The DIY Work Ethic and the Punk Rock Subculture

How the Subculture Has Been Influenced

As a college student, I often find myself all too aware of the various subcultures which exist in our society (one need look no further than the quad to see many of these subcultures represented by Texas State students). While incredibly interesting, the more complex features of the various subcultures and their influence upon our cultural history tend to go unexplored (at least by me). Faced with this research paper, I wanted to explore an element of our culture I find myself encountering on an often daily basis. The do-it-yourself ethic has been influenced by the punk rock subculture in America, in addition to being a crucial element of said subculture.

To begin my research, I employed the use of the first step in the information gathering model to analyze the context and content of my message. Before I could go any further in my quest for information, it was necessary to determine the audience. In this case, I am writing for an audience of my professor and peers. This step is vital because it will influence how I select and evaluate the information I gather, as well as ultimately playing a part in how I create and then deliver the final message. Because the purpose of the message also plays a role in the information that is needed to craft a successful message, I then concluded that the purpose of this message is to educate my intended audience.

I began the information gathering process with the vague notion to research the do-it-yourself ethic in hopes of discovering its influence on American culture. With the help of my instructor, I was able to narrow this search to include only the influences of the American punk rock subculture on the do-it-yourself ethic. This significantly refocused my search to include only information relevant to the do-it-yourself ethic in the past thirty years (the punk rock scene first emerged in New York City in the 1970s) rather than the last fifty years or more (the DIY ethic grew out of the postmodernism that followed World War II).