Harrison

Caitlin Harrison
Professor Olivia Rines
UWRT-1101-002
16 March 2015
Micro-ethnography: UNC-Chapel Hill Carolina Vibe Dance Team
Almost every little girl has been in a tutu and ballet slippers at one point in their life;

Caitlin 3/30/2015 12:29 PM

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whether it was a one-time dance camp that their parents forced them into or if they devoted their
lives to the art of dancing throughout their lives, like myself. Many parents encourage their
daughters and oftentimes sons as well to take a few ballet classes at a young age in order to
provide their child with an emotional outlet and a sense of discipline. Through my experience

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studying the subject of discourse communities, I had the opportunity to observe and interview a
dance team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill called Carolina Vibe in order to
analyze this discourse community. The members of this team are devoted to the art of dance and
share a bond much greater than just that of a discourse community. To an everyday onlooker
such as myself, it is imperative to understand that these girls are a perfect representation of a

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family brought together by the love of dancing who share a common goal of furthering the
awareness of such an art
In the excerpt The Concept of a Discourse Community from the book Writing about
Writing by John Swales, the author addresses the idea of a discourse community and explains
characteristics as to how they are defined. Within the world of literacy there are numerous
definitions and understandings of the term discourse community. Because of this, Swales
attempts to clarify, for procedural purposes, what is to be understood by discourse community
and, perhaps in the present circumstances, it is better to offer a set of criteria sufficiently narrow

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Olivia 4/8/2015 3:05 PM

Comment [1]: The chapter is by Swales,
not the book.

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that will eliminate many of the marginal, blurred and controversial contenders (Swales, 218).
Throughout this chapter, Swales outlines six characteristics that should be used to define a

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:06 PM

Comment [2]: No comma in citation

discourse community. Before reading this article, I was never aware of the prevalence of
discourse communities that are present all around us; and to be completely honest, I really wasnt
aware of the term at all. In my efforts to define Carolina Vibe as a discourse community, I
will relate it to each of Swales six criteria.

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broadly agreed set of common goals (Swales, 220). This characteristic is very apparent when

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:14 PM

Comment [3]: What are you attempting to
do in describing how your community fits
Swales characteristics? What is the purpose
of this paper?

analyzing the discourse community of the UNC-Chapel Hill Carolina Vibe Dance Team. In the

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To begin, Swales addresses the first characteristic of a discourse community as sharing a

interview conducted with Alison Fluharty, the president of Carolina Vibe, she responded to the

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:06 PM

Comment [4]: Quotations not necessary
unless this is part of the title

question regarding the goals of the team as follows; In general the major push for the UNC

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dance community is to get the dance minor. Pretty much every dancer at UNC wants this to

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happen, so we participate in a lot of guest shows to support the cause. Raising awareness of all
the dance groups on campus is a major goal for all of us.. Before this interview, the goal of
pushing the University to introduce a dance minor was not expected on my behalf. When I come

Caitlin 4/1/2015 10:33 AM

Deleted: (Fluharty)

to think of it now, however, I can see why there is such a push for this. Those who have a
passion for dancing may also have other passions as well. In Alisons case, for example, she has
always known she wanted to major in biology. However, she explained to me that she did not
want this to be the end of her dancing career. Adding a dance minor would allow students who
share this same passion to pursue their other dreams as well, but to still be able to incorporate
dance into their future. I believe Alison was immediately able to describe the overall goal of her
team and the other teams on campus in general, while Megan Palmer, the second interviewee
responded by describing possible goals for a dancer as an individual. She acknowledged how

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:08 PM

Comment [5]: What do you mean by this
statement?
Olivia 4/8/2015 3:09 PM
Comment [6]: It might be helpful to give a
little bit of information about each
interviewee before going into your analysis.
Caitlin 4/5/2015 7:55 PM
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some artists might feel the need to make a statement with a work, while others might have the
goal of providing just a really great piece of entertainment.. It is clear that within the discourse
community of Carolina Vibe, there is a major emphasis on the awareness of the arts around

Caitlin 4/1/2015 10:33 AM

Deleted: (Palmer)

campus and a push to introduce a dance minor at the University. When addressing the goal of
dance teams in general, the overarching goal would be to entertain the audience with a wellchoreographed performance as well as to provide socialization of the dancers.
Furthermore, Swales describes the second characteristic of a discourse community. The
author states, A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its
members (Swales, 221). Carolina Vibes members communicate with each other in a number
of ways. Both interviewees explained the following two methods of communication that are used
within the group. First, and perhaps most importantly, the team meets three times a week for

