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Coralie Morin
ENC 1102
October 8, 2014
Professor Morrow
Professional party-goer
I never realized that I was apart of a discourse community. I now know that discourse
communities can be anything from a club to a job, just as long as youre involved in something
bigger than yourself. In my specific discourse community, I am payed to be apart of it because
it is my job, but in others, members that are involved have to pay to participate.

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.
SHAPIRO, IVOR. "The Ethical Journalist: Making Responsible Decisions In The Pursuit Of
News/Living Ethics: Across Media Platforms/Real-World Media Ethics: Inside The
Broadcast And Entertainment Industries." Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
87.2 (2010): 416-420. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.
The author explains the ethical and moral values of being involved in the entrainment industry. Shapiro often refers back to Malcom Gladwells blink theory and the gut feeling of
conscience (Shapiro 2014). He also makes it clear that a strong value system is needed in order
to participate in the entertainment world and that those involved must be aware of the impact that
we as entertainers make through instinct, bias, influence, and inclinations (Shapiro). I can relate
with this point because, in my job at Pure Energy Entertainment, I am payed to portray a certain
image to the people attending the parties that I work for. If i portray an unhappy attitude, children might respond negatively or even copy me because I am supposed to be setting a good example. Also, since my job is to make people happy, the slightest thing (like not smiling) can
throw off the entire feeling of the event.

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I will use the information that I found from this article to link back to my discourse
community by connecting it back to how we as entertainers have to be very conscience about
how we act, what we say, and even body language.

Tolkoff, Esther. "The Life of the Party." Back Stage 1998: 26. Academic OneFile. Web. 8 Oct.
2014.
Tolkoff explains the high demand for live entertainment in this day and age. Children are
not expecting only cake and gifts at their parties anymore, but something far more extravagant.
Parents in this generation pay as much as it will take for their children to have the greatest and
flashiest party. Tolkoff also explains that the high demand for entertainment at parties is not just
something that is important for children, but also adults. My job at Pure Energy Entertainment is
to ensure that everyone is being entertained at parties or events and that no one is bored. Being
apart of an entertainment company, I bring the audience or party goers energy or I keep the party
going. Being a dancer for parties- or any kind of performer for that matter- doesnt just mean
showing up and dancing, but it also means that I have to put a lot of effort into making people
happy and having a good time (Tolkoff 2014).
I will use this information for my research paper to explain how this generation is the
flashiest yet and how people are so materialistic, that the will literally hire people to dance at
their party.
Seldin, Sierra B. "Sierra the Entertainer." Telephone interview. 8 Oct. 2014.
I interviewed Sierra Seldin who is also apart of my discourse community of working at
Pure Energy Entertainment. Seldin, who has been a dancer for twelve out of her eighteen years,
joined the company of Pure Energy at the same time that I did and has been working there for
three years also. Sierra Seldin explained the process of what usually happens during a days
work. First, the dancers of the company are assigned a party that they will work during the
weekend. Once at the party, the emcee of the day will give the entertainers a run-down of how
the party will unfold (when the attendants will eat, when the DJ will play a certain song, etcetera). The dancers will then talk to the guests for an hour which is called cocktail hour and get
to know them because it is very important to create a bond in order for the guests to later want to
dance with you. Sierra also explained how it is very important to have a background in dance
before starting the job because a sense or rhythm s in-fact needed.
I will use this information from this interview in my research paper to explain how the
importance of involvement in a discourse community is needed instead of just saying that youre
part of a community.

