor scale, double drop D tuning, and so onâ . As Melzer addresses to anyone who isn’t a musician it sounds like a foreign language but inside his discourse community it has much more meaning and allows them to play together effectively.
7)The beginners and experts work together in the regard that the experts assist the beginners so they are able to flesh out their skills. In addition, beginners might bring in information that the experts may not know about thus bringing in a level of equal exchange between members. For instance in Melzerâs group, being a beginner Melzer copied and mimicked the more experienced members to get a better handle at chords but when it came to giving he had brought in a song that was unfamiliar to the experts. This in exchange âexpanded the community’s base knowledgeâ as it gave the experts something new to learn.
8) A personal discourse community that Iâm a part of is the anime community. Although it does follow with the comment of âEw you watch animeâ, itâs a community that brings people who have the same interest to connect with one another and discuss their thoughts on the different media that are associated with the topic.
Hi Mushfiq, your response was very detailed answered and I enjoyed reading your response.
I really liked the way you answered #4 about the Mechanism of intercommunication, a group can have a lot in common but it doesn’t all mean they will communicate the same way.
Hi Mushfuq I get this all the time like you for number 8 I would have couple of friends and family members that donât watch it and be like why u watching this itâs trash and boring. I enjoy watching anime is because I love seeing the fights that are happening the funny moments that makes me laugh I watch Naruto one piece Dragon ball Z black over etc.
I find the comment that you made about anime interesting. I can say I have been one of those people that have said that until my brother started introducing me to some of the shows he watches.
I believe that this piece was informative but it repeated itself a lot when it came to explaining the journey the author had with his guitar community. It was interesting at first but then it gets a little hard to keep up.
According to John Swale, the 6 features that all discourse communities have are A broadly agreed-upon set of common public goals, Mechanisms of intercommunication among members, use of these communication mechanisms to provide information and feedback, one or more genres that help further the goals of the discourse community, A specific lexis (specialized language), and a threshold level of expert members (24-26).
Some of the shared goals of Melzerâs guitar group were that they had to meet up monthly to enjoy music and to learn new songs as well. They used the website Meetup.com and as mentioned a lot throughout the article it was their most-used source to communicate with each other.
The source of communication was the website Meetup.com. This was useful to everyone in the group.
Melzer explains the idea of discourse communities as a group coming together that share the same interest and goals together. As mentioned in the article it was hard for him to change from being a professor to a guitarist. He coulndt understand the keys and the terms used. But in the discourse community, everyone helped him out till he then got the hang of it.
Specific lexis that Melzerâs guitar group used were the musical terms they understood. The types of chords and the musical language came easy to musicians and guitarists.
They work together by practicing each others songs and they then pick up their techniques as well. By doing it repetitively they are practicing different songs and guitar chords.
A Discourse community that I can belong to is the religion that I grew up in and that I was taught.
I agree you with on #8 . I also think I belong to a discourse community ( religion that I grew up in) since I still talked to a lot of people, we share same religious views .
1) This piece was not boring. I sort of liked it . It explains how when you’re new to something its a whole different world and language to you but you adapt and learn things within time.
2) The features all discourse communities have according to John Swale and Dan Melzer their goals, form of communication, everyone playing in the same key, sharing similar songs, similar language, group of specialists.
3) The shared goals of Melzer’s guitar group between group members were they all played guitar for fun and wanted get better at it .As he mentions in the article he went on meet up.com to meet up with people who share the same goals as him playing guitar .
4) A mechanism for intercommunication is when members of the same group exchange their ideas with each other to create more work and work better on their similar goals.
5)Melzer explains having genres as discourse communities is their way of learning.They bring their sheets and play similar genres and songs to get better .
6) Having a specific Lexi in a discourse group is a form of communication a specific lingo in the group that helps them easier to communicate with each other using their terms.
7) In melter’s group the beginners and experts work together by allowing each member express themselves and bring their own songs and sheets to play at their own pace and level, and sometimes experts play with beginners so they would all work as a group and help each other to grow.
