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Post by colemanaj1776 on Feb 16, 2016 19:02:32 GMT -5
The discourse I belong to may not be the most popular. I am a member of the Florida State University College Republicans. In this club, we meet to discuss current issues in our nation and our world, political campaigns, and volunteering opportunities. While I like to believe that I am rather informed on the issues, when I first joined I was shocked to find out that I did not know as much as I would have hoped. The club is wonderful because it is a crossroads of multiple different discourses. The organization brings in discourses of economics, political science, religion, history, conservatism, and libertarianism. Debate is common in this secondary discourse. Foreign policy issues, defense of the constitution, free markets , who should be the party nominee be-these are all areas that belong to this discourse. It is always great when someone who is not a member of our discourse comes to discuss with us. College is the place to have your ideas challenged and to open up to new point of views. There are times when I come to realize I have been uninformed, or even close minded on an issue. The discourse of politics, no matter how you lean, is unique and is fun to practice in.
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Post by katelyn on Feb 16, 2016 20:09:55 GMT -5
One of my really good friends here is very involved at Hillel, and his roommate was Student President of the organization last year. The two of them classify themselves as "very Jewish," and consequently, I have spent a lot of time being confused by their conversations about the conflict in Isreal and the proper way to eat latkes--sweet or savory. I've been to a few gatherings at Hillel, some formal and some casual. I felt equally lost at both of them. Coming from a Presbyterian background, all of the things done at a Jewish service appear strange and abrupt. For instance: they don't have a particular tune for a song. Everyone just sings and the singing kind of melds into a familiar tune. To make matters worse, all of the songs and the words in the service bulletin are in Hebrew. The discourse of the Jewish community is one that I am familiar with, but still very lost in. Everyone is warm and welcoming, though, and the bagel brunches rock!
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Post by keturahyoung on Feb 16, 2016 23:56:20 GMT -5
The discourse I've chosen to discuss is black churches (disclaimer: they are not all exactly the same, however most of them follow a similar format). I never really noticed how much different black baptist churches are compared to predominantly white non denominational churches or even predominantly white baptist churches until I went to one or when I brought a friend that did not attend a black church. At black churches you are to abide by an unspoken dress code. You are to wear your best, most polished outfits (very similar to business wear, but a bit flashier). This is where the term "Sunday Best" comes from. So after you've finally coordinated an outfit, I hope you ate breakfast because you'll probably be in the church service for at least 2 hours. Oh and while you're there, don't even think about chewing gum because one of the ushers (probably an older woman who has been going to the church since it opened) will kindly walk over to you and place her hand in front of your mouth for you to spit it out. Also, black churches are more like a concert with a message. The choir will literally sing 4-5 songs (sometimes in the form of a medley) for praise and worship time and then a few selection during times like offering. Whenever the pastor speaking, you are expected to stand up unless it is during the sermon, which you are allowed to shout phrases like "amen" if you agree. These rules are pretty much universal, like you just know what to and what not to do at black church, which would probably be my expert bias.
When I brought one of my friends to church, I would have to tell her when to stand up and sit down, what was appropriate to wear, and keep her posted on how I knew church would be ending soon (3 ours later). I was so confused as to why she didn't know, but she was Catholic. I remember her saying black church was so much more exciting than mass and I wondered what mass was like, then I experienced it. She was right.
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Post by lindseynharrell on Feb 17, 2016 11:08:52 GMT -5
The secondary discourse I am choosing to write about is my first attendance to a Jewish synagogue. I went to Temple Israel with a friend for an assignment for another class and thought it appropriate to use for this class as well. Growing up, my family attended a protestant church on occasion which tended to be very casual and non-ritualistic; at the synagogue, however, the case was entirely opposite. When we walked in there was a basket of yarmulke for the men to place on their heads, even if you were a guest. Everyone was in business casual clothing and the entire service was made up of chants that are consistent with every service. This is so different from what I am used to as a church because in the Methodist church I grew up in, almost every service is unique to its own with the music selection and sermon, or speech, given by the pastor. The people at synagogue were so friendly and welcoming to us, and I really enjoyed getting to experience this different type of culture. The main difference was the amount of tradition placed upon the gathering, and the fact that almost the entire service was spoken and written in Hebrew. I felt entirely out of my element and lost, but I learned so much. Overall, it was a great experience.
