Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers

Mirabelli begins his essay by speaking on multiliteracies, explaining how people interact not only through text, but also by reading people and situations. Mirabelli talks about how waitresses and waiters are looked at as low-skilled in society. Some economists believe that service workers could be considered “mindless”, performing tasks that take none to little education. Mirabelli’s piece explores the ways of “reading” texts, verbal “performances” and other manipulations of self presentation used by service workers, in hope to gain more respect for service work in general.

Mirabelli talks about to be literate, you must have control of how to use language, thinking, and acting that would be seen as socially acceptable. Research studies has also shown that literacy is a variety of practices specific to individuals or groups of people of different cultures, races, classes and genders. The definition of literacy continues to evolve in society’s eyes. Mirabelli focuses on how waiters and waitresses use language and literacy, to prove that they are not as “mindless” as people believe.

Mirabelli observed how waiters and waitresses interact in small diners, and observed patterns of thought and and behavior. He conducted these experiments at a restaurant that he was currently employed at, and he did most of his experimentation during the weekend, because those were the busiest shifts and considered the most challenging for the employees.

Relating to discourse communities, the menu itself from a restaurant can be considered its own genre. Mirabelli states that to be literate, specifically in a setting like this, it requires more than a ninth-grade level of literacy. It is not just about knowing what the menu consists of, but rather knowing how to modify it, knowing how the food is prepared and taking special instructions from fellow employees or customers.

Being a server does not just require knowing the menu and being able to take a customer’s order, it requires knowing how to properly greet the customers, taking food orders and being able to modify the menu if requested by the customers, and verbally and non-verbally communicating. Although it is your goal as a waiter or waitress to satisfy the customer, servers do have some control over how they respond to the customers.

Mirabelli states that age, gender, race, and class are all relevant to interactions and communication between servers and customers. In a restaurant, employees usually want to create a friend, family like atmosphere, to create a kind and successful environment for the customers and employees. Being a server, you are expected to practice various ways of kindness to your employees under numerous circumstances, even when you do not always want to.

In conclusion, there is still a lot unconsidered that Mirabelli could speak on. For instance, Mirabelli does not focus so much on the power and control of the employees, and their influence on the customers when wanting to place an order. Management was also not taken in consideration, and the influence of management over the workers. Although employees can utilize some authority, skill, and wit through their use of language with customers, they must also with other employees and management where authority and control can play out differently.

The moral of working in food industry though, is that the main goal is to satisfy your customers, so they have the most amount of authority and control. Waitressing has been seen as a job that requires little skill and knowledge to be able to be successful, but in Mirabelli’s piece, he states clear examples of when and how servers use language and skill to be able to create a successful workplace and comfortable environment for the customers and the rest of the staff.

1. Swales says that speech communities are centripetal, meaning that they tend to engage people into the general structure. Discourse communities are centrifugal, suggesting that they tend to separate people based on occupation and speciality-interest grouping.
2. Swales provides six defining characteristics to identify with a discourse community. The first being that a discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals. Second, a discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members. Third, a discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. Fourth, a discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. Fifth, a discourse community has acquired some specific lexis. Finally, a discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.
3. Swales explains that although discourse communities can be beneficial, they can also contain contradictions within the community itself. Isolation between the different discourse communities that an individual can be involved in can cause tension and separation within discourse communities. Swales states that as discourse communities evolve, they can lose or gain consensus and although they are to be a place for members to come together, they can be so divided to the point of breaking.

Discourse Communities and The Rhetorical Situation

1. Swales see’s the gap in the conversation that he is participating in as having no set definition or qualifications for discourse communities and for how people can identify with them. Swales also aims to differentiate between speech communities and discourse communities, providing clear examples of why the two are very different.
2. I believe that this piece fills the gap that it was intending to fill. Swales provides his readers with six characteristics that a discourse community should exemplify, where these characteristics can also aid in people’s ability to identify with different discourse communities. Swales offers a definition to his readers for discourse communities, but he also states that there can be conflict and contradictions within a discourse community so people are not entirely disappointed if they were to expect too much. Finally, Swales supplies his readers with clear definitions to separate speech communities and discourse communities.
3. I think this essay was directed toward an academic or business professional audience. This essay would be exceptionally helpful with students and being able to identify as members with different discourse communities, academic and outside of schooling. Also, Swales states that discourse communities do not only have to be seen in an academic light, which is why I believe it can be aimed at a business professional audience. This piece was written very formally, but Swales also says that he hopes that discourse communities can be seen as somewhat apart from reality, which is why I believe he is targeting business professionals, so they can have somewhere to fit in other than the workplace.
4. The danger of a piece like this, people can easily disagree or be offended that Swales came up with a set definition for discourse communities, and how different they really are from speech communities. Also, Swales states that there can be a lot of conflict, contradiction, and isolation within discourse communities, so people can simply find a way to disagree with his statements made on discourse communities.

