Carranza 1 Luis Carranza Professor Schley English 1101 27 October 2013 Lambda heta Phi !

iscourse Ethnogra"hy #cross the $nited States at most accredited $ni%ersities one thing is common& they ha%e at least one 'ree( letter association for students) hese organizations are (no*n as fraternities or sororities& de"ending on if they are male or female based) +raternities ha%e gained many negati%e stereoty"es among "eo"le outside of these organizations because of the bad conduct some fraternities "ossess) Some stereoty"es include that members are stuc( u"& "artiers& "re""y& and drun(s& but the most "re%alent of these stereoty"es is that all members of any fraternity are ,dumb- and ,less intelligentthen your a%erage college student) +or my discourse ethnogra"hy . set out to find if a fraternity counts as a discourse ethnogra"hy and to figure out if the members of the Lambda heta Phi +raternity at $/CC fit the stereoty"e of being ,less intelligent- then the a%erage student) . chose this 0uestion& because . (no* *hat it feels li(e to be stereoty"ed and be 1udged because of those stereoty"es e%en by "eo"le you don2t (no*) . chose to obser%e the Lambda heta Phi +raternity because some of the first "eo"le . met at $/CC *here members of Lambda heta Phi) Literacy and Contemporary Theory .n the boo(& Genre Analysis& 3ohn S*ales describes *hat a discourse community is) 4e states that there are si5 characteristics that ma(es a community a discourse community) 4e begins by stating that ,# discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common "ublic goals-& in the Lambda heta Phi fraternity& according to the cha"ter "resident& 6obert 7alderrama& ,Our main goals are brotherhood& academic e5cellence& Latino unity& leadershi"& and ser%ice to the community-) hese goals are agreed u"on by the Lambda heta Phi cha"ters) # cha"ter is the Lambda heta Phi fraternities of a certain

Carranza 2 school for e5am"le& the 'amma .ota Cha"ter is $/C8Charlotte2s cha"ter *hile /C State is 'amma Sigma Cha"ter& and *hile ,brotherhood-& ,leadershi"-& and ,Latino unity- may not seem li(e %iable goals& they are& the fraternity see(s to ma(e e%ery member ne* or old feel comfortable& no matter *hat country or city they are from& and turn them into leaders in the community) #cademic e5cellence seems to be a counter intuiti%e goal because aren2t all fraternities su""osed to be full of underachie%ers *ho rarely go to class and s"end most of their free time "artying9 :ut Lambda heta Phi ha%e been successfully u"holding this goal& they hold study grou"s for their members on four days of the *ee(& ,;e also chec( u" on each other-& says first year member Ed*ard 'onzalez& ,Li(e if *e ha%e a test or 0uiz *e tell another Lambda and *e tell them *hen *e e5"ect it bac(& and they chec( u" on you and hel" (ee" your grades u"-) #ll of this has hel"ed them hold the highest 'P# among any fraternity at $/CC *ith an a%erage 'P# of 3)<= and it has continued to steadily increase e%ery semester since 2011) #nother of S*ales2 elements of a discourse community is that a discourse community must ha%e ,"artici"atory mechanisms-) Partici"atory mechanisms are the rules inside of a community) .n Lambda heta Phi& there *ere both uns"o(en and *ritten rules that they had to follo*) *o of the *ritten rules *ere Roberts Rules of Order& and the fraternity Constitution) One is used during meetings to hel" them understand ho* the meeting is ran and the other is follo*ed at all times) heir Constitution is %ery im"ortant& because it tells them *hat and ho* many e%ents they must com"lete in a year) .t also gi%es them rules including ho* to "resent themsel%es and sets a minimum of meetings they can hold and much more) #long *ith these they also ha%e some uns"o(en rules that they follo*) Some e5am"les *ould be ne%er be late to meetings& al*ays be (ind to nonmembers& and your ,brothers- should be as close as your actual brothers) hese rules are im"ortant to learn because *hile the may not be *ritten do*n& the members must learn them to fit in and successfully communicate) #ccording to S*ales an im"ortant characteristic of any discourse community is ho* they

