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Jennifer Cisneros

Instructor: Gabrielle Volstad

UWRIT 1104

10 February 2019

Discourse Communities

RuneScape showed that there are various things one must achieve before coming to

success. I may have not finished the game but I know there are different amounts of quests and

obstacles ahead and RuneScape allows one to have more than one perspective. The game is not

all clean-cut, straight to the point, RuneScape wants to make the players think critically on their

next steps and assure themselves that it is the correct ones. Most games, the storyline is already

set in stone, this is going to happen if you pass this level. RuneScape is the type of game where

this might happen to you if you chose this, but to your friend, this might happen cause you

responded this way. This storyline was important because it makes you aware of the decisions

you make and why you made them.

When I initially wanted to play RuneScape, I tried so hard to try to get it to work on my

computer, my friend even tried to make it work but it did not happen. The minute the game

loaded and started, it was a new type of game that I have not yet encountered. I do not think I

have ever really played any PC games. At first, I was having difficulties trying to move my

character around and make her do things, simple tasks, like building a fire. I spent about thirty

minutes trying to find out how to right click in order to light the logs. However, while playing

with my team of classmates, Raj and Makayla, I enjoyed it better than simply playing RuneScape

by myself because it was way more fun and interesting. If there were times where I needed help,

they were by my side to explain or distract me if we played for too long a while. When I had to
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play by myself I would get bored or frustrated because I did not understand some of the tasks or

controls the game was trying to explain. However, with Makayla and Raj, I felt calmer and there

was never a dull moment.

There are thousands, even millions of people who play these type of games on the day to

day basis and thoroughly enjoy it and have full out conversations talking about the specific

moves or actions one can take when playing the games. In a way, I participated in the PC gaming

discourse community for the little while playing RuneScape. There was a chatroom on the left

bottom corner, that I am assuming is how this specific discourse community discussed certain

situations. I enjoyed letting myself join a community that I usually would never be in, it let me

see what they do and how they do what they do. In order to actively participate in this discourse

community, I believe one must know the controls of a basic PC game in order to navigate

yourself around thoroughly. Another skill that would be great to have is understanding the keys

on the side of the screen where all the skills, backpack, etc are held. One has to come into this

game ready to think critically because this is a game that makes the player think for himself.

On that point, one discourse community that I know of is the Hispanics at WOW

Supermarket. I say that this group is a discourse community because this community is filled

with Hispanics that have recently arrived in the United States or with Hispanics that barely know

how to communicate with others in English. In result one is filled with a store of people who

mostly want the same thing, work in order to get through life and stabilize themselves here in

this foreign country. WOW Supermarket is also filled with people who are working there in

order to not forget their roots and connect once again into the Hispanic community. What holds

all these people together is, first off, the paycheck and second, the family bond one receives

when working there. I say this in a sense that if one enters the WOW company only a month ago
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to be a cashier and only a cashier, by the time that month goes by they are participating working

in the kitchen, carniceria, grocery, or produce. Even though that is not their original jobs the

managers have trust in their employees to know that they will get the job done while at the same

time having fun and talking to the all the employees in the specific stations.

Although WOW Supermarket is a family, just like every family, they have their differences.

Not everyone is going to want to see you happy and make sure you succeed. They will be polite

and nice to your face however behind your back they will wish your downfall. It is nice to have

caution with the people who one is not that close with and not share too many things with people

because one may never know if they are they to gossip or not. At the end of the day, it is a

grocery store, the things that are said there may spread like wildfire, one minute you told

someone who you thought was your 'friend' something and the next minute the person you are

attending knows your whole life story too. These tensions may cause the community to tremble a

bit, but if one is really there to stick together then the differences will sort out and the balance

will be made.

I am too apart of this discourse community. I first ented WOW Supermarket last summer. To

say I was terrified when I first entered was no joke, however, everyone was extremely nice and

welcoming, it made me feel right at home. At the beginning of the job, yes I knew how to speak

Spanish but there would be times where I would struggle but being there filled with so many

Spanish speaking people, it made me practice my Spanish and become more fluent. I enjoy being

in this community because it makes sure that I do not forget where my family originated from. It

lets me see how my family progressed into one with success because my uncle owns WOW

Supermarket, it gives me an example of how I too can succeed.

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Before doing this assignment, I would have never thought of anything being a discourse

community. In my mind, the term discourse community did not exist. Simple things like playing

a PC game and working in a supermarket were things that I considered as a hobby and a job.

Playing the PC game, RuneScape, was a new experience that I would not have done on my own

although I know a various amount of people who enjoy things like that. I could not see myself

doing it in my spare time. It was an experience I will never forget because it taught me the basics

of a PC game and that there is a whole new concept of discourse communities introduced. A

discourse community can be anything, what they really remind me of is fan clubs. For example,

a discourse community can be a group of people that all listen to the Korean boy group BTS.

They all want the seven boys to succeed and in order to do so, they buy all their merch, attend

their concerts, follow them on all types of social media, and try to communicate to them because

at the end of the day, what they want is BTS to grow and become the biggest stars they can be.

Having the knowledge of what discourse communities are, helped me understand that any group

with the same goals and shared beliefs and values are examples of discourse communities.

By understanding discourse communities, a writer has the advantage of having an extra

connection with their audience. Being aware of discourse communities means that the writer

comprehends what language should be used, how the language should be used, what will

motivate their audience, what the community is aware of, and what the community is invested in.

Having the extra connection with your audience lets it go beyond simply being an ‘audience’ or

the purpose of the piece, it lets you know what certain words to use if there is slang, how to

frame those certain words in order to reach out, and what is already known within the

community.