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Coralie Morin
Professor Allison Morrow
English 1102
19 September, 2014

Pure Energy Community

A discourse community is a group of individuals that share common language-using
practices and goals (Bizzell, 1992). The certain language-using practices used by discourse
communities are meant to be used to interpret experience (Bizzell, 1992). I never noticed I was
part of a discourse community until I really thought about it. I have been apart of many clubs
and groups, but working for Pure Energy Entertainment made me realize that even a job could be
a discourse community. This entertainment job, which requires talking to hundreds of people a
week and dancing for them during bar/bat mitzvahs and charity events, includes all six parts of a
discourse community. Pure Energy Entertainment is a discourse community because its a group
of people that work together to achieve a common goal through language and common culture.
To commence, my job shares common public goals. Everyone that works for Pure Energy Entertainment shares the goals of trying to make everyone happy at the parties in order to
move up in the company, gain more tips, and acquire more jobs. Swales says, Our goals are
inscribed in documents (Swales 220) and each member is required to know exactly what they
are very well. To qualify for this job, you must be able to talk to people of any age about anything and you have to make sure they are always happy and entertained.
Intercommunication is another key part to discourse communities. Swales defines intercommunication as the fact that people communicate with each other while genre is the way that

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people communicate with each other (Swales, 221). Swales also explains that The intercommunication mechanisms vary depending on the community which include; meetings, newsletters,
conversations, and more (Swales, 212). At Pure Energy, we all communicate through e-mail,
text, social media, and meetings, which is considered the genre, or specific ways of intercommunicating. If we did a good job at a party, our many bosses would e-mail us and let us know
how proud they are to have us on the team. Every other Saturday, the entire team gets together
at the main office and we discuss how we can improve ourselves for events that are coming up
Another form of genre is a set of rules that each dancer is given and must memorize in order to
work for the company. When we start working for the business, each member is given a packet
to study. This packet includes all of the rules and goals that each person working for the company must follow. Members of the company communicate mainly through E-mail, text, Facebook,
and meetings.
Being part of a discourse community doesn't just mean paying dues or just saying that
you're part of the group. Participating is the most important part of being involved in a discourse
community. For my job, I participate by having my own business cards and handing them out to
as many people I can. I also show up for work and participate in all of the meetings that we
have. Another way the company participates is by being active on the Pure Energy Facebook
page and liking all of the posts. That may seem like a sill way to be active in the group, but
when perspective customers look at our Facebook page, we want them to know that it is well
liked and worth their money.
Every discourse community uses a specific language, or lexis, to communicate with oneanother (Swales, 222). At Pure Energy, the team uses counts while we dance and we give each
other specific looks depending on whether or not we should move to a different spot or take a

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break. Also, before we start working at an event, the group that is working together will discuss
whether or not it is going to be a good party solely based off of where the kids are from or even
how the party is decorated. We dont have a set of code words like other discourse communities,
but some of the things that we talk about may be confusing for someone who doesnt work for
the company. Because the entertainment world is filled with competition, Pure Energy Entertainment doesnt necessarily use code words, but they have different ways of referring to things
that go on in the company that other companies may refer to.
Of course a discourse community has to have different levels or relevance or importance
(Swales, 222). At Pure Energy, everyone starts off by trying out and we must have a dance
background. Next, we start getting paid at $100 a party. The longer we work at the company,
the more we get paid per party. Later, if you decide to stay with the company, you can become
an MC in training and eventually become an MC which means you are part owner of the company and you are then considered to be one of the bosses.
Being apart of a discourse community is extremely rewarding because I know that other
people are striving to do better in the same company as I am and it keeps me motivated. Pure
Energy Entertainment is a discourse community because its a group of people that work together
to achieve a common goal through language and common culture. I love being apart of a group
that I can trust and participate in.

Works Cited

Bizzell, Patricia. 1992. What Is a Discourse Community? Academic Discourse and Critical
consciousness. U Pittsburgh P. 222-237

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Swales, John M. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990. Print.