Blog 7

OOP: ~$20

The discourse community I plan on studying for this upcoming paper is Victoria’s Secret coupon community. Many of you are probably pretty confused and thinking, “What is that?” or “Does this really exist?” One month ago, I would have had the exact same thoughts. In the past few weeks, however, this community has played a huge part in my daily life. #couponislife

Just kidding. I do not think I am that addicted yet.

Like I mentioned, I became a member of this discourse community not too long ago. My interest started because of a promotion Victoria Secret was doing called the Secret Reward Card (SRC) in which you could mail in an entry or make a purchase of $10 or more to receive a card worth $10-$500 that you revealed on March 28^th. You would think that because I am a marketing major, I would know better than to fall for these marketing schemes. But nope, they got me real good. Within one month, I made 10 orders on the website and visited the store at least two or three times a week to accumulate 20 something SRCs. This is coming from the girl who probably shopped at Victoria Secret once or twice a year because she got free panty coupons or a birthday reward. I wasn’t about that $10.50+ panty life, or was I willing to pay $30 for a tank.

And this is exactly why I am so interested in the Victoria’s Secret coupon community. The community is all about helping each other find the best deal possible to maximize your dollar. This is our goal. You actually end up getting a great deal, or items that are practically free. To give you an example, even with the amount of things I’ve gotten from Victoria’s Secret, I’ve only spent around $100. Some of the items I’ve gotten include 20 something panties ($10.50-$12.50 retail), two free tote bags ($50 and $85), and five bras which includes a Bombshell bra that retails for $60 alone. In total, I think I accumulated around $500+ worth of items and counting because I still have SRCs coming.  

The main ways this community communicates is through Facebook and Instagram. We post deals every time they show up because they are often time limited, and post pictures of the items including the total out of pocket (OOP) spent after coupons. Pictures speak much more than words in this community because they allow us to see the exact items purchased, coupons used, and OOP so that we could mimic the deal someone did if we wanted to. It is also our way of congratulating each other on a great deal.

I have been analyzing the community over the past few weeks on Facebook and Instagram. Something that intrigues me and that I would really like to figure out is how some people are able to accumulate so many Angel Rewards (AR) and birthday rewards (HB). HB codes are given to people during their birthday month so it only happens once a year, and yet some people on Instagram have tens of them that they sell to others. I follow some of these people (who happen to have thousands of followers from the community) and would really like to interview them to find out how they do it, but I feel like they would probably keep the “how” a secret. Since that will probably be the case, I have some active members of the Facebook group I am in that I would also like to interview. Some of the questions I want to ask are, “How has VS couponing affected your life?” and “How much would you say you have spent total at VS, and how much do you think you have saved?”

Something I’ll also like to note is how learning about the definition of a discourse community has changed the way I think of one now. I’ve very wary of the lexi we use and our methods of communication. When I first became a member, I had no idea what SRC or OOP meant but I learned on my own as I became more involved in the community. It is easy for me to tell when someone is new to the community by the way they write or spell out Angel Rewards instead of simply calling it AR. I am looking forward to learning more about this discourse community so I can be a pro VS couponer. 

Blog 6: My Identity Kit

If you have seen how I behave in class, then you would have realized that I am pretty shy. At least around people I don't know or am not comfortable with. I consider myself an introvert. I rarely ever talk in class unless I am being called on. Although I pay attention in class and often have things I want to share, I only say it in my head because I am too shy to share my feelings. There's something about raising my hand that is just really difficult for me. Sometimes I’ll raise my hand, and then chicken out and pretend I’m actually only scratching my head or stretching.

Likewise, speaking in public is also very uncomfortable for me. I remember in 7th grade when I gave my first ever in-class presentation on my own, I was so ridiculously scared that my hands started trembling intensely. So intensely that I tried to get my hands to stop shaking by telling them to stop shaking in front of the whole class. It didn't work, unfortunately, and my friends enjoyed making fun of me for that presentation for the longest time. 

As you can see, I don't interact well with strangers. I am an introvert. However, I was a salesperson as my last job. If you look up the description of a salesperson, some of the things you will see are: extroverts, outgoing, and confident. Pretty much everything I am not. However, I was very good at my job. I excelled, actually. Within one month of employment, I became one of the top five salespeople in the Southern California region in my department. 

How did I do so well when the type of person I identify myself as is the complete opposite of a salesperson? I realize now that it was because I was good at mushfaking. I acquired the identity kit of a salesperson, “which comes complete with appropriate costume and instructions on how to act, talk, an often write, so as to take on a particular role that others will recognize" (119).