Carranza 3 communicate) he members of Lambda heta Phi communicate to each other and to other cha"ters in different *ays) ;hen members *ant to communicate *ith each other informally& they use te5ts as their main form of communication& but if they *ant to communicate formally& say if one member *ants to as( *hat is necessary for him to bring to their ne5t meeting& they use +aceboo( to as( their ,brothers-) hey communicate this *ay on a day to day basis and it is their main form of communication) On the other hand if the "resident of $/CC2s fraternity& *ants to s"ea( to other schools "residents formally he *ould use e8mails& but if he *ants to s"ea( to them informally he *ould use 'rou">e& *hich is an a"" that sends messages to a grou"& this method is not used as much but it still is im"ortant because& Lambda heta Phi hold a national meeting in #ugust *here they tal( and ha%e meetings *ith other cha"ters from across the nation& in the *ee(s leading u" to this meeting communication greatly increases among national cha"ters& so it is im"ortant for the members to be able to communicate clearly bet*een each other) .t is also im"ortant for members to be able to ,read- "ossible members and interact *ith them to ensure that they can at least get their interest in the fraternity) >irabelli calls these ,multiliteracies- and that multiliteracies along *ith genres hel" communities reach their goal) ?>irabelli@ he fourth element of a discourse community are the 'enres they use) # genre is ,a te5t that hel"s facilitate communication bet*een "eo"le-?:ranic(@) ;hile it may not seem that a fraternity *ould ha%e a set of *ritten rules& Lambda heta Phi does) !uring their meetings& members follo* rules set in Roberts Rules of Order to hel" them organize& "resent& and e%en ho* to act in their meetings ) hey follo* these rules %ery "recisely and according to the members it is an im"ortant "art of their meetings) #nother genre they use is the Lambda heta Phi Constitution& *hich is constantly being u"dated& decides ho* many e%ents ne* members must com"lete& and many other rules and guidelines that they must com"lete and follo* throughout the year) Lastly& Lambda heta Phi has a ne* member education "lan& to hel" ne* members understand *hat is e5"ected of them and to hel" them integrate

Carranza < into the grou") Le5is are the s"ecific *ords used inside of a community that *ouldn2t really be used outside of this community) .t is im"ortant for the le5is used among members of Lambda heta Phi to be learned 0uic(ly by any ne* member& because if it is not learned they *ill 0uic(ly be left behind and lost during meetings and e%en informal communication bet*een members ?;ardle@) hey ha%e many terms they use including ,brother-& ,line brother-& ,Lambda-& and SA#/!S-& SA#/!S stands for same year and semester and is used for someone *ho 1oined the same fraternity during this time "eriod& their most commonly used le5is2 ho*e%er *ere used mostly informally) ,Cha"ter- *as the most used among members and is the only commonly used *ord that is formal& ,gri"- and ,"ara- are used to describe the members handsha(e and the clothes they *ear& and *hile it may not seem im"ortant it continuously came u" in con%ersations bet*een members) ,L:- is another term that came u" a lot and it means ,line brother-& a line brother is a member you 1oined *ith& this means you both 1oined the same year and semester& according to some members your ,line brothers- become the closest "erson you (no* in the fraternity and they are also the ones that hel" you most if you are struggling at any "oint) he final element is E5"ertise& and in Lambda heta Phi the e5"erts *ere %ery easy to tell a"art from the ne*er members) .n the fraternity& *hile there are le%els of e5"ertise among members& certain members had ease learning and fitting in& *hile others struggled fitting in and *ere left behind) +or e5am"le& the three ob%ious e5"erts in the grou" *ere the President& 6obert 7alderrama& and the co8%ice "residents& Ed*ard 'onzalez and Omar 6amirez& both of *hich 1oined last year) hese three lead the meetings& "lan e%ents& hel" ne* members& and e%en bring in ne* members) ;hile these three members are in%ol%ed in some *ay to most of the e%ents they hold& there are also other members *ho are in%ol%ed and ,e5"erts- but not at the le%el these three are) Edson& ,'-& and >icheal *ere some of these members) ;hile they *eren2t as in%ol%ed in e%ents . *ould still consider them e5"erts based on their (no*ledge of the fraternity and e%eryone in it)

