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Discourse Communities Project Assignment One

Figured World a large, social environment with its own set of rules, vocabulary, and protocols. The world I chose is the world of Dump Truck Driving because of a few reasons. Most importantly is the first reason-my boyfriend drives a dump truck. Also, I think that sort of job is odd and under acknowledged and therefore endlessly fascinating to me. My plan is to ride around with Sam Warlick on three separate days to observe what its like for him to go to work every day. I have no idea what to expect because I dont do his job and we dont spend much time talking about the details of said work (he is much like a mafia lord). As far as the rules and conventions for this place Im going to assume that both in the dump truck and at the various locations we end up at have similar expectations. I expect that I will have to be calm and collected because spazzing around would be dangerous given the equipment well be near. I think that it will be important to be polite to the people we see and work with because they work together every day and it wouldnt be good if I were to burn some bridges between Sam and his co-workers. I feel like respect and seniority are going to be two things that are highly regarded in this particular line of work due to the manner in which I expect a lot of their business is conducted. I think it will be important that I dress appropriately as well because well probably spend a lot of time around dirt, rocks, and other things that will lead to a ruined outfit. Im hoping that the three days I observe will be different enough from each other to make it worthwhile.

desktop support! 10/31/13 8:10 AM

Comment [1]: Overall, this was a good start to the assignment; you have definitely started going "above and beyond" the guidelines, but I would still like to see a bit more. Your attention to detail and commitment to the assignment really showed both in your organization of the material and observations. Your definitions of the terms were also very helpful; you expressed these well in your own terms and provided ample detail as to why each person or item was an artifact, part of a discourse community, etc. Listed below are a few items I want you to work on for the final portfolio: I would like to hear a bit of personal reflection on completing this assignment. What issues did you see emerge as a part of your observations? Any particular concerns? For example, think about the ways in which assignment one connects to your work in assignment two and articulate that connection. Descriptions for the photos you included would also be useful. Give us an idea of what is going on in the photo. Given what you have shown us so far, it seems that a Prezi may be a useful form to take your readers on a typical "ride" like what you have described in your observations. A list of terms other than the article vocabulary would be helpful; though you mention some of the definitions in your observations, separate lists of them would also be useful. Terms I would suggest you define: Loader Man Craiglist Killer Events (I realize this may be a common story among people that use Craigslist, but I honeslty did not recognize what this meant) Scale House)

Actors the people who work and exist inside the figured world Sam Warlick- dump truck driver, strong but silent, not easily amused by my antics. Randy Warlick-owns the truck company, possibly one of the nicest men to ever walk the planet, brings a nice blend of some work and some play to the table Tara Warlick-married to Randy, her main job is to offer everyone as much food as possible, it is strongly suspected that Martha Stewart stole recipes from Tara Jimmy-another dump truck driver, 54 with a mullet and an incorrectly colored tattoo of the Roadrunner on his calf Artifacts the items that the actors in the figured worlds value Sams truck-the chair is actually molded to fit his butt. He wont admit it but I think he has a certain level of pride in the ownership of his dump truck. Randys clipboard- a brown, wooden clipboard that he uses to keep all his addresses for the day organized-I have yet to see him without it in his hands.

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Discourse Communities The entire work force is only made up of Sam, Randy, and Jimmy every day, so they are really the only option here. The three of them use lexis and references to things that go completely over my head. They communicate in one to four word sentences, sometimes they just use looks or hand gestures-its oddly similar to how I imagine cavemen communicated. The three of them make up a team that doesnt really lend itself to outsiders and doesnt really seem to need any.

Observations 9/3 Obervation One- Sam and I go to the rock quarry and I get introduced to the first half of the typical day for a dump truck driver. 7:30 AM- Sam and I go to his parents house to get his instructions for the day (Sams dad owns the business). Tara(Sams mom) makes everyone breakfast and coffee while we get our orders. Once we get the list of places we have to go and the type of load each place is getting we go to the rock quarry in Monroe.