Discourses: How Do Communities Shape Writing?

This particular chapter argues that as we move across discourses, we are constantly evolving and obtaining new literacies. Discourses represent how a group of people share how they exist in the world, even if it is just for a short period of time. Different discourses could conflict each other, but we are able to engage in both.

When a group of people communicate to achieve a goal, or about shared beliefs, this could represent another discourse community. It can be useful when trying to identify which discourse communities you a part of by seeing what you have in common with others and what similarities you share. Using these similarities, you can acquire knowledge in how to communicate and engage with these different discourse communities that you can be apart of.

It is critical for members of a discourse community to be able to interact properly. It is important to be able to relate to other members of a discourse community and feel like you belong. As new members continue to be added to discourse communities, it is key be able to evolve and communicate amongst each other. With that being said, being a new member to a discourse communities, you may have to earn the other members’ respect and ensure that you are communicating appropriately.

In conclusion, discourse communities are continuously evolving and adapting to different changes, type of people, and conflicts. Discourse communities focus on the fact that change is okay, as long as members of a discourse community can find common ground and still feel as though they relate to one another. Discourse communities can be within school, work, and social environments.

The Concept of Discourse Community

A discourse community is different from a speech community. Swales defines six characteristics for people to be able to identify themselves as to decide which discourse communities they belong to.

One of the most important characteristics is genre. Genres meet the needs of the rhetorical situations in which they operate. Many discourse communities use genres, and these genres can be recognized to those even outside of the discourse community. Genres and conventions can aid in the ability of discourse communities to adapt as the communities are faced with changes.

A discourse community can be seen as “the center of a set of ideas” that can be accepted, modified or rejected by people. Many question if the term ‘discourse community’ should be defined by shared interests to study, methods of research,  form of communication, or by genre? In result, the absence of any of these shared facets could stop discourse community formation though. Discourse communities focus more on what is written, whereas a speech community focuses more on what is spoken.

A speech community draws attention to “shared norms” rather than “shared performance characteristics”. There are major reasons why a speech community is not another definition for a discourse community. One reason being the difference in literacy activity. Speech is more likely to happen between people in distant places, and people are more likely to act upon writing instead of speech from the past.

Another reason is the difference between sociolinguistic and sociorhetorical grouping. The main difference between the two, is that in sociolinguistic grouping, the primary factors for behavior are social. Whereas, in sociorhetorical grouping, primary factors for behavior are functional.

Finally, the last main reason is the differences in that speech communities are centripetal whereas discourse communities are centrifugal. Speech community members are typically inherited into the communities because of birth. Discourse community members are brought into the community by persuasion, training or relevant qualification.

There are six major defining characteristics to assist in identifying with a discourse community. The first being that a discourse community has a broadly agreed set of public goals. Second, a discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members. Third, a discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to provide information and feedback. Fourth, a discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims. Fifth, a discourse community has obtained particular lexis. Finally, a discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.

Understanding the boundaries of discourse communities allows you to be aware that individuals can be engaged in multiple discourse communities and can require multiple genres. Swales states that he does not hold an expectation for personal involvement. Also, discourse communities may also be more demanding depending on the focus of each different discourse community an individual can be a member of. Swales emphasizes on his hope that a discourse community can somewhat be in sense apart from reality. Finally, Swales stresses that discourse communities can constantly be evolving in consensus and different discourse communities an individual can be involved in can be very different and isolated.

Evaluating Evidence and Assumptions

The evidence that Stein provides us would not be considered accurate. He states no evidence that is supported by facts and he does not supply the readers with any reliable sources. Although the evidence is not factual or necessarily correct, all of the evidence Stein gives his readers is relevant to his claim and supports his opinions. I do not believe that the amount of evidence Stein gives us is sufficient enough to convince his readers of also supporting his claim. Instead, I think it causes the readers to question their own standpoint on this topic as well.