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:10 PM

Comment [7]: How do you know this? Did
your interviewees tell you this?
Olivia 4/8/2015 3:13 PM
Comment [8]: Not sure about your word
choice here.
Caitlin 3/30/2015 12:25 PM
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Caitlin 3/30/2015 12:25 PM
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their scheduled practice. Each practice lasts for about one hour, explains Alison. In order for
the dance to be choreographed and the dancers to each understand the dance and be able to
perform it correctly, meetings that are face to face on a weekly basis are crucial. The members of
the team are also all included in a group message via text. Through our group text, we are able
to quickly communicate with each other about upcoming events and reminders, she continues.
Within this group, there is an emphasis on the personal relationships within the team members as
well. With these methods of communication, they are able to strengthen these relationships on a
daily or weekly basis.
In addition, Swales adds a third criteria to the concept of a discourse community. A
discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and
feedback, he explains (Swales, 221). On Chapel Hills campus there is a group that was created
for this purpose entirely. Alison explained during the interview that Carolina Dance Initiative

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(CDI) is an overarching group that coordinates all the dance companies. They hold meetings at
the beginning of the year to help freshmen find dance groups, they hold a show in the spring to
showcase all the dance groups, and they also hold free classes throughout the week that anyone
can attend. The Carolina Dance Initiative is an excellent example of how this discourse
community connects members of the society to certain dance teams. There is also a larger-scale

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organization that has a similar purpose. The Universal Dance Association (UDA) shares
information about upcoming dance competitions, events, and camps throughout the country
(UDA). These organizations both allow interested members of the society to connect with the
dance community as a whole and allows for information to be shared within the dance
community.
Next, the fourth defining characteristic is that A discourse community utilizes and hence
possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims (Swales, 221).
Swales explains that these may involve appropriacy of topics, the form, function, and
positioning of discoursal elements, and the roles texts play in the operation of the discourse
community (Swales, 221). Carolina Vibe uses a number of different genres in order to further
this communitys purpose. For example, flyers about upcoming events that the team will be
participating in are created in order to increase the awareness of these events. Social media posts
are created for these events as well. The group has actually assigned the job of creating these
things to the members that have been elected as the social chair. Megan explained in her

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interview that nearly each position within the group is in someway in a charge of social media
posts.
Swales then goes on to include the fifth characteristic which is In addition to owning
genres, a discourse community has acquired a specific lexis (Swales, 222). In the discourse

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:17 PM

Comment [9]: What about the dancing
itself? Remember, genres do not have to be
text-based.

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community of a dance team, there are very obvious examples of the specific lexis that the
members use. The choreography of most dances is almost always based on the counts of eight.
Dancers use this as an underlying basis of their knowledge for which steps occur at any given
moment. During my observations, I found that the majority of the time that the team was
rehearsing, the dancers were not even dancing to the music at all, but instead dancing to eight
counts behind spoken by a few of the dancers. Another example of the lexis that not only
Carolina Vibe, but most every dance team uses is the incorporation of French terminology. In
ballet, which is the basis for every other type of dancing, every position and movement is named
after a French term. For example, the Technical Manual and Dictionary for Classical Ballet
defines the French word Arabesque as a position of the body, in profile, supported on one leg,
with the other leg extended behind (Grant, 2). Battements are very commonly used movements
throughout most choreography. The knowledge of French vocabulary that a dancer acquires over
his or her life is immense. Most dancers, myself included, would agree that the understanding of
these terms is critical to the understanding of choreography. It was very obvious during my
observations that each of the girls had a common understanding of these French terms. In one
instance they agreed that needed to review the pirouette section. If I had not been previously
exposed to the language of dance, I would not have known what exactly it was they were
referring to.

Lastly, Swales states that a discourse community has a threshold level of members with
a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise (Swales, 222). The various levels
of expertise can be seen throughout numerous different aspects as a dancer. The choreographer,
in most cases, is seen as the one who holds the most suitable degree of expertise. The students

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:18 PM

Comment [10]: Explain
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Olivia 4/8/2015 3:18 PM
Comment [11]: Where do they get this
underlying basis of their knowledge?
Olivia 4/8/2015 3:19 PM
Comment [12]: What claim are you trying
to make by providing this information?
Olivia 4/8/2015 3:20 PM
Comment [13]: Are you claiming that all
dance originated out of ballet? Im not sure
this is true.

