Month: February 2020

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Ayotunde Summers1121

Ayotunde Summers

Prof. Penner

ENG 1121

Word Count: 1043

Discourse Community Paper

The discourse community I am a part of is known as Tase Grip. (GRIP) GRIP is a collective of Hip hop artists and producers. We strive to distinguish ourselves from the mundane repetition of modern-day Hip hop through diligent practice of our individual crafts in the hopes of achieving mastery of self-expression. It’s important to note, that GRIP is not a group; each artist is its own entity. That being said, all artists in the community are connected via the collective consciousness known as Tase Grip. Through these shared interests and beliefs, Tase Grip is a discourse community. My initial assumptions of Tase Grip were that they were a group of pretentious music snobs who had major difficulties fitting into what is considered status quo.  Research on Tase Grip was a combination of daily interactions with other members, interviews, and self-reflection being that I am a member of this discourse community.

What makes Tase Grip unique is our ability to stand on our own merits and talents. Although we are together, we do not depend on each other to be productive. Self-sufficiency is vital to any artist, regardless of the genre. If one cannot find the inspiration from within to create then one’s passion likely lies somewhere else. Fortunately, our shared passion for music keeps us motivated to improve ourselves through our creations. We value freedom of expression above all things. Although music comes in many forms, there is no need to box oneself into a particular set of rules and standards set by a sub-genre of music. Doing so will only hinder one’s potential and growth that can only be obtained by observing all forms of music and create one’s own style. There is no set way of becoming a member of Tase Grip. My introduction to the community was through my older brother, who went to high school with the founding father and leader of Tase Grip, AKAI SOLO. It was through becoming friends and an acknowledgment of my talents as a producer that I was invited to be a part of the community. Other members in the community have a similar story, we’re all just a group of friends whose interests happen to lie in music. With that being said, I was not acknowledged as a full member of Tase Grip until I was taught the handshake. We use this handshake to greet each other or to convey excitement towards the content we have produced.

We communicate with the outside world through our music. We release music on multiple streaming platforms such as Spotify, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud. Communication is also achieved through promotion on social media like Facebook and Instagram. Performing live shows is also a great way for us to practice and share new content with audiences we would normally not come into contact with had we not ventured outside of our comfort zone. Collaboration with other artists outside the community also achieves the same effect. Intercommunication takes place whenever we decide to meet up. For more pressing matters or general discussion, there is a group chat available. The language we use is akin to Hip hop, anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comic book) culture. An example from Hip hop culture would be a “Bar”. A “Bar” is a witty line or punch line in a rap song:

“Emasculate a Dog/

Just to make him play with balls.”

Another example of language used within the group is “Haki”. This term comes from the manga, One Piece and refers to a spiritual power that is within every being in the One Piece universe. In layman’s terms, “Haki” is the manifestation of one’s willpower. Relating it back to the discourse community, “Haki” is used to give praise to the work and talents of an individual. To clarify, if there is a talented rapper or producer we would say his “Haki” is strong.

I decided to interview AKAI SOLO, the leader of Tase Grip. When asked what he believed to be the goal of Tase Grip he responded, “To generate and sustain fruitful bonds all in the name of furthering conciseness and perspective. A supergroup amongst creatives, capable of satisfying any need. An infinite formation, comprised of limitless variations.” He continued his statement with a clarification, “Although I say we are a supergroup, the term group doesn’t properly describe who we are as Tase Grip. I’d say we’re more of a collective. There’s a distinct difference between a collective and a group, at least in the context I’m referring to, that I think should be made clear. A group is more tightly knit and dependent on the other members in tandem with collective consensus before anything can be done. A collective is a bit freer. The collective consensus is encouraged and its application is gauged but, not required definitively. Each component is supposed to be a whole adding to a bigger mass. A group is generally composed of fragments that need each other to be whole.” To summarize, each member has the ability to stand on his own merits thus to call Tase Grip a group would be a disservice to the individual talents of all members.

