Post 12: Learning to Serve

I think Mirabelli’s research question is aimed at proving that the service industry is much more complex than the general public and universities assume. He wants to disprove the myth that serving is only for “ignorant and stupid (people)…(who) contribute little to society” (540).  He even states, “I hope this work will contribute to the development of understandings and policies that built more respect and recognition for service work to help ensure it does not become equated with servitude” (541).

Mirabelli addresses the concept of multiliteracies, or using communication channels other than text as a literacy. The first item he looks at is the menu, which he refers to as the “most important printed text.” He looks at how knowing the terms on the menu can make or break a job at a restaurant. In order to be successful, you need to know how to read customers by using verbal and non-verbal communication. You need to be able to know what kind of interaction they will enjoy most as well as how to appropriately respond to their questions and comments. Since there are no long or drawn-out monologues while serving, it is important to be friendly while being brief and to be able to convey your message accurately and in the shortest manner possible. This is a technique that is not taught in standard education, but rather one that is mastered over time and with practice.

Mirabelli ultimately proves his original point that serving is much more complex than assumed and is a field often taken for granted. In order to understand the nature of the profession, one would have to be a part of it, like Mirabelli. This is just one example of a profession that gains little respect and suffers from prejudice simply because the public doesn’t understand the complexity required or the “innovate and creative ways in which such workers use language” (554).

Post 11: Proposal

The discourse community that I will be analyzing is an online magazine that I am a part of: Her Campus. There is a national branch of the magazine as well as individual branches for different colleges so I will be looking at OU’s branch.

HC qualifies as a discourse community by exhibiting all six of Swale’s characteristics. The goal of the magazine is to gain readers and advertisers. Another less obvious goal is to allow college students and opportunity to gain writing experience so they can build their resume and network with other journalism majors from around the country.We communicate through emails, weekly meetings, social media and, if the message is urgent, through texting and phone calls. We communicate with the national branch through weekly email newsletters and through surveys. We provide feedback through editing articles and voicing our opinions at meetings. During each meeting, we decide who will write what stories for the upcoming weeks. We then brainstorm different topics and decide what we like and dislike as a group. We review the stories to make sure that each person in the organization has at least one story and the necessary sections of the magazine are complete for the following week. We also provide feedback on what we did to raise awareness of the magazine and if we did any PR and/or social media interaction. We also discuss what other branches are doing and what things we like/dislike about other branches’ stories during the past week. An example of a genre is the way in which specific articles are written. A blog post, which is an opinion piece, is not written the same way a serious feature story is written. Specific lexis of the magazine are various journalism and PR terms such as press release, feature, blog, ad revenue, solicitation, etc. Also, social media terms regarding Twitter and Facebook could be considered lexis. The threshold level ranges from editors-in-chief to new member. You can move throughout the ranks based on your participation in the organization. Also, we hold yearly elections for the positions of editors-in-chief, section editors, business manager and PR manager. You run for these positions by turning in a resume and brief explanation on why you would be the best for a certain position. You are then elected to each position by the editors-in-chief.

I would interview one of our two branch editors, or editors-in-chief, as well as another general member of the magazine. This would allow me to look at the community from two different perspectives and roles.

I can analyze various texts from the community. These include the constitution, or set or rules and explanation of how things occur in the group, emails, memos and meeting minutes. 

Post 10: Discourse Community Example

An example of a discourse community I belong to is an online magazine, Her Campus. There is a national branch of the magazine as well as branches of the magazine at various colleges.

1. The goal of the magazine is to gain readers and advertisers. Another less obvious goal is to allow college students and opportunity to gain writing experience so they can build their resume and network with other journalism majors from around the country.

2. We communicate through emails, weekly meetings, social media and, if the message is urgent, through texting and phone calls. We communicate with the national branch through weekly email newsletters and through surveys.

3. We provide feedback through editing articles and voicing our opinions at meetings. During each meeting, we decide who will write what stories for the upcoming weeks. We then brainstorm different topics and decide what we like and dislike as a group. We review the stories to make sure that each person in the organization has at least one story and the necessary sections of the magazine are complete for the following week. We also provide feedback on what we did to raise awareness of the magazine and if we did any PR and/or social media interaction. We also discuss what other branches are doing and what things we like/dislike about other branches’ stories during the past week.

4. An example of a genre is the way in which specific articles are written. A blog post, which is an opinion piece, is not written the same way a serious feature story is written.  

5. Specific lexis of the magazine are various journalism and PR terms such as press release, feature, blog, ad revenue, solicitation, etc. Also, social media terms regarding Twitter and Facebook could be considered lexis.

6. The threshold level of the OU branch ranges from editors-in-chief to new member. You can move throughout the ranks based on your participation in the organization. Also, we hold yearly elections for the positions of editors-in-chief, section editors, business manager and PR manager. You run for these positions by turning in a resume and brief explanation on why you would be the best for a certain position. You are then elected to each position by the editors-in-chief. For the national branch, the founder is the highest threshold. It is impossible to reach this level.