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The paper should be in a Q&a format NOT IN AN ESSAY FORMAT

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This week we have been looking at Urban Drama in Film and Theater, its style, way of presentation, the people, the characters, and situations that fill up the pages of Urban Drama playwrights and screenwriters who seek to engage their audiences in very real and provocative ways. These movies and plays can be intense and searing at times with their topics and issues related to so called “street life” or stories that reflect the everyday struggles of so many that live in highly urbanized areas dealing with poverty, crime, family, drug abuse, gangs, race, and social and economic immobility, assimilation, gentrification and appropriation.

It is interesting to note that the style of these plays are not always supposed to be realistic. In fact many playwrights will create stories that are slightly more melodramatic or having more melodramatic characters in some situations to make their social commentary have more impact and perhaps more entertainment in the storytelling. Stephen Adly-Guirgis is one of these playwrights who tends to tell his stories in a melodramatic fashion or style. The Last days of Judas Iscariot, Jesus Hopped the A-train, In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, Mother F@$%*& With A Hat all have melodramatic characters and more theatrical elements that help to lift the drama in a potentially provocative and entertaining way. The language and often course vernacular of the people and characters that populate his plays is very important to him as way to convey aspects of behavior, culture, decorum and a certain point of view about the society around him.

Here are two clips from a fairly recent production of his play: Our Lady of 121st Street.

WARNING: There is a lot of course language used in the dialogue within this clip which is the first scene from the play.

One could make the argument that Urban Drama is a melding of particular aspects of so many of the other genres of Theatre and Film that we have looked at so far this semester, African American Theatre, Latino Theatre, Asian and LGBT Theatre. There are so many common themes that cross over these genres. Urban Drama will often purposely blend the characters and cultures to look more at the humanity of particular group of people rather than the specific cultural or ethnic background being the underlying through line. These plays tend to have a “melting pot” kind of casting that adds to the language, the conflicts and social angst in these stories.

For your discussion this week:

Reflecting on your studies this week including your own research and conclusions to what Urban Drama in Theatre and Film is:

What is your opinion of this genre of Film and Theatre?

What do you believe are some of the major themes or issues that this genre deals with?

Would you ever go to a play like Our Lady of 121st Street? Why or why not?

Would you seek out another Urban Drama film in the future. Why or why not?

Your post should be at least 150 words with a response to two other posts with 150 words.

Also respond to 2 answers:

First answers:

What is your opinion of this genre of Film and Theatre?

This genre has been the most interesting for me so far because this genre is the one that I can relate to the most. As discussed in class, we live in a concrete jungle, so we can’t escape the issues that Urban Drama brings to light. What I found the most interesting is that this genre deals with some of the social issues we learned throughout our models that occurred some time ago, but are still going on in the 21st century.

What do you believe are some of the major themes or issues that this genre deals with?

I believe that the biggest issue this genre deals with is the problems that arise from having such a culturally diverse set of people all in one place. Those problems were showcased without beating around the bush in the film we watched in class, Crash. Less than a minute into the film, one of them was being portrayed, that being racial stereotypes. All the races in the film were given their respective racial stereotypes. This was displayed pretty bluntly so as to avoid any sort of misunderstanding, which is great in my opinion.

Would you ever go to a play like Our Lady of 121st Street? Why or why not?

The biggest element that caught my attention from the play was the foul language being tossed around. I remember the other clip of the play, from another cast, that was shown in class, and that clip was also filled with constant profanity for minutes on end. I don’t mind the f-word being used, but I would mind sitting for two hours hearing the f-word over and over again, so more than likely I would not watch a play similar to Our Lady of 121st Street.

Would you seek out another Urban Drama film in the future. Why or why not?

I would definitely seek out another Urban Drama film because I really found Crash to be truly captivating. As said in class, the film didn’t touch on the LGBT issues, but every other module we studied during the semester was brought up in some sort of fashion in this film.

Second answer:

What is your opinion of this genre of Film and Theater?

In my opinion, I think Urban drama in Film and Theater is interesting. It has now grabbed the attention of many audiences. It is interesting to watch cultures interacting with one another because as an audience you can see the certain way they act. I kind of see Urban drama expressing reality issues, and usually, for example, reality shows are a big hit and I think Urban drama has that sense of style, because it shows those social issues personally. It makes the audience understand the actor/actress and where they are coming from. Or it also allows you to respect that individual and be more understanding.