Within the first paragraph, Stein makes the assumption that there are those people that believes we are an underdog nation, that frowns upon the privileged because of it. Stein states that when the underdogs win, it can cause somewhat more excitement because it is unexpected, which is valid. When the unexpected happens, it seems to gain more of a reaction out of the audience. He also relates the Yankees to America, and that people want to come to America for the same reason athletes want to join the Yankees: that there is a better history of opportunity and success.

A lot of the assumptions in this reading could be challenged, because the majority of the evidence is solely based upon opinion. All of the similarities he provides between the Yankees and America could cause the readers to challenge his opinion and disagree with his opinions and perspective. Stein has failed to assume shared beliefs, values or facts that may help the argument because he comes off as very one-sided.

Rhetorical Reading

The purpose of Stein’s writing is to relate the successful, well-known team of the Yankees to America. The tone of Stein’s piece is very satirical, causing the readers to challenge his views and opinions. Stein’s piece also shows authority the way he presents his opinions, possibly causing the readers to agree with him and see his side of the topic. The author offers a lot of relations to make to cause the readers to follow what he is trying to get across, even if they cannot personally relate to the Yankees or athletics, causing the author to come off as knowledgable.

The tone of this writing could cause the readers to not see Stein as fair-minded or trustworthy. He is incredibly one-sided with his work, possibly making the readers not to be very fond of him or this piece, unless they agree with him or are very open-minded. The author’s support of his claim does not come off as very well considered, considering he does not provide the readers with any research or background to strongly support his claim, other than his opinion and the relationships he makes to America. The author does not treat opposing perspectives fairly, calling people “losers” and coming off as very aggressive and angry, attempting to prove his point.

Effective Working Thesis Statement

Stein’s thesis statement indicates that the issue is contestable because many people could object to his opinion. This work is argumentative, but is not factual or accurate, causing it to be fairly easy to argue against. The author does strongly give off what support he claims and why he so strongly supports it, but he fails to provide the readers with good evidence to persuade the readers to also support his claim, unless they already would have going into this reading.

The thesis statement could easily be debated if new information came to the light through research. If any factual evidence was to be used against Stein’s claim, this could cause an easy debate considering he provides his readers with little to none factual evidence. Although the tone is very satirical and aggressive, it does map out the structure of his argument. He provides several ways for the readers to relate to what he is saying, besides the Yankees. Finally, Stein’s thesis statement is apparent to what he would need to include in order for his argument to be believable. Although his writing was very opinionated, I think it was also somewhat persuasive.

Audience

In Stein’s work, I believe his aim of argument would be to either persuade or reinforce. Stein is definitely not arguing to inquire because he is not trying to solve a conflict or create common ground between opposing perspectives. The author is either trying to persuade his audience to agree with his opinion, or reinforce his opinion on those who already agree and why they should agree with him as well.

His audience could be those that need to be persuaded and hold different views, because the way he writes comes off as if he is specifically referring to those people that disagree with him. But, he could also be reinforcing ties with those who share his view because he writes very aggressively. Coming off as not so fair-minded and considerate could cause those readers that you are attempting to persuade to completely want to do the opposite, which is why I believe that an audience that shares beliefs with him would be better suitable for him to get across too.

Supporting the Claim

Stein does not use types of evidence that that the greatest number of people would find persuasive. The evidence that Stein provides his readers with is very opinionated instead of providing his readers with an actual background or research on his topic to convince his readers of otherwise. The only way his readers would be persuaded is from his very opinionated and satirical tone.

Stein may come off as if he is treating his readers that would agree with him as intelligent, but not treating his readers that would disagree with him as intelligent. He refers to those people that disagree with him as “losers” and not righteous. Although he may not come off as fair-minded to his readers, he is very direct with his position and what he wants his readers to think and why. He does not provide his readers with facts, but he provides his readers with ways they can personally relate to this writing and see it as a piece that is not technically about baseball at all.

Words about Words

Stein does not cultivate a trustworthy ethos. His attitude and tone toward the subject makes it hard for him to identify and relate with the readers. Stein is a known author, so his reputation could support his opinion when trying to persuade the readers.

Stein somewhat uses logos as described by the editors. His style and the way he arranges his work to how he addresses the topic is easy to follow and relates to one another. The author does not always use full sentences but his sentence arrangement causes him to be very clear on his claim and targeting his audience.

