Project 4 Proposal

I intend to do my discourse community ethnography project on a local sorority on campus, Pi Beta Phi. My knowledge and connections within that particular community are extensive, because I was a member for the first three years of college.   I know the roles and the dynamics of being a member from recruiting through initiation through becoming a well-established active member, both on and off the chapter’s executive board.  I have the knowledge to be able to explain both the formal aspects of the sorority, such as the recruiting process and the philanthropic events, and the more internal aspects, such as the dynamics between members, and what kind of “power” comes with each level of membership. I understand the jargon and the lexis, and I have access to members in all levels of commitment and membership.  I have access to the past, current, and future president. I have access to both the past and current executive board.  I also have access to new members, new initiates, active members, and past members.  Along with the members, there is specific literature such as the Pi Phi magazine, The Arrow, that I have plenty of access to.

            It would be useful to analyze Pi Beta Phi as a discourse community because it has so many aspects and characteristics of a community that people do not necessarily realize when they think about sororities.  I am hoping that by doing this project and really digging deep in order to uncover the discourse community that is Pi Beta Phi, that I will learn more about what makes communities work.  Through our readings and assignments I have attained a good grasp on what qualifications are necessary to establish a discourse community.  That is knowledge that I definitely want to expand on, but what I really am looking forward to learning more about is the function and conflict within the members of the community.  I think the actual dynamics, between members, that are specific to Pi Beta Phi would be interesting compared to other discourse communities.  Going along with that, I am excited to look into more detail in terms of conflict that actually arises between members, because I think the conflict that takes place in a sorority discourse community is something that is very unique, and I think it is something that others would enjoy having insight to. What I think I can add to other scholars conversations is more detail.  I know that we have been told that there are specific dynamics and conflict, but I feel that I would be able to go into more detail about how those things arise and how they are handled.

            I have a couple sources in mind when thinking about drafting my ethnography of Pi Beta Phi.  One is Ann John’s article, “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice”.  I think her views on “Community Conflicts and Diversity” (WAW 511) are extremely interesting and relatable to the community I plan to study.  Another source I intend to use from our classroom text is the article “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in a New Workplace” by Elizabeth Wardle.  Wardle goes into really good detail about the steps that a newcomer goes through when trying to become an established member in a new workplace community. I think this would be really interesting to relate to Pi Phi because the joining of new members is a really large part of the organization, and I think formal recruitment and the new member process are the two biggest events of the year. Naturally, I will also take time to include Gee’s six characteristics of a discourse community, because I feel like he does a great job of explaining valid points, and I think I would be able to relate those to my community.

           

Johns, Ann M. “Discourse Communities and Communities of Practice: Membership, Conflict, and Diversity.” Writing About Writing. 551. Print.

Wardle, Elizabeth. “Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces.” Writing About Writing. 520-527. Print.

Gee, James P. “Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics: Introduction.” Writing About Writing. 481-497. Print