Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces

      In "Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces" Elizabeth Wardle states (from Wenger) three ways newcomers use to try and belong to a specific community.  The three ways are Engagement, Imagination, and Alignment. 
       Engagement for a newcomer would be trying to get to know everyone, developing "interpersonal relationships".  For my project 4 discourse community, the world of professional Starcraft 2, engagement would be going to a tournament and trying to learn all the players, learn their styles and actually watch their matches live. 
        Imagination would describe the importance of being creative and using your imagination to contribute to the community, and not being ineffective or detaching oneself from the community.  A big part of Starcraft 2 gameplay is imagination, developing new unique strategies to win the game.  This can be rewarding or a complete failure, that is why it's important to not get too carried away with a longshot strategy and end up losing. 
         Alignment describes finding a common ground, or "adoption of broader discourses", and in this case, one of the best things you can do in Starcraft 2 is adopt a build order from a professional player.  Sponsored gamers will spend up to 10 hours each day practicing builds and imagining new ones, testing them, then deciding whether to use them or not.  By watching a professional game, and mimicking at least their opening build new members of the community can gain an edge on the rest.