The use of pathos in Stein’s work is only through aggression and anger. This may deepen the effect of having people relate to him if they agree with his claim, but this could also cause people to strongly disagree with him if they did not initially support his claim. He provides no empathy to those who initially oppose his claim, possibly causing them to not even consider his perspective.

As an author, writing an argumentative piece is to convince your readers of a specific point you are trying to get across and have your readers see your point from your perspective. It can be difficult when creating a persuasive piece of writing because you have to provide your piece in a certain way depending on the type of argument you are presenting to your readers.

A major factor of an argumentative piece is that can be debated with more than one opinion. It is crucial to include evidence, examples, knowledge, etc. to support your claim but also provide information for the other sides of the argument too. It is also essential to feel passionate about whatever you are trying to argue, so your readers can feel that emotion in your writing.

The thesis statement is what you use to begin your persuasive writing. The thesis statement states your topic and your opinion on the topic that you will be discussing throughout the paper. Throughout your paper, you will use evidence and information to aid in convincing your readers to also support your claim. A thesis statement can also assist in you researching and finding out more about your topic. Even if you thought you knew a lot about your topic, research can open up new information for you that will help with writing about your topic.

Seeing both sides of the argument, including the perspective completely opposite of yours, could be beneficial to your readers. Researching on the opposite perspective could help in using whatever evidence they could potentially use against you, in your piece to reinforce your readers to see from your perspective. The way you develop, shape and present your topic will strongly influence how your readers perceive your topic. It is always important to be aware of your audience, and that they may have no prior knowledge to your topic, some knowledge, or a lot. The way you write about your topic has to be able to apply to all of these different types of audiences.

Arguing to inquire can be beneficial to those involved in an ongoing debate that many people feel differently on. The goal of this argument can be to create common ground within the audience, to possibly resolve conflict, at least allowing the audiences to understand that different opinions can exist and it is okay to disagree.

Arguing to persuade has to be done in such a way that the author knows how to best present his argument to his readers. The topic has to catch the readers attention, and they have to be able to examine the information, then interpret it, and hopefully being able to relate to the author’s perspective. It is useful to include reasons and evidence in your argument to support your claim. Researching your topic, defining terms that support your point of view, and differentiating between fact and opinion can contribute to convincing your readers of your argument.

The way the author comes off to the readers is important. The author must be presentable to the audience, come off as reasonable and trustworthy, and also be able to personally relate to the audience. It can be helpful to provide the readers with experience and facts to support your claim. It is important to confirm that your argument contains no fallacies or anything that contradicts your claim. When writing an argumentative piece, you do not want to provide them with any reason to disagree with you. It is crucial to remain fair-minded and open to the other side of the argument, so readers trust you as an author.

When given a prompt then having to argue a side, this can be difficult in writing. It is important to fully understand what you are being asked and what the instructor is looking for. Outlining how you will respond to the question can be beneficial in staying on track during your essay. How you present your argument is the most important part, starting with a strong thesis statement, providing evidence, strong opinion, and knowledge, then finishing with a strong conclusion will aid in your argument. Finally, proofreading your work and establishing that there are no contradictions made in your statement is key.

Checklist

The title, “In Defense of Domination”, does not remind me of anything I have ever read. After going over the reading, it relates to the author’s point he is trying to get across but I do not think it strongly summarizes the text.

I was able to gain an idea of what kind of person the author is, based on his strong opinions. The author clearly states that he roots for the most successful people, teams, etc. to exist. It can be apparent that the author looks up to those million dollar celebrities and teams, inventors, ideas, etc.

Knowing somewhat what the text is about, I can somewhat relate to the author’s opinions. Although it seems as if he is pushing his beliefs upon and shooting down any other beliefs, I have similar beliefs in rooting for the most successful people, teams, and ideas. I root for those that work hard to be where they are and earn their success. Being a college student, there are a lot of texts that can even slightly relate to this reading. Growing up, we are given multiple texts that explain to us that what we get out of something, is what we put in and we have to work hard to achieve our goals.

