ENG1121 English Composition 2, SP2020 MW

Click on the link and write about one of the lines/paragraphs that interested, confused, or annoyed you in “Navigating This Perfect Storm”: https://forms.gle/ToJLZeHaWPsSgLg57

Click on the link and submit it by 3/9: https://forms.gle/kv6Wc8TggHz5yS5s5

Hello, dear students!

All I’ll ask you to do is fill out the questionnaire on the following link (this will help you in a future writing assignment): https://forms.gle/MsSH3B8Y9b6pFd5T6

If you haven’t read my earlier post (which has a lot of important information–and the new deadline for the U2 Writing Assignment) please review it: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/penner-eng1121-spring2020d424mw/2020/03/29/eng1121-3-30-20-class-session/

That’s all! Be safe & well!

Luz Mery Felipe

English Composition 2

February 24^th, 2020

Word count: 1190

 

A Discourse Community I am Part Of

A Discourse Community can be defined as “ a collection of people or groups that work towards a common goal through communication.” For my discourse community I chose my job at H&R Block because we all share interest in the same field: Accounting and Business but at the same time because is where I spend most of my time getting to know how everything works and how I can improve what I already know.

When I started this job I was not sure if I was going to fit in because I had no experience dealing with people but my coworkers were really supportive, whenever I was stuck on something they helped me and I never saw a look of disappointment on their faces. Seeing how united they all were stood up to me from the very first day, the way they  treat each other like family and always having  each other’s back made things a lot easier for me and when I realized I was already  a member of this family.

As a company, our  goal is to prioritize the client and make sure they receive an excellent service from the moment they come in till the moment they get out. We want them to feel at home and trust us with everything no matter how silly they think it may sound we make sure they don’t get out of our office with any doubts. As one of the largest Taxes Company in the United States our main goal is to get our clients  the largest refund legally possible and pay the minimum legally possible as well.

Moreover, every job has conflicts to deal with and we are not an exception, as a Tax Professional the main conflict we face everyday is when a client is being audited, since I’m new at this they think is my fault or I put something incorrectly which is definitely not the case, however I always try to help them as much as I can and offer myself as their representative with the IRS or State, when I see things are getting out of my control, I ask for help or transfer the case to the        Tax Professional that has more experience. If I was the one who made the mistake I take full responsibility of the repercussion my mistake may bring and do everything I can to fix things.

Additionally, one way we communicate with each other is by having a meeting at the end of the day, where all of us  share how the day was where even the minimum detail matters like  if a client did not seem very happy while I was explaining everything, seemed tired of waiting or did not find the price of their taxes fair, we have to let the manager know so he can reach the client to see how we can improve our service. Throughout the day, whenever we feel stuck on something we call one of the Tax Preparer and ask for help. In addition, on weekends since I’m one of  the first one to get to the office, I text my others coworkers when one of their clients have arrived or I try to help them by starting all, the process if the clients let me of course.

Sunday, Feb 16, 9:42 AM

Paola Pena: Hi Jose, sorry to bother you, one of your clients is here and does not have time to wait, he asked me if I can help him, I just want to make sure you are okay with that.

Jose Felipe: Good morning, of course no problem, I’m almost there but you can start entering all his information on the computer, if he wants me to finish it I’ll do it.

Paola Pena: No problem! I’ll let them know you are on your way.

Jose Felipe: *thumbs up*

Subsequently, we communicate with the outside world by  phone. At the beginning of the Tax season we call our clients to see if they would like to set up an appointment with us, they also call us when they have a question or something about their refund is not right. Another way we contact with the outside world is by Email where clients send us their documentation or check up with us on how their Taxes are doing. Lastly, we send letters to clients when they haven’t finished Taxes or paid for the service we provided.

The language we use may vary depending on the people we are around, if there is no Spanish speaker in the moment we only Speak English to each other so the customer can understand everything we are saying. However, most of the time we speak Spanish since it is our first language and we feel more comfortable, I guess it is easier for us. But as I said before, the language we use will most likely depend on the clients language. If we have both kind of clients in the office, we will avoid talking to much.

It should be noted that the requirements for this job may vary,  in your  case as a Front Desk the first requirement for this job is to be 18 or more, after that you will need to have experience with customers as a cashier or something similar, being Bilingual is very important especially in our office since we are in a Latin area. Lastly, being responsible is key because we are dealing with very sensitive information and  it is our job to make sure that every document is where it belongs, and if it was left for a certain person, make sure that person get it as soon as possible.