In conclusion, I would like to make note of how jarring it was for me to examine my discourse community and my place within it from a point of view that is outside of myself. Instances and events that under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t bat an eye towards, were now being examined as if encountering it for the first time. For example, I have been a member of this discourse community for three years. Over that span of time, there have been numerous occasions when we would meet up. Whether it be to create, talk business, or for leisure. All of these meetups have taken place at the same member’s house without fail. Mind you, this member has moved four times over these three years. In some cases, it would have been more convenient to convene somewhere else. However, it was the consensus to meet wherever this member was living at the time. Overall, it was reassuring to know we as a discourse community holds a lot of the same values and beliefs. These topics weren’t discussed until I had to write this paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited Page

Solo, Akai. “Discourse Community Interview .” 17 Feb. 2020.

Summers, Ayotunde. “Discourse Community Interview” 17 Feb. 2020

 

 

Timothy Capicotto 2/23/20

Unit 1 Assignment: Discourse communities

1001 words

A discourse community is a group of people with a varying size that share something in common. The common traits that form a discourse community can range from age, weight, beliefs, religion, ideals, and even ethnicity. I am a part of many discourse communities, including the discourse community that is our English 1121 Class and the PC Gaming discourse community, but the one I chose to write about was the City Tech CST discourse community because to me, it is the most mature and interesting one I could think of. I fit into this discourse community for two most prominent reasons, I am first of all, a City Tech student and second of all, currently enrolled in CST classes, which is my major. Despite being in a discourse community, not everyone involved thinks, acts, or believes the same things. This assignment will hopefully prove my idea that a discourse community is equal parts individuality and self expression and equal parts like mindedness.

To prove my point that not every individual person that takes part of one or more discourse communities, thinks, acts, or believes in completely identical methods, I have interviewed my fellow English 1121 and CST 1201 Classmate Amanda Baldeo. While we shared many of the same opinions on the CST discourse community and opinions on CST as a whole, some of our opinions and motives on certain topics started to differ from one another.

Different discourse communities have and utilize many different forms of communication for members to communicate within their own sanctum, as such, our CST discourse community is no different. During the interview I had with Amanda, I proposed to her the question of how our CST community communicates. In turn, she responded by telling me that she believes our community communicates through the sometimes intricate and sometimes simple codes and programs we formulate on a near regular basis. For this question that I proposed to her, I have to say I agree because, we in fact do create programs that ask questions, take in user input, and overall attempt to effectively communicate with the viewer of the program, be it fellow students or the professors who teach us how to program. While we don’t create programs for prolonged conversation, our programs are able to communicate.

For my second question, I proposed the question of how can you tell if someone is a full member of the City Tech CST community. Her retort to my question was that she believed to be a full member of the CST community at City Tech, you had to have full knowledge of the CST department. This is where our opinions started to bifurcate and split as I believed being a full member of the CST community was being a full time student. However, neither of our opinions are wrong, because they seem most logical to us regarding our thoughts and beliefs on the matter proving that individuality thrives in discourse communities.

The third question I proposed to Amanda during our interview was a question regarding the goals of the members of the CST community. In response she told me that in her opinion our goal is to gain knowledge from our classes and pass them so we can eventually graduate. For this question I proposed, my opinion aligns similarly with hers. Even if our opinions were different, neither would be incorrect, because our opinions are formed on a matter of experience proving once again, that despite being in the same discourse community we all think differently.

The fourth question proposed to Amanda in our 6 question interview was about what is the official “language” of our City Tech CST community. Amanda’s response was that the main language or dialect of the CST community is a mix of standard english and abbreviated versions of technical terms. Examples of these are abbreviations of networking protocol names like TCP (transmission control protocol) and POP (post office protocol). In this instance we share the same beliefs regarding what we think is the official “language” of CST.