The purpose of this text to could be compared to what I have mentioned before, teams like the Yankees and players like Alex Rodriguez have worked hard to be where they are today. The author refers to the underdogs as “losers”, possibly not to be rude but to get his point across that you can settle to be mediocre, or you can push to be the best. This text could be seen as just a man’s idea on the Yankees and why he believes they are the best team out there, or as a reader, you can challenge yourself to relate to this reading and try to gain your own sense of purpose out of it. Wether you feel passionate about Yankees like Joel Stein or not, everyone feels passionate about something and as a reader, it is important to attempt to obtain the most out of a text that you can. Relating to a text in your own personal sense can allow you to cite this source in your own writing, even if it has nothing to do with the Yankees or baseball at all.

After the First Read

Stated in the first paragraph by Joel Stein, he said some people believe in rooting for the underdog and feel the need to fight against the “privileged”. Similar to the author, I root for those who are very successful. Everyone has their underdogs that they root for, but I am a firm believer that people earn what they work for.

People can be given more opportunities and be born into privileged families, and if people are not famous with millions of dollars, everyone can push to be the absolute best version of themselves that can be to end up successful. I think this is the most important point the author is trying to get across, there is nothing wrong with using talent and working hard to be as successful as you can be.

Something that I disagree with the author about is how he strongly he pushes his opinions and beliefs on the readers. This piece of writing comes off as very argumentative. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I believe it is okay to stress your own opinions without having to put down anyone else’s beliefs.

I do appreciate how in depth the author gets into MLB and relates it to America as a whole. He might have a firm belief on how the two relate, but I think it is extraordinary that an author can relate two very different things you would think, and cause the readers to see the two as very similar.

Evidence and Assumptions

The text is based solely on belief and opinion. The only accurate information given in this writing is the information on the contract deal between the Yankees and Alex Rodriguez.

The tone of the author can cause confusion to the readers, it is hard to take him serious but he still gives off a strong point that I think challenges readers to ask themselves a lot of questions and challenges readers to think about their own beliefs on this specific topic. The only source coming from this author, is his own opinion. The text does strongly relate to the author’s claim and opinion, as he is very aggressive with his point of view.

The author could have provided more evidence to convince the readers to also support his claim, but I believe that this text is aimed more for the readers to question themselves after hearing the author’s opinion on the matter. Every example the author provides, he also provides us with his own beliefs relating to the topic.

The assumptions made by the author that I can also relate to, is relating a topic simple as the MLB and Yankees to America as a whole. It is challenging to relate specifically to the author’s point of view because you do not know what parts to take him serious at throughout his writing. The author comes off very aggressive but also somewhat sarcastic, but I think it allows the readers to really question wether the success story of America is as real as it is portrayed to be or if it is based purely off of belief and opinion.

I believe that the author portrayed his beliefs very well, and targeted the readers directly to gain their own opinions on the subject, but I do not believe the author offered shared values or facts that could contribute to his argument. If the author was to provide the readers with values or facts, it would be easier for the readers to be convinced to agree with the author’s argument. Since this text is based mostly off of opinion, it allows the readers to easily gain their own opinion.

The author portrays that people believe you will be happier when put into the most privileged and successful situations, but this reading challenges readers to think about if that is entirely true. America is portrayed to be this amazing place where everyone should be so thankful to be a part of, but every success story has its own issues and as time goes on, America is not as perfect as everyone thinks. But I believe that the author also stresses that success has to be worked for, and some people just work for it in the wrong way occasionally.

As a reader, it is important to challenge yourself when reading a text. It is not just about completing the reading and moving on, it is significant to focus on what you can gain and learn from the reading. It is also critical to understand what you will be reading before going into the text. Having a good understanding of your author and skimming over what the text will be about could be helpful with how you engage yourself.

It can be helpful to read over a text more than once. Reading content more than once can aid in gaining a deeper understanding and not just reading for the “gist”. It is useful to annotate and create summaries as reading, to keep yourself focused on the reading and have remembrance of what you have read.

While reading, it is beneficial to be critical of the author’s point that they are trying to get across. Distinguishing wether the author is stating a fact, belief or opinion will be valuable when retaining your own sense of information from the reading. It is critical to know the difference between these three, a fact can be supported by evidence whereas an opinion or belief would be stated with assumptions.

It is essential to try to understand the purpose of the author’s text. Reading any writing and perceiving it as an argument will challenge you to obtain your own perspective on the reading, and not just adopting the author’s point of view. An author’s word choice, or diction, and style of writing can influence how readers view the text. You can predict the intentions of the author by paying attention to hints in the writing that may address their aim. In any form of writing, it is important to pull apart the writing to acquire your own opinions and understanding of the text.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

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This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.