During my job, I was not the shy Ngoc that some people may see me as. I interacted with over 100 customers during each shift. I approached people first. I was the person that initiated the conversations and kept them going by exuding an outgoing personality. I went up to complete strangers and engaged in conversations about practically anything and everything. These are things I don’t do at school. These were things I only did at my job.

Why did I do this? It was because I knew I needed to act this way, talk this way, and dress this way in order to succeed as a salesperson. I needed my identity kit to be able to do the things I would otherwise have not done. It was the only way I was going to be able to do well at my job. Without this identity kit, I would have probably done horribly and gotten fired or quit my job.

In a way, my identity kit as a salesperson has influenced who I am outside of my work environment. I am still shy, and far from being an extrovert or the type of person I am at work. However, I have become more outgoing. I sometimes raise my hand to share in class now. I am also less nervous during presentations. I am not as awkward when talking to people. I am more comfortable talking to strangers. I would not say that my mushfaking turned into the real thing, but it did affect me and change me into who I am today. 

Blog #5

Maybe I was lucky and chose the right school, but I could not relate to what Vicki Madden was talking about in “Why Poor Students Struggle.” I understand where Madden is coming from with regards to how poor students are failing to graduate college because of the difference in their worlds at school and at home, but I just could not relate to it. I do not consider my family poor because I am not exactly sure what being poor means nowadays as the income gap continues to widen. We are not exactly in the middle class either, but we are getting by every month with what we have.

Perhaps it was easier for me to adjust to college life at SDSU because there are more people who are like me than there are those who are not. Most of my classmates live alone as opposed to living with their parents like I do, so they are simply getting by each month on the hourly wage they make. There are some people who are exceptions because their world is entirely different from mine, but I do not associate with them (not on purpose, it just happened that way) so I never had to deal with my world being compared with theirs.  

Financial aid covered my tuition and also gave me extra money for my books and living expenses, so the hardest part about going to school for me was the struggle of getting out of bed in the morning after staying up late the night before (like I am doing now as I am writing this blog at 1:30 AM…). However, the thought of not graduating college has never once crossed my mind. Rather, my mind was filled with thoughts like, “I need to graduate in 4 years or less,” and “Can I squeeze in an extra minor or major within four years?” My upbringing and especially my parents are the reason why I think this way. Graduating college is like eating or drinking water to me. It’s something that is going to happen no matter what and I can only think of a few things that is going to stop it, like the world ending.

SDSU is not exactly an elite school so the income gap here is not as big as say, the Ivy League schools. Maybe I would be able to relate more with what Madden is saying if I were in such an environment. Perhaps it is also my pride in my accomplishments thus far and my confidence in my abilities that I don’t question myself about whether I have the right to be here.

I will say though that how I act at home is different than how I act at school. Being the only English speaker of my household, I am the person in charge of everything such as paying the bills or contacting people when a problem arises. My parents depend on me so that is who I need to be at home. Meanwhile, there aren’t people relying on me at school so I don’t have that type of responsibility. Instead, I have to be outgoing and network with others because it is important to make connections while in college. This is especially true for my career field as a marketer since we depend on connections to move up the ladder.  

Overall, I think the most important thing for kids in lower socioeconomic background is for their parents to be supportive of their education. While I understand that those whose conditions are worse than mine will need to work in order to help their family, it is still possible to graduate if their family is supporting them. There are online classes and classes at different time of the day, so it can work if they are motivated and have supportive parents. 

Discourse Community

Recalling that we have a 10 page paper to do at the end of semester on discourse community, I became more interested in this blog assignment. I feel like I understand the meaning behind discourse community a little better now, so the paper is not as frightening. Although the idea of it being 10 pages is still causing me to cry a little inside. With that said, let’s get into the topic of discussion. John Swales defines discourse community as “the center of a set of ideas.” However, he points out that the precise definition of discourse community is very unclear, “'Should discourse communities be determined by shared objects of study, by common research methodology, by opportunity and frequency of communication, or by genre and stylistic conventions?” The vagueness creates questions as to what is considered discourse community and what is not.

As a result, he came up with the following six defining characteristics to identify a group of individuals as a discourse community:

1. A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.
2. A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members.
3. A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback.
4. A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims.
5. In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis.
6. A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.

Based on Swales’ six characteristics, the students in my marketing classes and I can be considered a discourse community. We have an agreed set of common public goals – to create value for customers through marketing.  We also have several mechanisms of intercommunication – emails, texts, and Google Docs to name a few.  We use these mechanisms to provide information and feedback regarding group projects, lectures, and exams. Additionally, we have and use multiple genres to further our goals, such as through websites and blogs. We have our own lexi, which includes marketing terms such as SEO, engagement, 5 Cs, and context marketing. This lexi allows us to communicate with one another effectively because we understand the concept and meaning behind it. Meanwhile, other discourse communities would probably not understand. Lastly, the diversity in our class includes members that are older, employed and have a wide knowledge of marketing as well as young members who are still trying to learn more about marketing. As a result, we are able to learn from each other which allows for the community to exist. For instance, I have learned so much from fellow classmates who are already employed and have much more experience than I do.