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would be those of lesser proficiency; hence, the reason they are being taught in the first place by
one who has greater knowledge of the content. There is also evidence of these various levels of
expertise within Chapel Hills Carolina Vibe Dance Team. As Megan stated in her interview,
[The] President sends out the emails, manages schedules, and makes executive decisions on

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Deleted: Carolina Vibe dance team

issues and updates the social media accounts. The artistic director manages music, choreography,
costumes, and helps the president with social media videos and promos. Secretary enforces
attendance policies. Treasurer ensures the spring showcase and deals with all monies. Social
chair manages and plans social events.. The amount of power one holds on this team in
particular is directly associated with the title they have been given due to the experience and

Caitlin 4/1/2015 10:35 AM

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knowledge that they have. The girls on the dance team democratically elect members, at the
beginning of the season, to hold these titles based on the ability that they believe their team
members hold.
As was stated before, examples of discourse communities are evident all around us
everyday. During my experience analyzing the discourse community of Chapel Hills Carolina
Vibe Dance Team, I was able to identify that this groups main goal is to introduce a dance

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:23 PM

Comment [14]: You proved the varying
levels of expertise but you did not prove the
threshold level of members.
Caitlin 3/30/2015 12:28 PM
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minor at the University and to raise awareness of the arts around campus. While analyzing
Carolina Vibe as a discourse community, it is pertinent to understand that the members of this
community are not just a group of people who all enjoy dancing; Instead, it is a group who share
a heartwarming bond due to their similar passions in sharing the importance of the art of dancing
around their community. There is also great emphasis placed on pushing the University to
introduce a dance minor in order to allow these students to pursue their careers while still having
being able to incorporate dance into their future. The process of understanding various discourse

Olivia 4/8/2015 3:26 PM

Comment [15]: You state this in the
introduction and the conclusion but do not
support this claim throughout the body of
your paper.
Olivia 4/8/2015 3:26 PM
Comment [16]: This is mentioned but
does not receive much emphasis. How
important is the dance minor to this
community?
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communities and the overall purposes and values of each is paramount for the relationships

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between communities within all cultures.

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Deleted: in order to grasp the underlying
goal of groups within all cultures.

This is an exceptionally strong draft, and I really enjoyed reading it and learning about your
community. In order to improve, there are a few things you might want to consider. First, as a
reader, Im not really sure why you are writing this paper. You should indicate a purpose in the
introduction. This ties into your use of Swales. Right now, it seems forced. Think about what you
want your reader to get out of this paper and indicate that desire in the beginning of your paper.
Second, I feel like you could push your analysis a bit further. Right now, your information seems
to be a bit surface-level. What can you tell the audience about your discourse community that
would help them understand this notion of family that your mention? Finally, your writing style
is strong but it also could be stronger. Your sentence construction could be much tighter and
stronger. Be deliberate in your word choices and think about how you are phrasing your
thoughts. If you have questions regarding this aspect, either make an appointment with the
Writing Resources Center or come talk to me.
The following is the rubric for the assignment, including what you would have received had this
draft been your final draft. This grade will not be recorded anywhere. It is simply a chance for
you to see where you stand.
Category

Content
(65 points)

Organization
(10 points)
Style and
Conventions
(25 points)
Score

Scoring Criteria
Is focused, clear, purposeful, and meets the needs of the audience
Properly addresses the question, What are the most important things for an
outsider to know about this community?
Describes Swales characteristic #1 (common public goals)
Describes Swales characteristic #2 (mechanisms of intercommunication)
Describes Swales characteristic #3 (participatory mechanisms)
Describes Swales characteristic #4 (utilizes genres)
Describes Swales characteristic #5 (specific lexis)
Describes Swales characteristic #6 (threshold level of members)
All claims made are supported. Writer uses specific references to data and/or
sources to support claims.
Introduction establishes a framework for the rest of the paper and includes a
thesis statement
Conclusion summarizes the paper and pushes the reader to think about specific
issues/concerns outside of individual discourse community.
Utilizes a strong internal structure and purposefully moves the reader through
the text
Sentences are all well-crafted and consistently varied in structure, length, and
beginning. Vocabulary and word choice are precise and varied.
The writer demonstrates a firm grasp of the conventions of written English
(spelling, capitalization, punctuation etc.). There are no typos.
Is formatted according to the conventions of MLA
Is 1500 2500 words
Total Points

Total
Points
5

Score
5

10

5
5
5
5
5
5

5
5
5
4
4
3

10

10

10

10
5
100

10
5
87

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Works Cited
Grant, Gail. The Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet. 3rd ed. 1982. Print.
N.P. Universal Dance Association. Varsity Brands, Inc. Web. 16 March 2015.
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Genre Analysis: English in Academic
and Research Settings. Boston; Cambridge UP, 1990. 21-32. Print.

Caitlin 3/30/2015 12:18 PM

Deleted: Fluharty, Alison. Personal
Interview. 9 March 2015.

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