Young Jung

Figured World: The place and the rules that the people of that location have to follow
The figured world that I am covering is the TV show Dexter and how a child named
Dexter was born in the blood of his deceased mother and grows up with his foster father Harry
Morgan. When Dexter grows up He works as a blood splatter analyst acting normal during the
day but deep inside is something darker that he needs to fulfill and in order for him to do that he
hunts down criminals that have escaped from the law and kills them. Throughout the show it is
apparent that Dexter is a sociopath that is able to fake emotions and fit in with the outside world
that is known as Miami. But on the inside there is a darker desires that he has to control before
he loses it. While in the outside world Dexter acts normal in the police department and when he
is out with Rita (Dexter's girlfriend) acting like a normal person by doing normal things such as
going out with his work buddies or going out on dates with Rita. This is completely different to
when Dexter is alone in his kill room where social norms seems fly out the window as Dexter
ties people down with plastic wrap and gets very personal with the victim. While breaking social
norms Dexter is also breaking law in Miami by murdering people as well as ordering very strong
sedatives using a false identity as well as using it to knock people out. Some other social norms
that Dexter doesn't seem to follow is that he is always lying to the people that he loves there is no
one that knows about Dexter's double life as well. This is something that Dexter will take to his
grave or is it?
Actors: The people that are apart of the figured world
Dexter Morgan - The main character of the TV show the main protagonist as well as a antagonist
to some of the other characters within the TV show.
Debra Morgan -Debra Morgan is the stepsister of the main character Dexter Morgan and is
usually the motive for Dexter to remain normal and sane throughout the TV series
Harry Morgan - Harry Morgan was the father of Debra Morgan as well as the stepfather of
Dexter Morgan. Harry was the one to find Dexter in a pool of blood and raised Dexter as his own
son and is one of the only figures that Dexter idolizes and relies on and this is apparent in the
show because Dexter always imagines Harry standing over him talking to him. Harry was also
the one that taught Dexter how to channel his urge to kill in order to help other people.
Lt. Laguerta - Is the lieutenant of the Miami Police department that watches Dexter though out
this career working for the Miami police department. She persuades people that Dexter is normal
to people that doubt him.
Sgt. Batista - Is one of Dexters friends from work that is actually close to Dexter that depends on
Dexter to help him out with everyday normal issues that he has at home.
Rita Benntt: The girlfriend of Dexters and one of the people that Dexter seems to care about and
depends on to sell that his life is normal to others.
Sgt. Doakes - Is a detective working in the Miami Homicide department that always suspects
that Dexter seems off and that he was hiding something. Later on Doakes finds out about Dexters
secret and tried to pursue Dexter and convict Dexter as the Bay Harbor Butcher

Communities of Practice: groups of people that is usually known as a single group that
group together for a single interest or cause.

Young Jung

The Miami Metro Homicide - They lean about homicide cases and trys to figure out ways to
prevent the murders from happening in the future.
Domain: Is the goal that everyone has in common
The domain is to learn the mentality of a killer and to learn about how sociopaths interact with
other humans. Because Dexter is considered a fully functioning sociopath minus the killing he
does in secret.
Artifacts: Special things that have meaning in the figured world.
Dexters blood slide collection - The blood slide collection that Dexter has in his air conditioning
unit is a trophy that Dexter collects in order to remind him self about all the evil people that he
is removing from the world. To Dexter this was proof that he was helping the world and that
what he did was morally justified and the right thing that needed to be done.

Dexter tools - Dexters tools are also something that Dexter finds really important to him as a
killer because like most serial killers Dexter has a ritual that involves every tools from his set
that he uses on every victim. These tools are how Dexter differentiates himself from other killers
because this is something special that he only does.
jobs that everyone holds - Everyone holds their job titles very close to them in the TV show
Dexter. Dexter relies on his job to cover for him so that no one suspects him as a serial killer.
Also Lt. Laguerta holds her job very close to her as it is evident when someone steps in to take
over her job she loses her cool and throws a tantrum.
Practice of the community: The things that people do that are part of the community of
practice, this is also something that the people of the community believe in.
People trying to understand the mentality of sociopaths and how the function in the normal world
that is known as Miami in the figured world of Dexter.

Literacy Practice: types of communication that people use in the figured world

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Police conference - In the police conference meetings the discuss killer and the motives and how
they commit the murders. This is a Dexter find out about some of his victims to learn about what
type of crimes they committed.
Secret messages - Within the episode that I observed the Ice truck killer would send Dexter
subtle messages that only Dexter would understand. These secret messages are usually target
towards Dexter from another killer to get his attention.
Verbal communication - The characters communicate their ideas between each other through
verbal communication and usually spread some important information through the word of
mouth.
Press conference - The lieutenant usually deals with the press conferences but this is a way that
the Miami police department communicates their finding towards the general public.