Swale’s six defining characteristics of a discourse community is very broad and allows for many groups to be considered a discourse community. The characteristics stated are left open and can be applied to most groups. For example, there is no specific genre or lexi a group needs to use, as long as they have their own. Some of the characteristics are also very general such as having mechanisms of intercommunication among its members and using those mechanisms to provide feedback and information. This occurs between most groups of people. Even our RWS305 class can be considered a discourse community since we meet all the criteria listed.

Although I am not exactly sure about the criteria for our final paper, it makes me feel much more reassured and confident that I will be able to write about most groups of people, because most likely, that group can be defined as a discourse community. 

Memes

              The concept of a meme can be traced back to Richard Dawkins. He referred to memes as an “evolutionary model of cultural development and change that was grounded in the replication of ideas, knowledge, and other cultural information through imitation and transfer.” There are three factors that he points out that are responsible for a meme’s success: fidelity, fecundity, and longevity. Fidelity refers to a meme’s ability to be copied and passed from one mind to another while maintaining the same idea. Fecundity refers to the speed at which an idea is copied and passed on. Lastly, longevity is how long a meme survives. Memes that become popular all share these same qualities.

Figure 1

              One meme that I am sure everyone knows of is the little boy and his fist bump who has been coined as “Success Kid.” This meme of the little boy is probably one of the most replicated memes because of how simple it is. In fact, the meme became so popular that the kid in the memes became famous and even earned some advertisements (He became the face of Vitamin Water and was used by Virgin Media for a marketing campaign in 2012). Words that are usually attached to this meme are usually what people consider “accomplishments” or even just random luck.

For example, the meme in Figure 1 describes ordering fries at a Burger King and then finding an onion ring with the fries. Although it is such a simple matter, it is entertaining because it is so relatable. Who doesn’t love receiving extra stuff when they order fast food? 

Figure 2

Figure 2 is another very simple meme that many people can relate to as well. I know several people who have a habit of texting/calling people when they are drunk and regret what they did the next day. Most of the time, they are calling their ex-girlfriend/boyfriend or texting something extremely embarrassing. The thing that probably made Success Kid so popular is its relatability. Many people are able to relate to what is described in the memes. It is also very easy to create your own version of Success Kid because there are just so many things in life that make people happy. Success Kid has all the qualities that Dawkin mentions a successful meme has. 

I think Figure 3 is something that all students can relate to. It is the best feeling in the world when you’re taking a test and don’t know the answer to a question, but then find the answer to it within another question. I remember when my teacher realized the mistake he made during the test and I was just thinking “Yes!! Thank you!” Teachers obviously cannot relate to the meme so it is not as funny to them as it is to students. However, all students can relate to it because we pretty much earned an extra point without trying very hard. 

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 4 is another meme that most people can relate to. Anyone who has had to bring groceries inside the house understands how annoying it is to have to make several trips back and forth. That is why people often try to hold as many bags as possible during one trip to shorten the amount of times you have to go back and forth. Being able to carry everything in one trip brings forth a sense of accomplishment and happiness.

Success Kid was so popular at one point because the idea behind it is so easily copied and passed from one mind to another. Although the meme in Figure 3 is not something that is relatable to teachers, they too can easily make one that does apply to them since the concept behind the Success Kid is applicable to everyone. Everyone has the ability to interpret the meme in a way that applies to them.  

Amy Devitt's Genres

Within Amy Devitt’s academic research article titled "Teaching Critical Genre Awareness,” she discusses about genres and its ideology. By “genre,” Devitt is referring to the writing style and how they differ according to occasion. For instance, some of the genres we use at school are essays, and research papers. The former consists of a very strict guideline to follow, with a thesis, intro, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The writing is very formal and has little room for creativity. Meanwhile, research papers are formal, and require that the writer incorporate credible text from an expert to support his/her idea. This is the way we have been taught to write for academic papers ever since we were young and it is what we are used to.  

This topic reminded me of when I was a writer intern for an online company, in which I published news for various different websites. I wrote articles for the beauty website, electronics, and K-pop to name a few. Depending on which website I was writing an article for, I took on a different type of personality in my writing style. For K-Pop, I was more enthusiastic and excited. For electronics, I wrote in a more intellectual and formal writing style. Meanwhile, for the beauty website, I used a more girly tone of writing. I did not realize I did it then, but am aware of it now that we are discussing writing genres.  