Carranza = Methodology o study Lambda heta Phi& . *as allo*ed to sit in on one of the fraternities meetings& . *as also allo*ed to sit in on an informational they held for "otential ne* members& and lastly . obser%ed them during a blood dri%e they hosted) he meeting *as held a cou"le days before the blood dri%e) . also inter%ie*ed t*o members of Lambda heta Phi& President 6obert 7alderrama and 7ice President Ed*ard 'onzalez) . held my inter%ie* *ith 6obert 7alderrama on the day of their blood dri%e& and *ith Ed*ard the day before he *ould "resent the informational) :oth inter%ie*s occurred in Latino Student Ser%ices at the Bing building) . felt that by obser%ing them in this setting *ould gi%e me a good "ers"ecti%e on ho* members interact *ith each other& and nonmembers& in both formal and non formal settings) .t also ga%e me a direct loo( at *hat they *anted "otential members to see and a behind the scenes loo( at the organization) .n both of my inter%ie*s& . as(ed them the same 0uestions regarding anything including stereoty"es to conflicts& to reading ne* members) . chose to study Lambda heta Phi& because my brother is a member at $/C8Pembro(e and during my first cou"le of *ee(s at $/C8Charlotte he mentioned to some members of the fraternity here that . *as at this $ni%ersity& they then "roceeded to find me and hel" me become better accustomed to the school& feel more comfortable being alone in a ne* "lace& get out of my comfort zone& and get used to a ne* hea%ier *or(load) .t *as because of them that . *as able to easily transfer here and not get o%erstressed) . ha%e also became close friends *ith se%eral members including 6obert and Ed*ard and because of this . *as able to get access to their meetings and informational& *hich made it %ery easy to study the organization) My Community Lambda heta Phi is a relati%ely ne* fraternity both nationally and at $/C8Charlotte) .t *as founded in 1C7= by t*o ,fraternal fathers- and fourteen ,founding fathers- at Bean College in /e*

Carranza D 3ersey and it became the first Latino based fraternity in the $nited States) he goal *as to ,unite the Latino students& de%elo" their leadershi" s(ills& im"art u"on them the %alue of an education& and instill in them a commitment to their community and culture- and since then has s"read across the $nited States to *hat is no* C< cha"ters& and 2D colonies& a colony is *hen a school has members of Lambda heta Phi& but has not recei%ed a charter) #t $/C8Charlotte the fraternity *as founded in 2007 by fi%e original members and became the 'amma .ota cha"ter in 200C) Since then it has hel"ed create the !i%ersified 'ree( Council and has hosted many "hilanthro"ic and educational e%ents) .t no* has a total of ele%en members& *ith around ten "otential members) Of the ele%en members in Lambda heta Phi currently& each of them has a s"ecific role and "lace in the fraternity) here are the ob%ious "resident& co8%ice "residents& secretary& and treasurer& but there are also community ser%ice& "hilanthro"y& social& and alumni relation chairs) >ost of the members are Latino& but there are also other ethnicityEs *ithin the organization at $/C8Charlotte and nation*ide) ;ith the e5ce"tion of Omar& 6obert& and three other members& the fraternity here consists of So"homores& *ith the ma1ority being Com"uter Science ma1ors) he fraternity members are %ery acti%e in the community and regularly hold blood dri%es& and "erform community ser%ice) My Observation +or my study of Lambda heta Phi& President 6obert 7alderrama and 7ice President Ed*ard 'onzalez ga%e me "ermission to sit in on one of their meetings& and also allo*ed me to obser%e an informational they held for ne* members) . also obser%ed them during a blood dri%e they held on cam"us) !uring my obser%ation of their meeting 6obert lead the meeting for the most "art) hey mostly tal(ed about the blood dri%e and other ,cultural& social& and educational- e%ents they *ere "lanning on hosting& including the blood dri%e) hey also tal(ed about ho* they *ould get the *ord out that they *ere holding an informational for ne* members& as *ell as& "lans on going to a cha"ter meeting in 6aleigh& and general information about ho* each member *as doing in their classes and if

Carranza 7 anyone had any ideas for the fraternity) !uring the meeting they mostly s"o(e formally and (e"t a business li(e atmos"here during the entire meeting) #fter the meeting& ho*e%er& they s"o(e to each other informally and 1o(ingly to each other& they are %ery close to each other and (no* each other *ell) he informational *as held in the College of 4ealth and 4uman Ser%ices and it *as lead by the %ice "residents& along *ith them& se%en other members *ere "resent and hel"ed in the "resentation and ga%e some bac(ground into *hy they 1oined and ho* 1oining has affected them) hey also "resented the history of the fraternity both nationally and at $/C8Charlotte& ga%e information about the fraternity& and e5"lained *hat certain terms mean) !uring this obser%ation . noticed that *hile they *ere tal(ing to the ne* members friendly and (ind& they *ere coming from a "osition of trying to bring in ne* members and this affected ho* and *hat they tal(ed about *ith the "otential members) .n both of my inter%ie*s . as(ed about the stereoty"es that come *ith being in a Latino fraternity and ho* they felt about them as *ell as *hat they are trying to do to hel" brea( a*ay from these stereoty"es) ,:eing a Latino fraternity *e (no* of these stereoty"es and it seems to be "laced more on us because of our ethnicity and the idea that *e are lazy- says Ed*ard& ,;e feel "eo"le *ill ha%e their beliefs and *e *ill stri%e to "ro%e them *rong-) #ccording to 6obert& , here is a 0uote *e li(e to use *hen *e hear about negati%e stereoty"es& it is hard to understand from the outside loo(ing in& and hard to e5"lain from the inside loo(ing out-) .ts not 1ust at $/C8Charlotte that ,Lambda2s- are brea(ing this stereoty"e& ,;e ha%e brothers in Congress& *e ha%e brothers *ho are la*yers& doctors& and many more *ho hold other high8end 1obs)#nother stereoty"e about Lambda heta Phi and its members ,)))is that *e are associated *ith gangs because *e ha%e certain colors and hand gestures and are Latinos) .n reality& *e try to (ee" (ids out of gangs and *e try to do as much community ser%ice as "ossible) E%en right no* *e are *or(ing *ith Latino (ids in elementary and middle school as mentors trying to get them more interested in school and to (ee" them a*ay from gangs)-