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Post by kaylynj on Feb 17, 2016 14:10:00 GMT -5
The discourse I decided to talk about also concerns a workplace. I began my first job the summer after my freshman year of college at Ron Jon Surf Shop, and I was new to the retail side of working as well as the language that is related to surfing and skate boarding. During the first couple weeks of working there people would come into the store as ask my opinion on surfboards or skate/penny boards I would have to tell them that I needed to get someone from that area because I wasn't sure. As an employee for this store I was expected by the customers to know more about the products then they did because as it was my job. I began to feel like an outsider at my own workplace and it made me feel uncomfortable because I didn't have the knowledge on these subjects that people needed me to have. I even felt lost when it came to some of the clothing brands that we stocked in the store when I pronounced one of them the wrong way when talking to a co-worker. As time passed I began to pick up on the language used in the store when dealing with the brands as well as the surf and skate stuff, but I still couldn't tell you which board a person should get or much information about them other than the basics. Looking back now I can see the secondary discourse that I was apart of where I was an outsider looking into this world that I new nothing about. I had placed myself into a situation that I would not usually be a part of and it made me learn a lot about myself, as well as just how much I didn't know about surfing and skating. By the time the summer ended I was completely comfortable working there and I felt like I finally belonged, even though I was still the clueless blonde with glasses, it got better and I was able to see a change in myself and my surroundings.
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Post by jjtylr on Feb 17, 2016 17:11:32 GMT -5
I recently began working part-time at an unnamed store making sub sandwiches. I had never worked in the food industry before and had very little knowledge about the proper techniques used in handling food, dealing with customers and knowing how to maintain a clean, efficient kitchen area.
Obviously, this was an interesting secondary discourse for me to try to master. I’m not a particularly fast learner when it comes to things like this so it took me awhile to get the hang of things. After a while, I began noticing that some of the more established employees were reluctant to explain things to me and were becoming frustrated with me.
This made me hesitant to ask questions and try to figure things out on my own. I suppose this is an example of “mushfaking”. I did not want the other employees knowing that I was new or inexperienced because I thought that would change the way they treated me.
Needless to say, this is not a productive work environment. I ended up doing a lot more “acquiring” than actual “learning”. This was because the other employees were already reluctant to teach me things, so it was up to me the “acquire” this knowledge on my own. Acquisition was difficult at this job because I sense the hostility from other, more experienced employees.
The other employees are what you might call the “elites”, in that they had already mastered the discourse. On the other hand, I would be what you might call the “outsider”, in that I was new to the work environment and was still attempting to acquire or master the discourse itself.
In sum, the “master-apprentice” relationship described in Chapter 14 was not present at this job. Without proper instruction by one of the “elites”, I was unable to truly learn and understand the proper techniques and norms used in the work environment.
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Post by angelawithee on Feb 17, 2016 17:23:05 GMT -5
I agree with Hayley completely, one discourse I always notice is when I am watching a football game with dedicated fans. Keep in mind, as a Florida State student I religiously watch every college game we play in. However, when it comes to football in general I honestly don't really know how the game completely works, with all of the calls, and terms and what not. I would say that I have a basic rudimentary knowledge which in turn leaves me guessing what's happening a third of the time. To battle this discourse I usually just cheer along and eat pizza in unison with my more football educated friends. Musfaking at its finest.
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Post by daniell on Feb 17, 2016 19:23:20 GMT -5
A secondary discourse for me is one that I think is interesting because for a lot of people, it's primary. To me, a secondary discourse would be anything related to the bible. I'm Jewish, and so the new testament and a lot of the lore of christianity is completely alien to me, which leaves me out of the loop, since a lot of people base a lot of their values on those communicated in the bible. Whether it's homosexual relationships, premarital sex, a lot of social values are steeped in peoples' perception of the bible. Even presidential debates bring it to the forefront. The phrase "What would jesus do?" has been spouted in just about any social context I can imagine. However, I've never read the bible, I don't study the specifics of it, and I keep it secular to my life. Because of this, my social values aren't affected by what is or isn't in there, and I also can't understand when people use it as the backbone of their rationale. I can't sympathize with the idea of "I just can't believe in this because the bible says __________," and so it's a hardened mindset that I can't comprehend or persuade, which is something I haven't really encountered in many other types of secondary discourse.
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