The fifth question I proposed to Amanda during the interview was “What does a person need to know to join the CST discourse community?” This is where our opinions really start to vary from one another. Amanda stated that what you need to know is the basic terminology and basic programming to join the CST community. On the other hand, I don’t think you need to know anything about programming to get in because, I started CST with absolutely no meaningful programming experience prior to starting my classes and I feel I’ve cemented myself into the CST community rather nicely.

For the 6th and final question of my interview, I saved the one I deemed most important, “Why did you choose CST.” Amanda chose CST for a multitude of reasons, these reasons being that she liked keeping her hands busy by typing, and enjoys the thrill of complicated tasks. On the other hand, I chose CST because I enjoy working with computers for the most part, and jobs involving use of computers tend to have high pay, and I really REALLY like money and would want to help financially support my mother in the future with the money I get from what might hopefully be a career in computer tech.

In conclusion, this assignment helped me learn a lot about myself and my friend, Amanda and our opinions on our current educational situation. This assignment has also helped me feel a little less different in a way, as Amanda and I for the most part hold many of the same, if not at the very least somewhat similar opinions and beliefs despite having our differences. On a final note, I’d like to end by saying my research and findings by conducting my interview of Amanda has confirmed my beliefs that like mindedness as well as individuality and self expression play incredibly and equally important parts of being in a Discourse Community of any kind, regardless of the topic.

Amanda Baldeo Personal communication (February 13th 2020)

 

Gaming Discourse Community

English Essay 1

Aaliyah Charles My Discourse Community

Zuleyma M. Discourse Conmunity Essay

Akeeme Black

ENG 1121

Prof. Penner

Feb. 22, 2020

Word Count: 1264

YouTube is a popular video streaming website owned by Google averaging 1.3 Billion users every single day. YouTube was created in 2005 and even until now people go on the website to find videos whether their purpose is to be entertained, informed or persuaded. So, a lot of people know about YouTube but not a lot of people are aware of the discourse community involved, more specifically the discourse community of a YouTuber. A discourse community is a group of people who share a common goal and share the same basic values, assumptions and ways of communicating. This essay will go in depth on the discourse communities YouTubers are associated with. Luckily for me I am associated with YouTubers everyday whereas I’m a freelance social media designer, I make things from YouTube thumbnails, banners, profile pictures, etc. Therefore, I get to work around YouTubers every day and understand the mindset of a YouTuber.

For this assignment I chose to interview different sets of YouTubers ranging from those who are high in subscriber count and relevance to those who are up and coming. The most famous YouTuber I interviewed goes by the name of “Grinding DF”. He currently stands at 423,000 subscribers as well as 38,364,937 million channel views on YouTube. His category of content is gaming/entertainment; he makes content on the NBA 2K game series. I was able to ask him questions and he could respond freely because we were so close whereas I occasionally make thumbnails for his videos whenever I am available. Basically the common goal between all YouTubers is to create entertaining content, make money and have fun doing it. Although some YouTubers also have different subcategories to that. For example, when I asked Grinding what his main goal on YouTube is he said he wants to make an impact and show that anyone willing to work hard on their craft can be successful. From this response I could already tell the answer was pretty generic but then he went deeper and said “There’s nothing special about me or the next guy other than our desire to do something we love & try to inspire others to do the same.” I found it intriguing that someone this known could be so humble. Especially with the image that comes with being in the “NBA 2K community”. Like most gaming communities the NBA 2K community is known to be toxic, mostly because a good percentage of the people in the community are kids or just are straight up immature. To respond to this Grinding said, “Right now I am trying to make our “community” a better place so I guess I’m making an impact in a small scale but one day I want to be big enough to make actual positive changes in the world.” When hearing this it made me proud because I too am a fan of Grinding’s content and I’ve been watching him from he was at around 10,000 subscribers and to see him grow this big and still able to keep his humbleness is very inspiring. Not only is he trying to help improve the gaming community he’s in, he also hosts charity streams where all the money he makes from that stream goes to a charity as donation, surely the world would be a better place if there were more people like grinding. After, I found out that Grinding communicates with other YouTubers with Twitter which is his primary and most YouTubers primary method of communication. He has a group chat with all of the other big YouTubers that he associates himself with as well as he has their phone numbers. There is some slang known to YouTubers like for example when a video does good YouTube shows how well it did compared to your previous 10 uploads so if one YouTuber tells the other “Hey, I got a 1 out of 10 on my video” then they would understand what they are talking about rather than if a YouTuber said that to a random person. Finally, to end Grinding’s interview I asked him how he communicates with the outside world. He responded by saying “I don’t go outside”. Which is a joke known to Grinding’s fan base whereas he says he doesn’t go outside he’s always on the game. All in all, I was impressed to see such a big influencer being so normal and easy going about things. It reminded me that there is positivity in this world and that there are people that genuinely wants to do good in this world.