The fact that we use different writing genres doesn’t only apply to writing products like an essay, but is also true when we are communicating with someone online. Our writing style changes online depending on who we’re talking to, and even what website or social media platform we’re using. To friends who we are close to, we write to them in an informal and casual style. To those we aren’t close to, our writing might be short and formal. We also write differently when we’re writing a Facebook update compared to when we respond to a comment on YouTube.

Devitt believes genre awareness is important because if students can understand the various writing styles, it can help students improve and become better writers. Being aware of different genres makes it more comfortable to write different genres and when we’re more comfortable, we naturally write better. This is especially important for our future careers where we may be asked to write various genres on a daily basis. It makes it less of a hassle if we are prepared and comfortable to write the specific genre.

When Devitt states, “When writers take up a genre, they take up that genre's ideology,” she means that writers take up the characteristics of the genre they are writing. For example, when we write a research paper, we know it must be informational and include supportive evidence from credible sources to back up our opinions. It does not contain any emotions or personal stories. Likewise, an essay has its own characteristics as mentioned previously. This is usually the five paragraph paper with an intro, thesis, body paragraphs, and conclusion. It is entirely different from a research paper. All genres have unique ideologies that makes it easy to differentiate itself from one another. Just like music genres.

Lastly, Devitt means that genres have so much power and structure because they direct us to write in a certain way. This is most likely because we have been taught to write in such a way already, so we continue to write in the same way. As mentioned before, the way we write an essay is something we know by heart now because we were taught to do it the same way growing up. We all know the same structure of an essay. Or a research paper. Or a resume. The structures of different genres is common to all of us and in that way, genres have so much power because it directs our writing.  

Introductory Post

Hello! My name is Ngoc Nguyen. So a quick story about my name. I was born in Vietnam and moved to the United States when I was six years old. My uncle was the one that filled out the paperwork, but when he filled out my name, he miswrote my middle name as my first name and vice versa. So legally, my name was Nhu Nguyen and that is the name I had to use while going to school. It also happens to be my older sister’s name (whose name was also filled out incorrectly…) so that caused a bit of confusion when we got mail. I recently became a citizen so I was able to change my legal name back to my birth name, but I haven’t had the chance to change it in the SDSU system so that is why I am still enrolled as “Nhu Nguyen” in all my classes. However, I would appreciate it if you could all refer to me as Ngoc (pronounced as “knock”)!

I am 21 years old, and turning 22 on February 11. I love eating. It is the motivation that gets me up in the mornings, knowing that breakfast awaits me.  Some of my favorite types of food are Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese. I pretty much love most Asian food, although I do prefer a burger once in a while. I highly recommend going to Bahn Thai for Thai food, Sushi Diner for good sushi, and Manna/Kogi BBQ for amazing Korean barbeque. If you’re ever craving Asian food and need a recommendation, I’m your girl. As for drinks, I absolutely love boba drinks. One of my favorite things to do is getting together with my friends to drink boba and play board games.

Big Sur, California

I also enjoy travelling, more specifically, going on road trips. I always try to go on at least one road trip every single break. A few of the places I’ve drove to include Yosemite, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park. Most of these places are outdoors because I love going on hikes and exploring new places. I have plans to travel to Asia this summer with my family. Some of the places I am dying to visit include South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and my birth country, Vietnam. Although I probably won’t be able to visit all of them this summer, I hope to cross most of those countries off my bucket list!

Fossil Creek, Arizona

Horseshoe Bend, Arizona

I am currently a marketing major with a minor in management. I am not sure if this is the senior fever or something, but as my graduation date gets closer, I get more nervous about going into the real world as an adult. Over the past few months, I have become more anxious and nervous about my future. Questions like, “Can I become successful?” and “Will I even be able to get a job with my major?” have often popped into my head. While looking for marketing internships, I started regretting not majoring in a field that is more stable such as accounting. Due to the high standards I set for myself, I have become less confident in my ability to find a job in the marketing field that will satisfy those standards and make my parents proud. This past summer, my family went through the toughest time in our lives. The situation has made it all the more important that I find a job that pays well so I can help my parents.

Rather than talk about more depressing subjects, let’s move on to something more positive! I currently live with both of my parents and have two older sisters who have moved away. My oldest sister is a navy wife so she is constantly moving every few years. She was in Japan for the last two years and I am still upset I couldn’t visit her because I didn’t have a passport and a visa was too complicated. My middle sister is a flight attendant and she is the reason why I will be able to fly to Asia this summer without breaking my bank. As a perk for being her family, we all get free flights to most places around the world (Thanks sis!). I am shy and do not express my feelings in person as often as I would like, but I love my family.

              That’s it for now. I look forward to learning about all of you this semester!