Peter Muto

Mr. Kirby

ERH 101

18 September 2014

Introduction to the Mechanical Engineering Rats Discourse Community

The community that I would like to analyze and explore is the group of Rats that reside in the Mechanical Engineering common area and which I am a member of. Our history is quite brief; we only formed as a group when classes started two weeks ago. This group is technically unofficial, but the area we all meet in is reserved for Mechanical Engineering Rats, so it gives structure and a uniformity that beckons an official group. This group would meet Swales’s criteria for a discourse community. Us Mechanical Engineering Rats would like to graduate VMI with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, thus we all have a common goal to obtain. This goal is also very public; everyone knows that Mechanical Engineering Rats would like a Mechanical Engineering degree. The forum of our community is the common area in which we all congregate to do homework or just to get away from Barracks. It allows us a place to meet, as well as intercommunicate with each other, as the area we meet in is a common area, thus socializing and talking to each other are encouraged. As this group is immersed in a military and engineering culture, there is lexis. Some common words or phrases are Iso, Noncom, ME, Intro, PTT, among others. Our community is mainly oral in terms of communication, but another common form of communication is through our various equations or drawings used in the various classes associated with the Mechanical Engineering Department. Also, a common form of doing homework is with engineering paper; it is very recognizable on post and means one is a Mechanical Engineer. With engineering paper, somebody can explain how to do a homework problem without actually speaking to them. Our group is technically all novices, but since this community is focused around the classes needed for an Mechanical Engineering degree, some people can be considered experts because they are good at one class and help others who are not. Also, upperclassmen can be considered experts because we can usually go to their common area and ask for help. Since we are always learning new material, we will always have new “novices” that do not understand the material and will need help from the people who do. Everyone in this community participates, whether through asking questions, answering questions, or just socializing with other Mechanical Engineering Rats; no one is ever silent and keeps to themselves.

    The reason why I have chosen this group as my discourse community of study is that I am part of it, and thus know a lot of the details and I can give a kind of insider’s perspective like Tony Mirabelli’s reflection of his experience as a waiter. Also, this group is easily accessible and can be studied very easily. Similarly, to this project is that I will be examining Mechanical Engineering Rats, and I am a Mechanical Engineering Rat. This situation makes feel like I will almost be studying myself and I think I may learn more about myself by studying my peers and how they take on the challenge of trying to get a Mechanical Engineering degree out of VMI. Hopefully I can learn from my peer’s successes and failures and utilize them in my pursuit of a degree.

    I believe my interest will remain with this group. I have inherent attachment to this discourse community because I am a Mechanical Engineering Rat and I am pursuing a degree with my Brother Rats. Also, this discourse community is always active in communication and it never bores me; it sometimes gets to the point I do not do homework because of our good relationships with each other, which is a double edge sword if this socialization inhibits my homework. If my interest fades, that probably would mean my interest in Mechanical Engineering is fading, and I should switch majors, but I doubt this will ever happen.

    A problem I foresee is when I am analyzing the group and trying to be an “outsider” I simply will not be able to do because this group is a very active and engaging group. Also, my own personal bias by being a part of the group I am analyzing might lead me to inadvertently analyze data in different ways or affect my judgment of certain situations.  As stated before, this group is very active, and I have had people stay with me in the Mechanical Engineering commons area to around 2300 hours, thus when I need to analyze the meeting space of this discourse community, the commons area, it may be a challenge to find it devoid of activity. Another issue is that this discourse community does not have any “events” per se, rather I would imagine that such events would be the group studying for big tests together or working on projects since we all almost take the same classes as each other.

    I believe that this discourse community will provide enough sustenance for the next three essays. With the second essay, which is about the place where the discourse community meets, the group I have chosen has a specific place it always meets and is readily observable. It can be viewed in multiple perspectives such as being in the actual area or from outside the area. This fact can be discussed to how it contributes to the uniques of the community. The third essay, which is about the people in the group. This community is so diverse that this essay should have plenty of material. With the fourth essay, the persuasion piece, should be easy as well. There are always problems that inhibit communities from working. Also, we are all engineers, so making things the best as possible will be good motivation.

As stated before, I am already a member of the discourse community that I intend to analyze for the semester. So far I have come to some conclusions about this group. First of all, even though we all are a solid community, they are kinds of micro communities within the whole discourse community centered on the three tables we have to use in the Mechanical Engineering common area. Certain people always sit in the same spot because they like it or their wall cubby is next to that seat. I am one of those people. My one roommate usually always sits across from me and there are a few more regulars to the table. This kind of consistency, encompassing all the tables, leads to micro discourse communities by the sheer fact we sit together a lot and we are all part of this larger discourse community of Mechanical Engineering Rats. This could lead to the analysis of how these micro communities compare to the whole community. Another observation I have made is the diversity of our group. The Mechanical Engineering Rat discourse community has all sorts of people, and it makes the group really interesting to be a part of. We have white, black, Asian, Christian, Hindu, American, Italian, Indian, commissioning, non-commissioning, smart, funny, and friendly people to name a few characters in our group. This really adds a new dynamic to the discourse community that makes it really effective for learning new things or just to talk and have an enjoyable time as we study for our major.

    I hope to learn more about my fellow Mechanical Engineering Rats by studying our discourse community. I also hope to learn more about myself through the analysis of my participation in this discourse community and how this discourse community reflects me. If I can better understand my Brother Rats and more about my major, I can use this information to help me succeed. This interaction between us in this discourse community I think will help me enter or better participate in other discourse communities. I like to think to the future, and I would like to commission as an officer into the United States Army. In the Army, there will be numerous discourse communities inside the umbrella of the Army. I feel like my experience in this group and the analysis of this discourse community will allow me to effectively participate in these future discourse communities that I would like to join.