The second person I chose to interview goes by the name of “Luwop”. He is an up and coming YouTuber in the same community as Grinding. Currently, Luwop is sitting at 16,800 subscribers on YouTube with 861,277 channel views. When I asked him what his goal was on YouTube he said he wants to have fun, be able to have free time, work on videos, get paid and eventually turn it into a career. He’s a YouTuber with a lower sub count so I most definitely expected humble, inspirational responses from him especially since he has so much of a grind to go still before he reaches where he wants to be. He enjoys doing YouTube and interacting with his supporters. He told me that YouTube has been his dream goal since he was a child and within a year he has went from 0 to 16,800 subscribers and he wants to continue to strive and attain 100k+ subscribers and continue doing YouTube for the rest of his life. As a smaller channel he thought it would be hard to communicate with other bigger YouTubers but surprisingly it’s easier than you think. According to Luwop as long as you have good content on your channel and a good personality no matter the sub count you’ll definitely be able to get in contact with other YouTubers. Similar to Grinding, he uses Twitter and various forms of social media to communicate with other YouTubers but primarily Twitter. Other forms of communication would also consist of video collaborations. However, unlike Grinding, he is very social whereas he is great at starting conversations with other people outside. As well as he likes to start conversations with unknown people on social media. Languages specifically known to 2K YouTubers includes words like “Green” and slangs like “Pull up”, etc. Other words that people in this community say include “Imagine”, “No Cap”, etc. Although the community is versatile whereas it’s a worldwide community the primarily language spoken by everyone is English. Things he described you need to know is basic basketball IQ and how to play video games, how to be entertaining and upload to YouTube. Ultimately, the 2K YouTuber community has a very straightforward and strict discourse community that essentially is welcome to all.

In conclusion, I found it fascinating how a community with such toxic player bases can have a completely different vibe when it comes to the discourse community of the YouTube side. Everyone has one goal and that’s to master their craft and grow on YouTube while getting to the dough. The only thing that would be better is if the whole community was able to feel this way and welcome and motivate one another while they are on their grind. Other than that it’s very nice how big YouTubers can be so humble and keep their final goal in mind. I’m also very happy for the fact that I have the opportunity to work around such great energy every day.

WORKS CITED

DF, Grinding. Personal interview. February 13, 2020.

Luwop. Personal interview. February 13, 2020.

 

Destiny Kinloch

February 25, 2020

ENG 1121

Word Count: 1074

The Hospitality Community

 

My discourse community is hospitality. Hospitality can be considered a discourse community because it is an industry that many people can get into. It is also an industry that you have to make connections to get yourself noticed. Before I got into this community, I thought the hospitality industry was easy to get involved in but I learned it’s not because there’s so many communities within this community. There’s a lot of different career paths you can follow in this industry which is waiter/waitress, housekeeper, event planner, executive chef, restaurant manager and so many other careers you are able to explore. But no matter what career you choose, the goal is still to give your guests an enjoyable experience while they’re in your care.