8) I think I belong to the gym discourse community. I’ve been going to the gym for 6 months but I only communicate with people, spot people, even work out with them , and we help each other out.
1.What I think about this piece is was boring type because I had to read 2 times to myself to understand what itâs the author is saying. I can see that the author sharing personal things thatâs going on.
2.John Swale had mentioned the six different features.The six of the things they mention are 1.Common public goals,2.Methods of communication methods.3,Particpatory communication methods.4,Genres that define the group,5.a lexis and 6. a standard of knowledge needed for membership.
3.The Share goals that Melzer mentioned. Are the meet ups.com so where people came joy their self buy the nice lovely music thatâs going on so they can communicate with other people.
4.It means when people are having conversations either through over the phone or in person conversation so they can keep teach or update aid the things are are going on. A meetup.com are like is not a discourse communication majority is not like they can share things but is helpful for everyone in the group.
5.Melzer explains that having a genre as a discourse communication of them talking about the visual and be also to help each other.
6.A distance community what Lexi means is that coming together to help one of another so nobody doesnât struggle or mess up because working together brings people happiness.
7.The beginners I will say they can work as team together looking at all the others songs that they did so it can help them practice with all the cords.
8. A discourse community i can say in group activity in school I can say working together as a team is more helpful to one another itâs so that we canât give up for anything that are challenging.
Hi Rickey,
I agree with you that a team in a group class activity can be a discourse community. I was actually surprised by your example – because I’ve been thinking about bigger/more repetitive ones. It kind of opened my eyes to the other things that can be characterized as a discource community. Thank you for that!
The piece was quite easy to relate to – all of us were once newbies in something we excel at now. I liked the use of real-life examples to promote a better understanding of the ideas and rules covered in the article.
All discourse communities should generally have these six features:
– A set of common goals that are public and agreed upon
– Certain communication structures among the members
– Use of those structures for sharing information and feedback
– One or a few genres that help further the goals of the community
– Specialized language (lexis)
– Several expert members in the discourse community
Melzerâs guitar jam group shared distinct goals: the group was created for people who wanted to enjoy the music together, have fun, and learn new songs. One would know this because that information was clearly stated on the monthly meeting’s Meetup.com page.
A mechanism for intercommunication is a set way of communicating between the discourse community’s members (with the intention of the same goal). For the guitar jam group, it was the group’s webpage on Meetup.com. That is where the communication between members online, and recruitment of the new members appeared.
One can think of genres not merely as a set of descriptive features, or a map, but “a form of social action within discourse communities”. They develop through and with that action. The use of genres helps further the goals of the community. The two main genres of Melzerâs guitar jam group were the handouts and Meetup.com. While the use of Meetup.com allowed the members to communicate between in-person sessions, recruit new members, and inform incoming people about the key details, the handouts with chords and lyrics provided an easy way for members of all levels to be able to participate in the jam.
Specific lexis is essentially specialized language. It is the terms that are used by the members of the discourse community to convey their ideas effectively. Oftentimes, these terms are hard or almost impossible to understand for the people outside of the community. Melzerâs guitar jam group used musician-specific language: “Major/minor scale, chord progression, putting a capo on frets”.
The experts of the jam group educated newbies on the set conventions and showed how to perform more challenging chords, while the new members added value by introducing everyone to the songs they might not have heard before.
It is quite challenging to find discourse communities in my life since there’s a need for them to comply with the six features mentioned above. A discourse community I belong to is Moving Pixels (A COMD Video Collective), one of the CityTech student clubs.
1.I thought the piece was really interesting and informative. I say it was definitely interesting how he connected his real life situation to how to communicate better.
2.One feature that discourse communities have is a broadly agreed upon set of common public goals. The second feature is mechanisms of intercommunication among members. The third feature is the use of these communication mechanisms to provide information and feedback. The fourth feature is one or more genres that help further the goals of the discourse community. The fifth feature is A specific lexis (specialized language).
3. The shared goals of the melzerâs group was having fun, enjoying the music, and learning new songs. One example is that on Meetup.com groups like the Sacramento acoustic guitar jam focused on a specific topic with shared goals, and a community of members who frequently interact can be considered a discourse community based on Swalesâ definition.