Carranza F .n my inter%ie*s . also as(ed them about ne* members and ho* they ma(e it easier for them to conform to the community) Lambda heta Phi ha%e a three ste" "rocess of admitting ne* members) he first ste" is an informational *here they teach the history and some le5is of the fraternity) he follo*ing ste" is the interest grou"& *here they hold and attend a certain amount of e%ents %arying from educational to "hilanthro"y) he last ste" is the educational "rocess& *here they are taught the secrets of the grou"& and ho* the fraternity *or(s and the "rocesses they use to run the fraternity) #ccording to 6obert& ,:arely any of our members ha%e any difficulty conforming) hrough our educational "rocess *e are able to teach the ne* members the ins and outs of our brotherhood- E%en if a ne* member does ha%e trouble 1oining the grou"& e%eryone hel"s them out& *hen one ne* member had trouble 1oining last year they hel"ed him& by hel"ing him learn the le5is& studying *ith him& and sho*ing him the ro"es of the fraternity) Conclusion . set out to find if fraternities are a discourse community& and if its members do fit the stereoty"e of being ,less intelligent- and ,dumb-) . ha%e found that some can be %ery intelligent and acti%e in "hilanthro"y& education& and in their community) hese stereo"ty"es ha%e been started due to the actions of a fe* fraternities and ha%e no* been used to generalize and lum" all fraternities into one grou"& *hen in reality they %ary in 1ust about e%erything) he Lambda heta Phi fraternity do not fit this stereoty"e and most of the members are intelligent and %ery acti%e in the local community& they hold study sessions& chec( u" on each other and hold acti%ities for the community to brea( stereoty"es about them) . obser%ed the Lambda heta Phi fraternity& and found that yes a fraternity is a discourse community& they fulfill all si5 necessary characteristics defined by 3ohn S*ales needed in a discourse community)

Carranza C :ranic(& Sean) ,Coaches Can 6ead& ooG #n Ethnogra"hic Study of a +ootball Coaching !iscourse Community- Writing About Writing. Elizabeth ;ardle& !oug !o*ns) :ostonG :edfordHSt) >atinEs& 2011) ==78=73) Print)

>irabelli& ony) ,Learning to Ser%eG he Language and Literacy of +ood Ser%ice ;or(ers)- What They Dont Learn in School. Ed) 3abari >ahiri) /e* Aor(G Peter Lang& 200<) =3F8==<) Print)

S*ales& 3ohn) , he Conce"t of !iscourse Community)- Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. :ostonG Cambridge $P& 1CC0) 21832) Print)

;ardle& Elizabeth) ,.dentity& #uthority& and Learning to ;rite in /e* ;or("laces)- Enculturation =)2 ?200<@G n) "ag) ;eb) 1F +eb) 2010

'onzalez& Ed*ard) Personal .nter%ie*) October 12& 2013

7alderrama& 6obert) Personal .nter%ie*) October <& 2013

Carranza 10

!iscourse Ethnogra"hy #nnotated :ibliogra"hy :ranic(& Sean) ,Coaches Can 6ead& ooG #n Ethnogra"hic Study of a +ootball Coaching !iscourse Community- Writing About Writing. Elizabeth ;ardle& !oug !o*ns) :ostonG :edfordHSt) >atinEs& 2011) ==78=73) Print) Summarize: Coaches are ,one of the most influential "rofessions that e5ist in todays *orldhere are three main factors related to good coachingG 'oal focused& characteristics of good coaching& and confidence # coaching staff is a discourse community because of its shared goals& le5is& and genres)

