Havelin1

EmeraldHavelin
Morrow
EH101
11November2015
AreSubwaysGenresHelpfulorHarmful?
Atsomepointintheirlifetime,everyonehasbecomeamemberofadiscourse
community.Examplesofadiscoursecommunitywouldbeaspecificsportsteam,job,orclub.
Swalesstatestherearesixdefiningcharacteristicsthatwillbenecessaryandsufficientfor
identifyingagroupofindividualsasadiscoursecommunity.(Swales220)Theyare:
common
goals,participatorymechanisms,informationexchange,communityspecificgenres,ahighly
specializedterminology,andahighgenerallevelofexpertise.Reflectingbacktoallthe
discoursecommunitiesIhavebeenapartof,themostrecentismyjob.Iamanemployeefor
Subwayanduponlearningthecharacteristicsofadiscoursecommunity,Ihaverealizedthatmy
jobverywellfitsintothecategory.
ForbesclaimsSubwayas#84rankinginthetheMostValuableBrands.Itwasfoundedin
1965andasofMay2015,therehasbeen$19.8billiondollarsmadeinsales.Withthatbeing
said,eachlocationhastofollowabunchofrulestokeepthecustomershappyandcomingback.
Theemployeesarerequiredtoservewithasmileandtoensurethatthefoodisfreshevery
secondofthedayasthesloganforthepopularfastfoodchainisSubway.Eatfresh.Each
locationisownedbyadifferentfranchiseandrandifferentlythanothers.ThespecificstoreI
workforisasmalldiscoursecommunityapartofalargerdiscoursecommunity.Themembersin
thiscommunityusegenresonadaytodaybasisinordertoalwayshavethenewestinformation

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easilyaccessedwhileavoidingconfusion.Ineachgenremycommunityuses,theyallhavea
commongoal:tocommunicatethemostefficientlyinordertokeeptheworkplacerunning
smooth.Millerdefinesgenresbysimilaritiesinstrategiesorformsinthediscourse,by
similaritiesinaudience,bysimilaritiesinmodesofthinking,andbysimilaritiesinrhetorical
situations.(Miller151)Althoughthetextisdifferentineachformofgenre,theunderlyinggoal
iswhattiesthemalltogether.Therearefourdifferentwaysthemembersofthiscommunity
communicatestoeachothersuchastexting,email,anotebook,andacorkboardsomeofwhich
areeffectivewhileothersnotsomuchandIamwritingthisessaytoaddresstheissuesofeach
genreandhopefullyfixthem.Eachofthesegenresthemembersuseserveaverydifferent
purposeandmostarenecessaryinordertohaveasmoothworkingenvironment.Eachgenre
utilizedhasadifferentdiction,intent,authority,timing,topic,audience,andauthor.
Forexample,themostimportantgenrewehavewouldbeemail.EveryThursday,my
managersendstheschedulefortheweek.Itisthemostefficientwaytodoitbecauseeveryone
receivesitimmediatelyinsteadoftheoldwaywhenitwasjustpinnedtothecorkboard.Whenit
wasjustbeingpinnedtothecorkboard,theemployeeshadtocometothestorethedayitwas
postedtoseeiftheyweresupposedtobeworkingbutwithitbeingsentoutinemail,everyone
receivesitontheirphoneanditeliminatesthehassleofcominguptothestoreonanoffday.
Theintendedaudienceofthisgenrewouldbealloftheemployeesandthecontentisnothing
morethantheschedule.Themanagerdoesnotsendanyotherinformationthroughemailtoavoid
confusion.
Instead,thereisanotebookinthestorethatwecallTheCommunicationBook.The
purposeofthebookistorelaytasksthatneedtobecompleted,commentsaboutanyissuesor