4.Mechanism of intercommunication is communication between each other within the community about each other’s goals. One example is âBut a Meetup.com group like the Sacramento acoustic guitar jam focused on a specific topic with shared goals and a community of members who frequently interact can be considered a discourse community based on Swalesâ definition.â
5.Melzer explains the idea of discourse communities having genres that further the goals of a discourse community by helping them meet their goals. âThe Meetup.com site was one important genre that was critical in the formation of the group and to help it recruit new members.â
6.For discourse communities to use specific lexis means they used specialized terms to communicate with each other. One example he used was âWe talked about the
root note of scale, a 1/4/5 chord progression, putting a capo on different frets, whether to play solos in a major or minor scale, double drop D tuning, and so on.â
7.Beginners and experts work together by the beginners learning from the more experienced.
8.One discourse community I think that Belong in is a math one. I’m not really good at it so I need help with that.
1. In the beginning I didn’t think I would find this article interesting because it was 13 pages. But after reading it I found some of the points very interesting. I think it was a good thing that the author was able to bring real-world examples into their writing because it made it easier to relate to.
2. John Swale and Dan Melzer state that the six different features that all discourse communities have are common public goals, methods of communicating among the members, participatory communication methods, genres that define the group, lexis, and a standard of knowledge needed for membership.
3. The common shared goal between the members of Melzerâs group was to just be in the presence of others and enjoy music together as people who just enjoy music. Melzerâs very own example of this was Meetup.com. This was a way to connect Melzer with similar interests and allowed for each member to build off one another in order to become better musicians. This way there could be someone that would give them feedback or encourage them whenever they needed it. This was helpful because they had someone that understood them.
4. Mechanism of intercommunication refers to the direct communications of exchange of ideas and information inside a group to build and progress upon the communityâs goals. An example of this is when Melzer describes the inner workings of intercommunication of Meetup.com. He states âPeople who use Meetup.comâ are not a discourse community, because even though theyâre using the same method of communication, they donât all share the same goals.” What he means by this is that they may be using a website but that doesn’t make them a community because they are not interacting with everyone there. There have been subgroups made in order for everyone to feel heard and understood.
5. Melzer describes that having genres within a discourse community actually furthers their goals
6. For a discourse community to have Lexi means to have a specialized term or lingo that is often used within the group and cannot be easily understood by outsiders. An example of this can be seen when people talk about going to the gym and their workouts, While some people might understand them there will be people who would look at them like they are speaking a foreign language.
7. The beginners and experts work together in the group by allowing the members to show up with songs to play.
8. I was struggling to find a discourse that I belong to but then I thought about my religion. I use to be very close to my church and as time has gone I have not been close to my religion as before but I know I would be able to get back into it.
1: At the beginning of the article I wasn’t too sure about the direction the text was going in, however in the midsection, it started to become more clear on what it was all about. Honestly, I Liked the text as John swale and Melzer started to explain what a discourse group is and then proceeded to start using their own experience in life to explain what a discourse group is.
2: A discourse group has a following of Six identifiable traits, Which are Common goals among all the members, Communication, Feedback/ constructive criticism, Genres that define the group, Specialized language, and Experts in the group.
3: Melzer explains that a group must have common goals to be considered a discourse community, which he later explains that within his Guitar Jam Group the common goal was to have fun, enjoy music, and learn new songs. Melzer explains that a group must have a common goal to stay organized and to have something to work on as a whole group.
4: Discourse groups are not a one and done type of activity instead constant communication is a key factor to be in the community, for example in the text Melzer explains that his group called the “Sacramento acoustic guitar jam” is a group that meets in a monthly bases and communicates to each other.
5. Genres explain and define each discourse community with one example being Music handout sheets, These sheets explain Melzer’s group form of communication which is how each member learns how to organize and play together.
6: Specialized Lexis is a set of words that have a specific meaning which allows the user to explain themselves with accuracy and precision. Melzer’s groups used specialized language such as Root note of the scale, 1/4/5 Chord progression, and Putting a capo on different frets; this set of specialized language allows the group to work together effectively and efficiently.