I researched this group many different ways to make sure I completely understood it before I joined it. One of the ways I conducted my research was by looking online. I researched what hospitality was and different opportunities that are available to me once I get involved. Then I went to an advisor in the hospitality management department named Jacqueline Gaskin to ask questions. I asked her about internships and she told me “I’m able to work at Disney over the summer or go to Paris to work in a kitchen and some people ended up working there full time” (Gaskin, head of the hospitality department). She also gave me a list of classes I can take and the classes that are mandatory. Now I am officially apart of this group because I’m taking hospitality classes and it made me realize I want to open up my own hotel business where I’m able to make people feel comfortable and feel like they’re home away from home. As I’m going through this learning experience I’m starting to realize that the same values I have individually are the same values as this community. When it comes to a business, I would treat people with the same expectations I have for myself when I’m at someone else’s business. I would want to be treated with respect, care and I would want workers to make sure I feel comfortable. These are the few things this community makes sure of because hospitality is about taking care of your guests.

I interviewed Mr. Samuel Gibson who works at the Millenium Hilton Hotel as the manager. Mr. Gibson states that “his passion is ensuring that all guests are treated with the greatest hospitality during their hotel stay. The main focus is comfortability, safety and accessibility. The hotel is located near the 9/11 memorial and it is often full” (Gibson, Hitlon Hotel manager). When I was in the area, I observed many tourists taking pictures and asking questions as it is a high paced area. As I was in the hotel, I observed the procedure that was taken to handle customer complaints. Mr. Gibson notified security and security attended to the customer’s concerns immediately. Security responded to Mr. Gibson to ensure the client was satisfied with the outcome. I noticed that the hotel staff took every measure to protect the clients and that the stay was exceptional. The hotel staff valued the customers responses and the goal is to ensure the stay at the hotel would always be pleasant. Many people who are looking to join the hospitality field often apply to institutes of hospitality. The formal process is to attend or join a Hospitality Institution. The informal process is to be grandfathered in an establishment which is when someone you know is working and they bring one of their family members into the business. The people in this community use various ways to communicate with each other. The global members communicate through seminars, the web, e-tools, events and continuing professional development (CPD) tools that are available to members 24 hours a day. CPD helps build successful management careers within the fast paced, moving and diverse growing industry. Many members interact through publications , e-resources and the accessibility to global members. The thing that matters most in this community are the clients. The hospitality community has to take on the task of ensuring our clients are completely satisfied. We are here to help and provide services for our clients needs. We ban together to show comradery and respect within our community. The clients pay attention and value hotel stays and experiences. One way this business and community is built through word of mouth. Clients often book the they want to stay at by looking at the ratings. If a hotel has high ratings then people are more likely to stay in your hotel. If you have low ratings then people aren’t likely to stay nights at your hotel because ratings showed that it wasn’t enjoyable. Great management makes great staff and that equals satisfied customers within this community.

In conclusion, I genuinely enjoy being in the hospitality community. It made me realize what I want to do with my life and I noticed how diverse this community is. There’s many different career paths you can go down and people from many different walks of life come together for one common goal. The goal is to please people and expand the business. Also I learned that the guests have their own little community and they communicate through online ratings. The guests go online to rate the hotel they stayed in and that’s what potential guests look at before they stay at a hotel. These ratings can either make or break a hotel along with the other factors it takes to have a five diamond hotel. All of these things made me appreciate and respect this community because these people are working to accommodate their guests. These guests require a lot of attention, there’s many hands on situations and workers constantly make sure clients are comfortable and completely satisfied. I’m surprised that this community is constantly growing because it does require a lot of work and the job is to take care of people you don’t even know. In 2018, there were 526,533 hospitality jobs in New York and 322,306 hotel jobs in New York. This industry is always growing and I’m proud to say I am in this community to see it prosper and be a part of it.

Works Cited Page

Gaskin, Jacqueline. Personal interview. Feb 2020

Gibson, Samuel. Personal interview. Feb 2020

Hady Ahmad Discourse community