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Huriash, Lisa J. "Professional Bar Mitzvah Dancers Keep the Party Going and Make Sure
Nobody Is Left Sitting at a Table Alone." Sun Sentinel. Sun Sentinel, 18 May 2012. Web.
8 Oct. 2014.
In this article, Lisa Huriash interviews people who work for Pure Energy Entertainment
along with parents who hired the company and even the boss of the company. David Kiernan,
the owner of Pure energy Entertainment, describes the people he hires as a blend of dancer, socialite, ad caretaker all rolled into one (Kiernan 2012). Huriash finds out that hired dancers are
necessary for a party because these days, kids think that they are too cool to dance at a party
and the hired, trained dancers are there to show kids that it isn't lame to dance to songs like the
YMCA. If there is ever a lull over a party, the trained dancers will always be interacting with
guests and on the dance floor to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible. Entertainment
companies are growing rapidly in places with large Jewish populations like south Florida, LA,
and New York. Huriash reports that people used to believe that hiring dancers to entertain guests
was just over-the-top and too extravagant but it is now obvious that paying people to dance actually makes the party.
I will use this information in my research to prove my point about how important it is to
hire entertainers for parties by relating back to people who actually hired the company and were
interviewed.
Martinez, Alberto. "Alberto From Pure Energy." Interview. Www.pureenergy.net. N.p., n.d.
Web. 8 Oct. 2014. <http://www.pureenergy.net/alberto>.
In this interview, an emcee named Alberto Martinez Jr. describes the process of moving
up in the company. When Alberto heard about Pure Energy Entertainment, he started off as a
dancer where he participated in hundreds of parties and celebrations. When he knew he wanted
to become an emcee, he started training for the position. To become an emcee, it is important to
remember that the job is not just about entertaining, but also creating a memory for customers
and guests (Martinez). Knowing in the back of your mind that you are touching the lives of
many is a strong driving force that keeps you motivated in the job. Being apart of this community is both profession and personal which are important parts in what Swales describes as a community.
I will use this information to connect how Swales describes the six points of a discourse
community. This interview shows how you can always move up in positions and there is room
for improvement. I will use the fact that Alberto Martinez is proof that effort is necessary to be
apart of a discourse community instead of just saying that you are part of a group.
Grippo, Jess. "What I Learned from Dancing at Bar Mitzvahs." Web log post. Jessgrippo.com.
N.p., 6 Dec. 2012. Web. 8 Oct. 2014.
In this blog entry, Jess Grippo, who used to be a dancer for an entertainment company for
a few seasons describes the upsides and downsides of being apart of a community like this. In
her opinion, the hellish demands of putting on a fake smile and being nice even to teenagers that

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were too cool to talk to her were just a few of the things she hated about the job. Being able to
have heart-to-heart conversations with people from all over the country and of all ages was an
upside. I agree with her in that positive aspect because I think it helped me as a shy person to be
able to talk to people much easier and hold a conversation. Being apart of a discourse community like this one opens many doors for the future. For example, because being an entertainer
shows future employers that we know how to handle high stress, and connecting with people of
all ages, we have a lot of prior experience to real-world attitudes which can be the deciding factor on whether we are hired for a new job.
I will use this information in my paper to explain how there are upsides and downsides in
a discourse community. The personal connections we make with people through the job would
be one of the upsides along with a lot of experience.
Hernandez, Barbara Michiels. "Addressing Occupational Stress In Dancers." JOPERD--The
Journal Of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 6 (2012): 6. Expanded Academic
ASAP. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
In this article, Barbara Hernandez describes the stress that occupational dancers encounter. Some of these stress related factors include low organizational support, high job demands,
traveling, conflicting demands, job insecurity, and more (Hernandez). A stressor, she explains,
is the trigger that causes stress, such as workplace conditions, relationships and social support,
organizational structure, harassment, career development, and time (Hernandez). Stress in the
work environment doesn't just come form the job itself, but especially when your job is to dance
for peoples entertainment, the stress can also be started from inappropriate expectations, stage
fright, gender/racial inequality, and incorrect teaching (Hernandez). These examples of stress
have the ability to affect performance goals. Professional and nonprofessional dance companies
deal with stress and it is important for managers to alleviate that stress. I ca relate to this because, in my company, the manager, David Kiernan, often holds meetings to ensure that everyone is comfortable in the community and if they arent, he tries to come up with ways to make
everyone stress-free and comfortable.
I will use this information in my research paper to relate back to how everyone in the
company can relate to each other and there are people who hold higher positions and can alleviate stress.

Alfaro, N. "Desperately Seeking Dough (Wide Range Of Jobs For Dancers)." Dance Magazine
81.3 (n.d.): 60-62. Arts & Humanities Citation Index. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
Because there are so many dancers with the same dream in the world, it is important for
them to do everything they can to get noticed in the world. In this article, Alfaro explains that
dancers must work jobs like party gigs in order to practice, earn money, and get noticed all at the
same time. I can relate to this article because my job is literally compiled of about fifty dancers
all working to get noticed, gain more jobs in order to get more money, and practice. Being a
dancer demands for the drive to obtain dancing gigs considering the amount of competition in

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the art. Alfaro says, versatility is key when juggling constantly morphing income sources and
rehearsal and work schedule (Alfaro) which relates back to the fact that dancers are so passionate with what they do, that they will endure all types of jobs just to gain experience.
I will connect this information to my paper easily because, it supports Swales rules that a
discourse community involves common goals throughout the community.

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