7: In each group, there will always be an expert to lead and guide the beginners, in Melzer’s group the beginners would be with the experts to help improve upon their skillset as the expert has the experience which the expert can then proceed to explain to the beginner what their weaknesses and strengths are.
8: Discourse communities I’m a part of are the following, fitness community in the gym, Tecuanes de chinatla, English comp II, and the gaming community that me and my online friends are a part of.
Hey Henry! I can agree with you on the first question and that having the author give his experiences makes the article more compelling to read.
I agree with what you said on the 6th question . Each group have their own terms and lexis that make them work together as a group .
I found this article informative but a bit long made it a bit of a task to hold my focus while reading. The main ideas made by author were based on his claims which made the more relevant and well written.
The 6 discourse communities are public goals, methods of communicating among the members, participatory communication methods, genres that define the group, lexis, and a standard of knowledge needed for membership.
Some goals that the guitar group shared were that they had to meet up monthly to enjoy music and to learn new songs as well. They used the website Meetup.com and as mentioned a lot throughout the article it was their most-used source to communicate with each other.
They used the website Meetup.com and as mentioned a lot throughout the article it was their most-used source to communicate with each other.
The author explains how the idea of discourse communities having genres that further the goals of a discourse community by helping them meet their goals. âThe Meetup.com site was one important genre that was critical in the formation of the group and to help it recruit new members.â
For a discourse community to have Lexi means to have a specialized term or lingo that is often used within the group and cannot be easily understood by outsiders. An example of this can be seen when people talk about going to the gym and their workouts, While some people might understand them there will be people who would look at them like they are speaking a foreign language.
The beginners and experts work together in the group by allowing the members to show up with songs to play.
A discourse community I might belong to is a community full of engineers that make fast and agile racing vehicles.
I enjoyed reading the writing piece âUnderstanding Discourse Communitiesâ by Dan Melzer. The way he narrated to his audience of how he gave himself a push to learning the guitar so he could teach others was well said. Also an eye opener. If you want to be good at a certain skill, sport or anything, the best way is to be around others who are doing the same.
All discourse communities must have according to John Swales is a goal the group is trying to achieve. Two, ways of communicating with one another. Three, to give feedback on each other. Four, multiple genres to achieve those goals. Five, to have a specialised language and six, to have people who have a high level of experience.
Melzerâs guitar jam group had goals that they all agreed upon. Thatâs the thing about discourse communities. Goals canât be personal goals, it has to be an achievement or could be similar, that everyone is trying to unlock. The organizar of the group Melzer was a part of, stated that the goal was for everyone to enjoy and learn new songs. That’s a very specific target because the gatherings revolve around accomplishing that for everyone.
Mechanism of intercommunication is the source that is used to reach out to others. For example. Melzerâs guitar groupâs mechanism of intercommunication was âMeetup.comâ.Thatâs the site they primarily used to chat and communicate. Melzer states that not every group on meetup.com is a discourse community because they donât all share the same goals. He states ââPeople who use Meetup.comâ are not a discourse community, because even though theyâre using the same method of communication, they donât all share the same goals and they donât all regularly interact with each otherâ. This quote states that people who use meetup.com arenât part of a discourse community but those who interact with one another on groups and share same goals are.
Melzer states that having genreâs help accomplish goals in a discourse community because you can take the social aspects of those genres that relate to your goals to learn more. The example Melzer uses is his guitar group. How they use Meetup.com to recruit and bring in people who are new to guitar. It was also the genre that delivered information. Melzer states â The Meetup.com site was one important genre that was critical in the formation of the group and to help it recruit new members. It was also the genre that delivered information to the members about what the community was about and where and when the community would be meetingâ. This states how Melzerâs guitar group used Meetup.com as a genre and how important it was.