8:42 AM- We arrive at the rock quarry there is a white double-wide trailer at the front. There are two lanes, one is incoming and one is outgoing. We enter the stock yard and there are piles of varying shades of blue rock separated by size. We need #5s which are used mostly for driveways. We talk to who Sam calls the Loader man (this doesnt seem very official) and he gets whatever amount of rocks we need. The Loader man uses a Wheel Loader, which has a scale hooked up to the bucket so he can weigh as he scoops until the trucks bed is full which only takes about two scoops (14 tons)

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8:47 AM- We drive through the outgoing lane and pull onto the scale where the scale house (aforementioned double wide) comes on the loud speaker and asks what we have in the bed, to which Sam replies Number fives and she tells Sam the exact weight of the rocks in his bed (today its 14.2 tons). Then Sam pulls the dump truck down to the scale house and gets a receipt for how much he owes them for his load. 9:50 AM-We arrive at a house in Unionville and we dump the rocks into a pile and leave. Apparently there is little to no bedside manner with these people. 11:03 AM- After navigating through traffic in a fashion similar to Lewis and Clarke we arrive back at the rock quarry to get more number fives for the same driveway. The same process from earlier happens again. 11:11 AM- Samuel and I make a wish that the day as well as our suffering will pass quickly. Observation 2- Samuel and I get called in on an impromptu mission to pick up some equipment his father needs. 2:45 PM-Sam has the day off until his dad (Randy) calls him and tells him he has to go to High Point to pick up a machine that he found on Craigslist. After grabbing some Cokes and snacks for the trip Sam and I speculate the likelihood that this will end like the Craigslist Killer events but decide that we should chance it anyways. 3:36 PM- We arrive at the Warlick house to get the money from Tara for the machine Randy needs. She offers us snacks repeatedly, gives us the money, and sends us on our way. While at the Warlick house we also get the company pick-up truck to make the drive to High Point.

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3:42 PM- We embark on our journey to the house of the man with the machine. On the way there I ask Sam what the machine is and what it does. We are apparently picking up a surveying kit which is used for calculating precise land altitude-or in terms other people understand- it compares the altitude of two areas of land. 5:26 PM- We arrive at the Man with the Machines house in High Point where we pay him and put the kit in the back of the truck.

5:29 PM- Sam starts shouting enraged expletives about his hunger and demands that we stop somewhere and eat, preferably a fried dish of some sort. 6:04PM- Sam spots a Cracker Barrel and demands that we stop for dinner (Dump truck driving people place a great deal of importance on food-requires further observation)

7:48 PM- We arrive back at the Warlick house where Sam gives the new kit to his father, who seems pleased with his sons work.

9/8 Observation 3- I join Samuel at his house and we go to the sawmill 1:08 PM- I meet Sam at the Warlick house and we drive to the sight in Waxhaw for the remainder of the day.

2:12PM- We arrive at the sight where Randy is loading trucks with logs that Sam and another man (named Jimmy) have been sawing into 14 ! lengths. Theyre being loaded to be taken to the sawmill. 3:09 PM- We arrive at the sawmill where we pull onto the scale and a man waves us through to dump the logs. After we dump the logs we drive back onto the same scale and the man gives us a ticket for how much money he owes us. 4:10 PM- We arrive back at the sight in Waxhaw and get another load of logs that we will take back to the sawmill we went to earlier. 5:15 PM- We drop the logs off at the sawmill and leave to go home because as Randy says Its a-quittin time

Discourse Communities The entire work force is only made up of Sam, Randy, and Jimmy every day, so they are really the only option here. The three of them use lexis and references to things that go completely over my head. They communicate in one to four word sentences, sometimes they just use looks or

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hand gestures-its oddly similar to how I imagine cavemen communicated. The three of them make up a team that doesnt really lend itself to outsiders and doesnt really seem to need any.

Interview with Sam 1. What kind of training/ qualifications are necessary for your job? A class B Commercial Drivers License (CDL) and whatever on the job stuff you need to know. 2. How much of your job requires customer interaction? 50 percent. We have to speak with homeowners a lot and make sure the job is what theyre looking for and that theyre satisfied with the quality. Other than that we dont really talk to people-its mostly just the running monologue I have in my head. 3. What's the gas mileage like on this thing? 5 miles/gallon on a good day. Naw Im just kidding its 5 miles all the time. 4. How often do you have to resist the urge to take matters into your own hands and go "off-roading" during a traffic jam? Never. Im too calm, cool, and collected for that. 5. Do you ever race other dump truck drivers, similar to a "Smoky and the Bandit"-type scenario? No, that would be unethical. 6. Given the large amount of time you spend in your truck, do you have a good relationship with the radio? Yes, but quite frequently I hear the same song over and over again causing me to listen to sports radio as a last resort. 7. What kind of gas does this take? Diesel fuel.