Discourse Community Ethnography

The purpose of this composition was to observe/examine and write about a discourse community that I have been a part of or are currently a part of.  We were to explain different social aspects of the community, their lexis, unique traits, customs, and other things that make the community different and unique from others.  I chose to do mine on the Tae Kwon Do school I took classes at as a child and then taught at as a teenager in high school.

One thing I did well in the paper was the amount of depth and detail I was able to go into because I had been a part of the community for such a long time that I was practically brought up in it.  I focused mainly on the beliefs of the school, the values of honor, discipline, integrity, and how we would use the training to incorporate these traits into their personalities.  One thing I did not do very well was I went in very in depth about the training and had long unnecessary paragraphs just about training, even after cutting it down a lot there was still a lot of info about just training that could still be cut down.  One thing I was proud of though was my conclusion where I show real life examples of how the system works by using myself and my co-workers as examples, as most of the instructors go onto great success.  I credit being a part of this discourse community with putting me on the track I am on today.

Conventions of a Genre

The purpose of this composition was to choose and explore a specific genre, picking out and illustrating what conventions make that genre what it is, and make it different from other genres of similar natures.  I chose to do mine on the genre of punk rock, because I believe it is one of the most unique styles of rock music, and not many people know too much about it other than what they see on the surface.  My purpose was to show that there is a deeper and more intelligent meaning in punk rock that many people don’t see.

One thing I think I did well in this paper is that I was very thorough in describing all of the conventions of the genre and why they’re important.  I also supported my original thesis of punk rock being more than meets the eye by using examples of actual lyrics from classic punk rock bands.  One thing I could have done better was not put so much emphasis on historical knowledge about the genre.  I had a lot of prior knowledge about the subject going into the paper, hence why I chose it, so I felt the need to share that knowledge even though it was not completely necessary.  Even after cutting out a huge section of historical background I was still left with a lot, which is something I will keep control of in the future.  I also failed to connect the thesis in my introduction to the body and conclusion.  The thesis in the body and conclusion go together, but the intro states something separate.