Background Information: Season 1 Episode 12

Dexters sister, Debra, is dating a serial killer known as the Ice Truck Killer but is
completely unaware of this fact and starts to fall for the killer. Dexter is unaware of the fact that
Debras boyfriend is the serial killer that the Miami homicide department was looking for.
Everything has been building up to the reveal to show who the real killer is and what connection
he as with Dexter.
Observation 1: Season 1 Episode 12
14:00 mins - Dexter is breaking into a shipping cargo
bay in order to find the cargo container that his mother
was murdered in. This is because The Ice Truck
Killer sent him a subtle message through music and
pictures to meet him there. While inspecting the cargo
container Dexter gets confronted my sergeant Doakes
because he suspects that Dexter is up to something.
18:00 mins - Brian (Dexters lost brother) kidnaps Debra Morgan and has her in the trunk of a
car he is trying to lure Dexter in using Debra because she is one of the people that Dexter
actually feels compassion for. Dexter is preoccupied with Debras situation that it it interfering
with his police work.
23:30 mins - Dexter notices a doll that is left at the apartment of Brians apartment and knows
that the doll is left for him. On the doll it had the words Home sweet home Dexter is able to
make the connection of a home that he grew up in before he became Dexter Morgan.
29:00 mins - Dexter imagines him and his little brother playing
when they were little when he enters their childhood home this is
when his biological brothers first confront him and he wants
Dexter to kill Debra.
33:00 mins - Dexter has a conversation with Brian and learns
whats really happens that night. he learns that since he was 3

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Harry took him in because he assumed that it wouldn't affect Dexter because he was such a
young age. But Brian was old enough that he would remember so Harry left Brian to be taken to
a psychiatric ward where he grew up with one goal that was to reunite with his family aka.
Dexter.
38:00 mins - Dexter finds out that he had grown attached to Debra and when Brian tell Dexter to
kill Debra he isn't able to do it and instead he fights back and stops Brian from killing her.
During this time Debra wakes up to see Dexter fighting off Brain but does not see him talking to
him and doesnt know that Brian is Dexters brother. This scene is where the police also show up
and chase after Brian but end up losing him in the end of the chase.
48:00 mins - Dexter is able to get Brian on a table where he can kill him and end his murder
spree. Here Dexter doesn't follow his ritual of drawing blood from the cheek and placing it on a
blood slide. And instead of stabbing a knife through the heart he cuts his throat in order to make
it seem like a suicide. Dexter is very emotional at this point because he had a connection with his
brother but in order to keep Debra save he had to kill him.
49:30 mins - Dexter feels strange after the fact that his
only living relative was killed by him. He feels sad and
lost because Brian was his only brother and Brian
accepted him for who he was. While everyone around
him only accepted Dexter for his fake persona that
everyone seemed to come to love except Doakes.
Background Information: Season 2 Episode 12
Doakes finds out that Dexter is really a serial killer after witnessing Dexter throw body
parts on to his boat. Dexter in a attempt to save himself sedates Doakes and locks him up in a log
cabin in the woods. Dexter keeps Doakes in the cabin while he handles other situations like his
stalker Lila. As well as fixing the relationship between him and Rita.
Observation 2: Season 2 Episode 12
5:30 mins - Dexter is built up with anxiety because he understands that if people find Doakes in
the cabin everything will be over for him. At this moment you can feel the anxiety and anger
Dexter is feeling because of the situation because he is speeding in order to take it to the cabin
before the police. Dexter is also showing signs of anger when there is a RV in his way slowing
him down from arriving to his destination and he proceeds to honk and over take the RV while in
a fit of rage.
6:00 mins - Dexter has Doakes in a cage within a cabin in the woods because he finds out about
Dexters dark secret. One of Dexters stalkers finds Doakes in the cabin and questions Doakes
into telling her about Dexter. After finding out the truth about Dexter she understands that Dexter
is in trouble and decides to kill off Doakes and to get rid
of the evidence that links Dexter to the scene of the
crime.

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7:00 mins - Dexters Stalker, Lila, Finds Sgt Doakes trapped in the cabin after she finds his
location from Dexters stolen GPS. She then asks how and why Doakes is trapped in the cabin
where he explains that Dexter Morgan trapped him in there. In Doakess confusion Lila tells him
that she's Dexters soul mate and proceeds to turn on the gas and the stove within the cabin and
runs away
14:00 mins - Dexter is questioning what happened within the crime scene because he knows that
buildings do not randomly combust into flames but that seems to have happen during this
situation. He then thinks of this an extremely lucky moment and has a moment of relief.
20:30 mins - This is when Lt. Laguerta is trying to cope with Doakes being accused as a serial
killer because Laguerta and Doakes have a history together as cops before becoming detectives
and the chief of police for the Miami homicide department. She is still trying to understand the
reasoning bend Doakes killing and is currently in denial.
21:30 mins - Dexter is pretending to be surprised that Doakes is the killer after evidence is
collected from the rubble of the cabin in the woods. This is where Dexter has his fake persona as
a geeky lab tech. Here he also learns that this wasn't a accident and that Doakes was murdered
this is where he also knows who is responsible for the death of Doakes.
38:30 mins - Dexter understands that his obsessed stalker is going to go for Ritas kids after
confronting his stalker Dexter understands that she is a problem for Rita and the kids. so he
makes the decision to kill her so that Rita and everyone close toe Dexter can be save.
40:00 mins - Dexter confronts Lila (Dexters stalker) in order to
save the kids. She tells Dexter that she was his soul mate and
proceeds to sent the room on fire while trapping Dexter and the
kids inside. He breaks the window to save the kids first but is
unable to get out himself. Luckily the fire department arrived
and saves Dexter from the flames.
Background Information: Season 3 Episode 2
Dexter was assigned to a case dealing with the death of the distract attorneys brother.
After doing research Dexter finds out who the killer is and tries to kill the killer himself. While at
the attempt of trying to kill the killer Dexter walks in on a assassination attempt and finds out
that the district attorney hired people to kill the person that killed his brother.
Observation 3: Season 3 Episode 2
4:00 mins - Dexter is dealing with normal problems that many people face and this one being
that his girlfriend is pregnant. While waiting in the doctors office he notices all the little children
running around and he wonders if those any of those children will grow up to be like him.
14:00 mins - Dexter was looking in to the death to Teegan a teenage female that was found dead
while Dexter was working a crime scene and he started to question why someone would name
their child Teegan. This is when he starts to daydream about what he would name his own child.