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eventsthatoccurredthatday,orjusttotelleveryonetheyaredoingagreatjob.Inthisgenre,
everyemployeeistheauthorunliketheemailswheretheonlyauthoristhemanager.Typically,
weonlywriteinthisbookwhenweareinshiftandthethingswrittencanrangefromafew
wordstoawholepagedependingontheissueathand.
Forthemostpart,thenotebookisveryhelpfulinthediscoursecommunitybecauseit
relayswhattasksneedtobefocusedonforthedaybutitcanalsocauseissues.Wehave
appropriatelynicknameditthedramabook.Sometimespeoplecanwritesomethinginitand
notthinkabouthowtheyaresayingitandcomeacrossasbeingrude.Ithascreatedquiteafew
arguments.Iproposetofixthisproblembylimitingwhatisallowedtogointothebook.Whatis
writtenshouldberestrictedtoonlythetasksneedtobecompletedandnotspecificallytargeting
anyonepersonbuteveryoneasawholetoavoidanychanceofhurtinganyonesfeelings,ashas
happened.
Thecorkboardinthebackofthestoreiswherewenormallypinupnewsletters.If
anythinghaschangedorwerunoutofaspecificitem,wewriteaboutitthere.Itisnormally
short,incompletesentencesthatgetstraighttothepointsothatwedonotwasteanytimemaking
otherssearchfortheimportantinformation.Theauthorsofthisgenreincludeeveryone,although
itisnotusedveryoften.Onememberofthecommunityusesthecorkboardmorethantheothers
becausesheistheonewhousuallyrelayswhatfoodsaresoontorunout.Thissavesmymanager
timeonthedaysthatshehastoplacethenexttruckorder.
Whilethesegenresarecrucialtotheenvironment,thereisonethatweusethatisnotso
serious.Textingismyfavoritemethodofcommunicatingwithothersinthediscourse
community.Alltheemployeesshareagroupmessageandwespeaktoeachotherdailythrough

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it.Itisthebestwaytoleteveryoneknowsomethingwithoutthehassleofcallingeachofus
individually.Everymemberhasaverydifferentpersonalityandthatmakesitsointerestingto
workwiththeseladies.Thegrouptextnormallyconsistsofuscrackingjokesandmakingeach
otherlaughalthoughitisseriousattimes.Justrecentlywehadanissueaboutwhetherourpay
wouldbereceivedbeforeorafterThanksgivingbecauseournormalpaydayisonThursday.The
wholeweekbeforepayday,mybosswouldsendoutremindersthatsheisstilltryingtofigureout
howpaydaywasgoingtowork.Shewouldsendoutupdatessuchaspayrollispushingtowards
payingusthisdayorthatday.Then,onWednesdaymorning,mybosssentamessageviagroup
texttotellusthatwedidgetpaidonthatdayinsteadofhavingtowaituntilFridayandgetpaida
daylate.
AllofthesegenresarecriticaltotheenvironmentofSubwayandthewaywewritein
eachisdifferentfromtheother.Swalesbrieflydiscusseslexisinthefifthdefiningcharacteristic
ofadiscoursecommunity.Theinbuiltdynamictowardsanincreasinglysharedandspecialized
terminologyisrealizedthroughthedevelopmentofcommunityspecificabbreviationsand
acronyms.(Swales222)TheonlylexisintheemailsisCL.AlexisintextsisNC/NSwhich
meansnocall/noshowandisaskingsomeoneiftheycancomein.Tobespecificwiththecork
boardlexis,Iamgoingtouseaplatterorderasanexamplebecausethatisoneofthemost
importantthingstobepinned.Whenreceivingaplatterorder,itisusuallyoverthephone.The
customerisspeakingatafastpacewhilewearetryingtowritedownalltheinformationbeing
provided.Itisdifficultforthehandtokeepupwiththetonguesowehavetoshorthandalotof
theinformation.AnexampleofwhatwewouldwritedownisJANEDOE.(555)5555555.PU
12:00SUN.FLACRA.MXBRD.AMERCH.VGE.LDCRD/COOKIES.Thelexisweusein

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eachgenremaylooklikeabunchofrandomlettersstrungtogetherbyatoddlerbutinfactthey
areveryimportantandonemisunderstandingcouldmessupthewholeplatterorder.Ofcourse,
theoldermembersofthecommunityunderstandwhateachmeanswithoutasecondthought
whileournewermembersfeelliketheyarelookingatabunchofmumbojumboandtypically
havetoquestionwhateachacronymmeans.Swalesalsosaysthisisanimportantcharacteristic
forbeingclassifiedasadiscoursecommunity.Adiscoursecommunitymusthaveathreshold
levelofmemberswithasuitabledegreeofrelevantcontentanddiscoursalexpertise.(Swales
222)
JamesE.Porterdiscussesintertextualitysaying,Notinfrequently,andperhapseverand
always,textsrefertoothertextsandinfactrelyonthemfortheirmeaning.Alltextsare
interdependent.Weunderstandatextinsofarasweunderstanditsprecursors.(Porter34)Porter
isexplainingthatalltextsineverygenreknowntomanaresomehowallrelatedtooneanother
andthattheyallarisefromasinglenetwork.(Porter34)Hesaysthatstudyingintertextuality
meanslookingfortracesandbitsandpiecesofothertextsthatwritersandspeakersborrow
fromotherwritersandspeakers.AgreatexampleheusedwastheDeclarationofIndependence.
TheDeclarationisfamouslyknownforbeingwrittenbyThomasJeffersonandwhilehewasa
skilledwriter,hewasnottheonlyonetowritetheDeclaration.Alongwithvariousothermenin
histimewholentoutideasofwhattowriteandhowtowordit,hereceivedhiswritingskills
fromotherwriters.SomeonehadtoteachhimhowtoreadandwriteandspeakandJefferson,
alongeveryoneelsewhohaseverexisted,arejustbitsandpiecesofotherpeople.Whenraised
fromachildbyparents,thechildtypicallyspeaksandactsastheparentsdo,stealingtheir