In my case, as a Tax Professional  the main requirement is to have done all the necessary courses with our company, be over 18 and have all the necessary skills like communication, mathematics and Critical thinking to work with us, that is why you always see me studying, I want to make sure that I can answer all the doubts a client might have and at the same time the ability to understand everything they bring to me.

In conclusion, what really makes us a discourse community is our love for what we do, how all of us are always trying to learn new things so we can give a better service but overall how we are always there to help the other at any moment. In addition, when I started this job I was so insecure about taking it, I feel it was a lot of responsibility and at some moment I would not be able to handle it but as you can see I’m here, trying my best to not mess up everything and meet my client’s expectations. I would say that one of the best decisions I have made so far is taking this job and showing myself what I’m capable of.

Work Cited

Felipe, Jose. “Re: Work.” Received by Paola Pena, 16 Feb. 2020

Pena, Paola. Personal Interview. 24 Feb. 2020

Wilson, Katie. “Discourse Community”. GXB genre across borders. Drupal^TM , n, d. Web. 20 Feb,    2020.

https://genreacrossborders.org/gxb-glossary/discourse-community

 

Click on the link and complete before 3/4: https://forms.gle/YAA3BYK9HDSPcX1w9

 

Lailah White

ENG 1121

Revised Discourse Communities

Professor Penner

Word Count: 1029

20 February 2020

        When you hear about track and field, you most likely think about the world famous sprinter

Usain Bolt or the Olympics with the bright lights and shining gold medals, but I’m here to tell

you from first hand experience that it is way less glamorous than that. Before I joined track I

used to think the same thing and is one of the biggest reasons why joined the team in the first

place. Everyone you meet usually has already been running since the age of six so when I joined

freshman year of high school I felt very much intimidated by all the fast people. also people your

age have built a name for themselves in this community. Overtime, you begin to develop and

become faster through practice, while making a couple of good friends and memories along the

way.

     My first interaction with track begin in the physical education class, I knew I wanted to either

join basketball or track because I was planning ahead for my future to get a scholarship and go to

college for free. I chose track first because everyone my whole life told me that I was tall and

fast, but that is beside the point. There was a three day tryout for track and I decided to go after

school. I could tell that from the coach the team’s goal was to win a championship for the school

and one day be the best girl’s track team in the nation. The girls on the team were like a pack that

you had to break into, they had their own group chats, they would hold meetings every Friday

before competition, and always sit together during lunch. One thing that never changed with the

team was the conversations in the locker room before practice. This is where they would discuss

their classes, their daily drama in school, and how hard practice was about to be. The girls would

always joke about how they all were going to quit track but they never did. In school you could

always count on hearing about the track team on the loudspeaker in the mornings. This is where

the principal would list out all the accomplishments of the past weekend’s competition. When I

was on the team hearing my name on the loudspeaker gave me pride and joy because my

classmates and my friends in the hallways would tell me “good job”.

    Something else that I enjoyed about the track team was the new language I learned along the

way. A few words and phrases I learned was “taking out” and “PR”, which means to run out

before you get the baton in a relay and to run a personal record in an event. These things helped

me better fit in with the track community because I was able to communicate in their language. It

is important to know the language of track but before you can be fully accepted into the track

community you would have to know at least how to run correctly and have the right gear to run.

this would include spikes, trainers, and a bag with a change of clothes for practice. It is also very

important to have a good coach because without a good coach you are not going to be able to run

fast times, and when you run fast times you are more likely to get more friends because people

like to think they are friends with the next Olympian. The faster you are the more known you

become round the track community.

    I decided to ask one of my teammates about their experience with track to get a different

perspective. My teammate Quinzell is a sprinter and I am a middle distance runner, you may be

asking yourself what is the difference. The two sections involve obviously running but for

middle distance you are typically running 400 meter and up, with a sprinter it is the 400 and

down. Quinzell’s track career started when she was 6 to 7 years old, most people in the sport

usually start around this time, it is very rare that you find people just starting track in high school

like myself. She says that she got into track through family and her culture, Guyanese, in the

Caribbean it is very normal for a child to do track because the people on the island are very

active in walking everywhere they go. For others that are not Caribbean they hear about track

through the potential scholarships that they could get, making college expenses less of a burden.

Quinzell practices everyday of the week except weekends, which are taken up with running

meets. Her favorite part about track is the away meets because she gets to travel with her team

out of the state to compete. Her least favorite part would be practice, there are two types of

practices that she goes to, weight room and running. Weight room is used to get the sprinters’

bodies strong and explosive. The running practices are used to get the runner faster and also

explosive. The runners in the community always have a debate on who has the harder practice, it

is still in debate today.