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I think this shows that there is a part of Dexter that wants to be normal and wants to have a
family.
15:00 mins - Dexter was going to investigate Teegans
apartment and look for evidence that can help him find
her killer. Before he could leave the lab before heading
to the apartment Dexter gets stopped by the District
attorney because he wanted to thank Dexter for
personally taking interest in the case involving the
murder of the D.A.s brother and offers him to dinner.
Dexter seems kind of annoyed by this because it is
getting in the way of him fulfilling his dark desire.
18:00 mins - Dexter is completely avoiding the fact that Rita is now pregnant with Dexters baby
just like a normal human being this is scary to him. This is something that he never thought he
had to go though with having a family that he will provide for.
25:00 mins - Dexter finally has time to talk to Rita about the child but he seemed so distant from
the conversation while Rita seems to be stressing about the child. And Dexter seems to be
genuinely worried about Rita.
30:00 mins - Dexter opens up with Sgt. Batista and tells him that he is worried and confused
because Rita is pregnant. And Batista embraces Dexter telling him the joys of fatherhood and
that he should be happy and he made his day.
30:30 mins - He starts to daydream of how he will be if he is
a father. And he I pushing his own child on the swing set and
notices Rita and her kids in the distance and notices how
happy they could be as a family. But something terrible
happens and the daydream becomes a nightmare. This is
where Dexter figures out that he wants a family but he's
trying to convince himself that its not a good idea.
40:30 mins - Dexter is on his way to fulfill his dark desire during the night but Rita knocking at
the door interrupts him. Rita comes in to tell Dexter that she is keeping the child and that she
wants to keep the child with Dexter. He starts to question if he will be a good after or now on the
way to kill someone. I think this is a turning point for Dexter and will affect his outlook on his
whole life.
48:00 mins - Dexter runs into one of the victims family members and the family member thanks
Dexter for killing the killer that killed his brother. This is a start of something new for Dexter
because there is someone that accepts Dexter for his deeds.
Dexter
How do you blend into a social environment?

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- After 30 years of hiding behind this mask that I set for myself it gets easy. It becomes a a like a
natural instinct but this is of course if I can satisfy the dark passenger that follows me around.
How do you communicate to others with a fake persona?
- Well I just follow what Harrys code. He taught me how to blend in with normal people he
taught me how to think, how to act, and how speak. I try to follow what Harry taught me and talk
about family and other things that matter to normal people.
Tell me about the relationship between your family.
- Right now I have my sister, Debra, and my girlfriend Rita and of course there is Aster and
Cody but those are Ritas kids. Honestly those are the only people that I would do anything for
they are the only ones that I have feeling for.
Explain how your relationship with your sister has changed you.
- After working with my sister and after the situation with Brian I realize she's the only family I
have. I feel like she taught me compassion I'm not sure if thats what I feel for her but its a
emotion I don't know this is all new to me.
How do you think your coworkers view you?
- So far they just see me as the Lab geek Dexter Morgan there hasn't been much questioning
around here. Except Doakes but he didn't stay long enough to reveal what I really am.
Michael C. Hall
How do you prepare to play a sociopath?
- Well there are things that I do such as study how sociopaths act and try to put on a emotionless
face. The key thing that you have to do is remember that the type of sociopath that Dexter is one
that doesnt feel compassion or any emotion for that matter so I try to embody that when playing
as Dexter.
How do the other actors view you after playing this role?
-Most of the time the acting doesn't really affect the relationship between the other actors.
Explain your opinion about Dexter as a character.
- Hmmm, Dexter is a interesting character to say the least. He has this thing about him even
though he's a serial killer there is something that makes him such a lovable character. He's
interesting because even though he's very disturbed character you want that from Dexter because
thats who he is and thats what makes Dexter so entertaining to follow.
Tell me about your first thoughts when they gave you the role of Dexter.
- I was intrigued because before this I played a gay mortician. But the next role was something
completely different because being a sociopath isn't something that as humans we fully
understand but I had to personify that through Dexter and I knew as a actor if I can play a gay
mortician I can play a sociopathic serial killer