A discourse community to have a specific language doesnât mean to make up a language. It means to have certain words that someone who is part of another community doesnât understand. For example if I am riding my bike in a group ride and and i stick my left leg out, you probably wouldnât know what that means, but those who are part of the group ride would know exactly what is and would proceed with caution. Melzerâs guitar group used many different terms. He states âWe talked about the root note of scale, a 1/4/5 chord progression, putting a capo on different
frets, whether to play solos in a major or minor scale, double drop D tuning, and so onâ. Melzer states these terms that I donât understand. That shows the Lexis that is used in his group and could only be understood by those who are part of guitar groups. Or maybe that specific one.
Beginners and experts in Melzerâs guitar group worked together positively. The experts or those who had more experience would help those with less experience and who were lost. Melzer states âI relied on more experienced players to figure out strumming patterns and chord changes, and I learned to improve my solos by watching other players use various techniques in their soloing. The most experienced players also helped educate everyone on the conventions of the group (the ânormsâ of how the group interacted)â. This quote states how the experts would help and educate those with less knowledge. Also how Melzer relied on the experts to learn the strumming patterns.
I have a couple discourse communities but one I am active the most in would be the cycling community.
This article piqued my interest because it provided valuable information about discourse communities. Common goals, communication mechanisms, feedback, experts, genre, and specialized language are all features that all discourse communities have, according to John Swale (and Dan Melzer). Melzer’s guitar jam group all had the same goal in mind: to have a good time. The author claims in the text that he met other guitarists through a website called Meetup.com. Any form of communication, such as texting, blogging, talking on the phone, or sending an email, is an intercommunication mechanism. Melzer claims that having genres within a discourse community helps to achieve long-term goals. Having specific lexis for a discourse community entails In order to work together as a group, the group uses these specialized terms according to their group. Beginners and experts collaborate, with the latter learning from the former. The engineering community at city tech is a discourse community in which I participate.
1.I found this piece very interesting in a way where I collected relevant information. The author described how we adapt to our environment or get used to it. He connected and stated his real life situation to clear things up and communicate better in many ways.
2. According to John Swale and Dan Mezler, there are six features that all discourse communities have . They are methods of communication, common goals, communication methods, genres that define the group, language or lexis, and a standard of knowledge.
3. The shared goals of Mezlers guitar jam group was to be together as a group and enjoy the music. He mentioned that they used Meetup.com , where they all shared their interest in music. They used this to help each other , encourage one another, and get better at music.
4. A mechanism for intercommunication is when members of a group have a way or method to communicate with each other . This helps the group exchange ideas , learn from each other, gain progress on each of their goals. An example would be Meetup.com as mentioned, because it was a form of communication. Within the group they shared the same interest in goals.
5.Melzer explains the idea of discourse communities having genres that give progress to their goals. An example would be when they bring their music sheets. These sheets help them communicate better to get to their goal and play better together.
6.Having a specific lexis within a discourse community means having a form of language or terms used within a group that can be understood within the group. For example he mentioned terms such as chords, root notes, frets, and capo, which I wouldn’t even understand honestly.
7.The beginners and experts in melzers guitar group worked together by sharing their knowledge to the beginners. Sharing ideas and information helped everyone gain something new. They would all bring their own equipment such as sheets and songs to help each other out.
8.As of now there isn’t a specific discourse community that I belong to but I would say I used to belong in the church community where I would go 2 days a week consistently.
Understanding discourse community was a very informative piece and was well explained. Although this piece was very long and kind of boring I still enjoyed all the info given. The features of these discourse communities are common public goals, methods of communicating among members, participatory communication methods, genres that define to the group, a specific lexis, standard knowledge needed for membership. The shared goals was to be in the presence of others and listen to music, laid-back. Meet.com was an example of a connection to help each other become better. Mechanism for intercommunication is what members have, a way of Communication with each other about community goals directly. Melzer Explains the idea of discourse communities by having discussing the importance of the six features of a discourse community. A specific Lexus means the group uses the term special to them in order to work in a group together. Beginners and experts in Melzerâs group jam work together by allowing members to show their music, as well as showing lyrics and chords to give their experience while experts can give tips, to the beginners. A discourse community I believe I belong to is a sneaker community, due to my addiction to sneakers.