Assess: #ccording to :ranic( coaches are a %ery influential "art in todays *orld and that coaches range from "arents %olunteering to "rofessionals *ho *or( all day e%ery day) here are three main o%erloo(ed factors to become a good coach *hich areG being goal focused& ha%ing the right 0ualities and characteristics of an effecti%e coach& and being confident in coaching) hrough inter%ie*s and obser%ing se%eral different college le%el coaching staffs& :ranic( came to the conclusion that a coaching staff is a discourse community because they ha%e shared goals& le5is& and genres) Reflection: his ethnogra"hy sho*ed me that *hile it may not seem as ob%ious to the casual obser%er& there are discourse communities e%ery*here) .t also sho*ed me that for a community to be able to reach its goal there has to be at least one member *ith e5"ertise) . feel that although this ethnogra"hy does ma(e %ery good "oints& :ranic( is biased in his *riting because he *as a football "layer and a student coach at his college& but e%en though he is biased he (ee"s it out of his ethnogra"hy& for the most "art& and his

Carranza 11 theory is *ell researched >irabelli& ony) ,Learning to Ser%eG he Language and Literacy of +ood Ser%ice ;or(ers)- What They Dont Learn in School. Ed) 3abari >ahiri) /e* Aor(G Peter Lang& 200<) =3F8==<) Print) Summarize: >ost blue collar *or(ers including *aiters and *aitresses are not ,dumb;e need to ree%aluate the *ay *e see literacy in the *or("lace .n ser%ice occu"ations there is less em"hisis on reading te5ts and more on reading "eo"le& situations& and the en%ironment) Analyze: E%en though *e see many *or(ers in the ser%ice industries as ,dumb- they can be %ery intellegent& and "lay a %ery im"ortant in our economy) >ost "eo"le see literacy in the *or("lace as 1ust the te5ts that *e read& but this isn2t true there are many different ty"es of audial and %isual literacies that *e normally don2t thin( about) here is more em"hesis on these lesser thought of literacies in blue collar 1obs and they are %ery im"ortant in these ty"es of 1obs) his im"ortance ma(es it essential for the *or(ers to understand these literacies in their community to be successful) Reflection: >irabelliEs essay& sho*ed me that genres and literacy are im"ortant in e%ery community) .t has also hel"ed me understand that literacy isn2t 1ust the te5ts that the community uses but also ho* the members are able to read others and situations) .t has also hel"ed me because if . (no* the s"ecific literacies in my community it *ill hel" me understand the community e%en better) S*ales& 3ohn) , he Conce"t of !iscourse Community)- Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. :ostonG Cambridge $P& 1CC0) 21832) Print) Summarize:

Carranza 12 #rguements about S"eech Communities and !iscourse Communities ;hat a !iscourse Community really is !efining characteristics of a !iscourse Community

Analyze: .n this section of S*ales2 boo( he tal(s about an ongoing argument bet*een the differences of s"eech communities and discourse communities and ho* many "eo"le confuse the t*o) 4e also tal(s about *hat a discourse community really is and the si5 characteristics of a !iscourse Community and ho* these charateristics are different from a s"eech community) Reflection: his section hel"ed me ma(e out *hat a !iscourse Community is and se"erate it from other communities that aren2t discourse communities) .t also hel"ed me in understanding *hat characteristics it ta(es to become a !iscourse Community) his has also hel"ed me by allo*ing me to see ho* my !iscourse Community fits each of these characteristics) ;ardle& Elizabeth) ,.dentity& #uthority& and Learning to ;rite in /e* ;or("laces)- Enculturation =)2 ?200<@G n) "ag) ;eb) 1F +eb) 2010 Summarize: .dentity and #uthority in a *or("lace are connected to ho* *ell one can communicate *ith others) E%eryone in the *or("lace must understand and (no* their role in the community and *or("lace) ;hen someone doesn2t understand their role& identity& and authority in the *or("lace or e%eryone in the community *ill be harmed) Analyze:

Carranza 13 .n ;ardle2s article& she e5"lains ho* our identity and authority in a *or("lace are connected to ho* *ell *e communicate *ith our co*or(ers and ho* *ell *e are able to clearly get our information across) She also outlines theories that hel" ne* members learn to communicate and *rite in this ne* community) She follo*s that u" *ith an e5am"le of a ne* member& #lan& *ho struggles to learn the correct role he has and he also fails to learn his "osition in the community and because of this isn2t ta(en seriously and sees himself as abo%e e%eryone else *hen he really isn2t) Reflection: his article made it easy for me to understand *here some of the ne*comers in the community *here coming from and *here they *ere at in their learning "rocess and it also made me be able to identify some of the ne*comers in the community)