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actionsandwords.Millerexplainshowthiscanbedifficulttodifferentiateplagiarisminany
text.
Inrelationstothegenresinmycommunity,eachgenretiesbacktotheother.The
membersbringupinformationsharedinonegenreinacompletelydifferentone.More
specifically,theschedulethatwassentoutinemailismentionedonthecorkboardwhentrying
torequestadayoff.Thememosthatarementionedonthecorkboardareoftenmentionedinthe
dramabookforclarificationandalloftheabovearementionedintextsforimmediatereplies.
Whilenooneisgoingtosuetheotherinthecommunitysimplybecauseonewasreferringtothe
otherwithoutciting,ithappensconstantlyandrightunderournoses.
Asmembersofthecommunity,weunderstandwhattheotheristryingtorelay
automaticallywhenonegenreisbroughtupinadifferentmanner.Sayanewmemberhas
recentlyjoinedthecommunityandisnotusedtothebackandforthwecansometimesdo,they
willbeconfusedandlostastowhatwearetalkingaboutorhowitgotbroughtupinthefirst
place.Itisdefinitelysomethingonehastogetusedtobutifyouareamemberlongenough,it
becomesafairlyeasyhabittodevelop.
OneofthemembersisAsheleyBoggs.ShehasbeenemployedatSubwayforoverayear
nowandwhenaskedaboutthedifferentgenresweuse,shegavemealooksaying,Whatthe
heckareyoutalkingabout?Afterexplainingwhatadiscoursecommunitywasandhowgenres
areused,shegotthegeneralideaofwhatIwasasking.ThefirstthingIaskedhertocommenton
wasthecorkboard.Itisthebestwaytofigureoutthenewestupdatesgoingoninthestore,
Asheleysaid.WhenIbroughtupthedramabook,shejustlaughedandrolledhereyes.She
thensays,Yeah,thatcouldusealittlework,andsheisright.Everymembercanseethe

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problemsithascaused.Itisafairlynewgenrethatbeganafewweeksagowhenourbosses
changedanditmaynotlastmuchlonger.Aswritersinadiscoursecommunity,itiscrucialtobe
abletoseewhatworksandwhatdoesnotortheeffectsithasonthecommunitycouldeventually
leadtoitsextinction.
Whenanalyzingthegenres,InoticedsomethingsIwouldnothaveotherwisepickedup
on.Doingthishasleadtoabetterunderstandingonwhatmethodsarebestforthedifferenttopics
athandeachdayandhowtheyshouldnotbeentwinedtoooften.TamaraBarrow,another
Subwayemployee,commentsonourdifferentgenres,Thingsgobetterwhenwecantalkto
eachotherandunderstandeachotherclearlyaboutdifferentthings.Thepurposeofeachgenre
issimplytobeameansofcommunicationwitheachmemberaboutthedifferentthingsthat
rangefromgettingscoldedfornotfillingthesaucebottlesthenightbeforetobeingthankedfor
tryingourbesttokeeptheworkplaceintiptopcondition.WiththeworksofSwalesandMiller,
futuregenreswillbebetteranalyzedforthesakeofkeepingthingsrunningassmoothas
possible.

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WorkCited
Boggs,Asheley.Personalinterview.2Nov.2015.
Forbes.TheWorldsMostValuableBrands.
Forbes.com.
N.p.May2015.Web.13Nov.2015.
Porter,JamesE.IntertextualityandtheDiscourseCommunity.
RhetoricReview.
Vol.5,No.1.
(Autumn,1986).pp.3437.TaylorandFrancisLtd.Print.13Nov.2015.
Miller,CarolynR.GenreasaSocialAction.
QuarterlyJournalofSpeech.
Vol.70,No.2
(1984),pp.151167.Print.13Nov.2015.
Barrow,Tamara.Personalinterview.2Nov.2015.
Swales,John.TheConceptofaDiscourseCommunity.
WritingAboutWriting:ACollege
Reader.
2ndEd.ElizabethWardleandDouglasDowns.Boston,MA:Bedford/St.
Martins,2014.215228.Print.13Nov.2015.
Havelin,Emerald.Autoethnography.May2014Dec.2015