     In conclusion, track and field took me off guard because I never expected a sport to challenge

me mentally, physically, and spiritually all in one. The sport is way more than running because it

pushes you to work harder, even when you feel you’re at your worst. This was a confusing

concept to get my head around because I was used to always getting the results for my hard work

right away, but with track some days are good and some days are bad so you continue to work

until it pays off. So if I had the chance to talk to my younger self,  I would tell myself how hard

the challenges of track would be because initially, I thought track was just running and you get a

scholarship right away, but it takes so much more like dedication and a lot consistent hard work.

 

Works cited

Brazilio, Quinzell. (Friend) Personal interview (In person) . 20 February 2020

 

Click on the link and submit it before class on 3/2: https://forms.gle/Sk3XFdubXMUnqjB9A

Skyleen Espinal 

24 February 2020

ENG 1121

Word Count: 1,000

 

            Rising Stars Dance Studio – Discourse Community 

Rather than being at the park with my friends, or at a friends house after school playing video games, I chose to spend the majority of my time in dance class. When I had first started at the age of three, it was just a hobby; just something to do out of pure enjoyment, and it wasn’t till I noticed how dedicated and passionate I was, that I realized dance was more than just a hobby for me. It was my discourse community, and it was life. I say this because I was basically raised in the dance studio, and the other dancers became my extended family, and it has given me opportunities to connect with amazing people, to reach for the stars, and to accomplish goals. 

As a dancer at Rising Stars Dance Studio, there were responsibilities and goals each dancer had to fulfill. Considering that every dancer is different, like some are more skilled at turning than they are at leaping, or some are more flexible than the other, we each had our own individual goals to accomplish. However, as a team, our main goals were to gain more technique, and prepare for competition and our recital which was at the ending of the school year. Preparing for these performances used to be the most stressful process of them all because it can get really competitive within our own community, and it will get kind of ugly between our own peers. It would get hectic during this process too because being that we need more time to rehearse, we would sacrifice a lot of our free time to practice our routine, even if we didn’t have class that day. We were a class full of females, and we were like sisters, and there were times where we would get catty and bicker or snark at each other, and sometimes would get jealous if another dancer was put in the front or got a solo for a piece. This may sound toxic, but it is just a part of dance that people who aren’t dancers, usually don’t understand. With that being said, in order for anyone to be a part of this community, technique, passion, and dedication are definitely needed. 

When you have technique, you’re able to understand the language we use within our community, and you’re able to keep up with the team. When you lack technique, it makes you a weaker dancer, and you can’t advance till you prove your technique is up to par. In dance, you can be the most talented dancer, but if you lack passion, you’re considered boring because there is no presence. That is because with passion, comes emotion, and dance is essentially “emotion in motion.” Although competing and winning first place was a goal, and perfecting our pieces for recital, we also had a purpose and that was to express our emotions, and use our bodies as a way to communicate with the audience. Our choreographer would always choose a song and make a story, and it would be our duty to communicate that story through our movements, and ensure some type of impact on the judges / audience. Lastly, dedication is an important trait to have as a dancer because you’re committed to a team, and even though going to your friends barbecue on Saturday sounds nice, you have to sacrifice your time for dance. You also have to be so dedicated that you’re able to persevere through pretty much anything, such as taking harsh criticism from teachers, having to keep going when your toes are literally bleeding from being on pointe, or falling on stage, because as you’ve probably heard before – “the show must go on.” 

There are a bunch of phrases you’ve probably heard before like “the show must go on” “take it from the top” or “break a leg” and although these phrases are said in this community, there is a specific language we use to communicate movements, which is called dance terminology. Dance terminology can depend on what genre of dance you do. My team and I were a diverse group of dancers meaning we were experienced in different genres of dance such as, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, pointe, and contemporary, and these genres of dance, each had terminology of their own. Ballet terminology is in French and we would say things like “battement developpe” and “coupe-jete en tournant.” In tap class, terms like “pullbacks” and “maxie ford” are used, and in jazz, some basic terms include, “axel turn” and “fan kick.” 

Till this day, I find myself saying things that sound perfectly normal to a dancers ear but sound weird to a non dancer, I catch myself counting from five, six, seven, eight, from time to time instead of one, two, three, four but this goes to show how much being in this discourse community has influenced my life, and it still and always be a part of me.