Am I a Qualified Member of FC Hungry

Am I a qualified member of FC Hungry? When I first heard about ‘discourse community’, I regarded it as a segregated subset of a certain culture or society. However, it took not so long to reazlie that everyone should join a discourse community at some point of their lives. A discourse community consists of people who have the same goal, interest, and level of expertise in a specific area of interest. Since last week, we, as a class, have been discussing about the characteristics of a discourse community and how we can decide if a person is part of that community. We now are aware that discourse communities are not so different from other communities. To be a member of the community, he or she should have a threshold level of expertise, credibility, and emotions that we share with other members in the community. Since we were asked about a discourse community we’ve already joined, FC Hungry, which is a soccer team I play for, came up to my mind. I claim that I am a member of FC Hungry by having acquired specialized knowledge [Logos], gained trustworthiness through commitment [Ethos], and shared the same emotions and values [Pathos] with other members in the team. As college students, we are going to get a chance to join an academic discourse community; I would like to demonstrate that entering an academic discourse community is similar to the process of entering other discourse communities by showing the three rhetorical appeals (Logos, Ethos, and Pathos) that I mastered to successfully join my soccer team. My experiences with the three rhetorical appeals will be helpful in the sense that you can utilize the three appeals when joining an academic discourse community in the future. When I first joined the team, I tried my best to make it obvious that I am part of the team; I, as a newcomer, knew I had to make commitment to the team and build up on credibility to be truly accepted as a member. I built my credibility through consistent matches, meetings, and a leadership position. There was a weekly match on Saturdays from 7:00 am to 9:00 am. As it is early in the morning, not all players made it on time. However, I always arrived 15 minutes before the kick-off time to check if we have everything set before the match. In addition, I went to the voluntary social meeting after every match. The meeting is our own kind of recess time where we have lunch together, talking about success and failure about the match. Moreover, I did some extra work outside the field that other teammates did not want to do such as scheduling a match, reserving a field, and keeping the field neat and tidy. My commitment to the team was enough to convince my teammates that I am part of the team. Surprisingly, after a year of consistent volunteering, I was voted for the captain of the team. Through commitment, communication, and interaction for a year, credibility and trustworthiness were bestowed upon me. As a team, it was important that the team’s motives are aligned with my own. Our team’s motive regarded positive attitudes and sportsmanship more importantly than the performance and result. When I joined my soccer team, the team itself did not have an explicit mission statement. However, we shared a common goal, which is to play hard, have fun, and respect other players. As a player who always wanted to win the game, I did not this find this motive motivating at first because I found the biggest joy in winning. I was the person who thought I could do whatever it takes to win a match. However, I felt a sense of belonging and joy when I found their values. For example, last year in Austin, Texas, we made it to semi-final where we had a competitive opponent. They were notorious for their manners and sportsmanship; as expected, they frequently used verbal and physical assaults to weaken our mentality during the game. However, our captain warned us to avoid any kind of fight and to stay focused. We, as one team, wanted to show that playing dirty and winning the game are two different matters. The result of the game, not surprisingly, was that we won the game by 3-1. It was that moment that I felt a sense of belonging and unity as we pursued and protected our value in the team although the opponent’s effort to violate it. Some of the players from other teams, who happened to know our team, have been joining the team although our team does not actively recruit new players. They were naturally attracted to the values and attitudes that we put into every match. Our team always tried to encourage and compliment the teammates who are disappointed of themselves or perform bad. Keeping my values and goals aligned with the team’s helps not only myself to enjoy every game I play, but other players to try their best. It is because our team, unlike other teams, promotes the sense of unity through compliments and encouragement to protect our values. At first, it was hard to get the teammates together because some players thought that they are better than others. We did not see our team’s own color in tactics and often became lost during the game. However, we did not give up; we had harsh stamina trainings in hundred degrees in the summer and endless discussion of how we can play better next time. In addition to the match we played every Saturdays, we often went to University of Texas at Dallas to have pick-up games to build chemistry and bond between each player. Learning from many opponents and their tactics, we have become stronger as a whole team and have been undefeated for the last few months. We all agree that hard work and training made us succeed and feel accomplished as an amateur soccer team. Some might question whether I have the adequate level of proficiency to be a legitimate member of my soccer team. Indeed, any person could come to the meetings and matches regularly and learn the specialized language that we use on and off-pitch, developing his Ethos and Logos. However, it is not easy to be aligned with the motives or values that my team seeks. For example, I was a player who does everything to beat the opponent before I joined the team. My behaviors ranged from making vicious fouls to attacking verbally at the players. After I played the first game, the captain came up to me and warned me to avoid any sort of verbal abuse on the pitch as the team wanted protect the sportsmanship and positive attitudes. However, I had been playing as so since high school and knew it was in my blood. I was even at the verge of being kicked out of the team for my aggressive behaviors, so I had to make changes to stay in and play for the team, so I asked one of my teammates to stop me and break up a fight. It took almost a year for me to be well-mannered; I would say I am now calmer and nicer than before by trying to stay in line with what the team strives to achieve and protect. Every player, including myself, in the team is aware of values of sportsmanship and manners. Thus, I assert that I am a qualified member of my soccer team because I practice the same Pathos as other players. There is a specific knowledge and language that our team use on and off-pitch. In specific, there are two words that we always use: 45 and lbw. At first I did not know what they meant when it comes to playing soccer matches, but I learned the meaning of those two words after a few matches. We used ’45’ when a winger, who on either sides of the field, tries to cross the ball into the penalty box. Normally, a winger crosses the ball hoping for the striker, who positions himself in the box, to head or kick it. However, when a winger cuts back the ball at 45 degrees behind him, either a midfielder or defender gets an open chance where he can simply tap the ball into the net. In fact, I scored a few fancy goals by shouting out 45. As I am a midfielder who runs from a box to another, I could get an open chance by shouting out 45 to our winger. When scoring like this, everyone in the team runs to me and we all celebrate together. Now, it is regarded as our team own ‘knowledge’ or ‘tactic’ that a winger crosses the ball into the box at 45 degrees. In addition, we text each other “lbw” in the group chat if we lose a match; it means “lost but well-played”. At first, I thought someone mistakenly typed the ‘pounds’ unit, but it seemed that I was the only one who did not know the meaning of it. One of our friends told me that it stands for the value of our team because it enhances the sense of sportsmanship and passion among the players. Acquiring the knowledge enabled me to communicate with the teammates more easily. To successfully blend into the team, it was essential for me to pursue the same Ethos, Pathos, and Logos as the team’s. Indeed, entering the academic discourse community is not so different from joining other discourse communities. Establishing credibility and trustworthiness demonstrates the writer’s level of honesty and is important in academic writing. In addition to building Ethos, not only connecting the emotions to the readers is important, but proving that the writer has a certain level of knowledge or expertise of interest to the readers is necessary. Thus, the process of successfully entering academic discourse communities is similar to the process and skills I have demonstrated to join the soccer team.