What do you believe are some of the major themes or issues that this genre deals with?

I would say it focuses on specific ethnic and cultures, racism, social issues, violence. I believe those are the major issues that are dealt with in Urban drama.

Would you ever go to a play like Our Lady of 121st Street? Why or why not?

I would only watch Our Lady of 121st Street if I had to for class, but other than that I would not. I do like watching Urban drama films because they teach you about different social issues and it makes you think about the issues since they definitely are going on in our time. For example, the movie Crash, you can quickly identify the different issues that occur for each actor/actress. However, even though Our Lady of 121st street, may show those issues, it is not my style of play I would want to watch. Mainly, because of the language it is heavily foul, and in my opinion, it is not respectful, especially as we see they regard to adults in that manner.

Would you seek out another Urban Drama film in the future. Why or why not?

Yes, I believe I would because I do enjoy Urban Drama films and I have watched many, without knowing they were in the Urban drama criteria. For example, I really did not think Zootopia was an Urban dram film, and I have watched it a couple times and have enjoyed it overall. Now, I will have to watch it again after learning about the different topics in Theater. I think, it would be interesting to have to view this film and be able to pin point what is being taught.

You have just been hired as the human resources (HR) manager by your company’s chief executive officer (CEO). During your interview process, the CEO indicated that in the last 2 decades, the workforce demographics of her company have changed dramatically. Although this had been occurring, both the previous HR manager as well as all of the company’s front-line supervisors have remained as they had been for years: primarily white males, now in their 50s and early 60s, from a Judeo-Christian background. The CEO indicated that at a frequent rate, workplace strife had been increasing, and it seemed to be related to the changing demographics of the workforce itself. The CEO asked you to compile a training manual that consists of sections targeted at the training of the existing front-line supervisors. Later on, there will be sensitivity training as well as to help all employees understand the changing workforce and what it might mean for them.

Diversity Training Manual: Overview

The content of the final complete manual will need to cover diversity issues, specifically the following forms of discrimination:

• Religious
• Ethnic
• Gender
• Age

There also must be information regarding the following information:

• Recent trends
• Forecasts about the changing general population
• Legislation covering these type issues

There will need to be subsections that deal with the following information:

• Customs and values of each group
• The need for sensitivity to differing values and customs
• Legislation affecting supervisor regulations

Diversity Training Manual: Part I

Given that the training manual will be dealing with several diversity issues, prepare the table of contents and write the first part of the manual, which should deal with some useful background for the company’s supervisors and managers.

The first parts that the CEO wants completed are as follows:

• A preliminary outline of the entire manual (this may change as you work on the project)
• The table of contents
• The following sections regarding the demographics of the U.S. population should be included:
  o Current statistics
  o Recent trends
  o Forecasted trends
• Using the Web sites listed, present information about trends in the U.S. populations regarding the following information:

o Immigrant versus native
o Religion
o Age
o Race

Use the following Web sites:

• Web site 1
• Web site 2
• Web site 3

Diversity Training Manual: Part II

As the new human resources manager, you are now ready to complete the next section of a diversity training manual that is targeted at making your workforce supervisors more aware of current racial diversity issues (e.g., the dramatic increase in the Hispanic percentage of the workforce) and how the supervisors should address them. The goal is to reduce potential tensions in the workplace among employees of different races.

Part II is to be titled, Historical Issues of Different Races in the Workplace and How to Handle Them.

This section should discuss the following:

• Different races now or likely to be in the workforce of the future, based on the U.S. populations racial demographic changes
• Particular issues that create tensions among the different groups
• How supervisors need to address these issues that could potentially cause tension

Diversity Training Manual: Part III

As a continuation of the diversity training manual, you (as the new manager of human resources) should now create portions that specifically address gender issues and are targeted at training and raising the sensitivity of all supervisors regarding potential gender issues. It should include a section on how the supervisor should or should not handle certain gender-based workplace issues. For example, can the supervisor hand out work assignments that he or she feels are better suited to different genders? Can he or she write a job requirement that only one gender can meet, such as a strength requirement?

This section of the manual must, at a minimum, address the following information:

• A few general facts about the U.S. population’s gender mix and the gender mix found in notable segments of the workforce should be included. Make sure to include all sources of information.
• The essence and applicability of the landmark Griggs v. Duke Power case dealing with stated job requirements should be addressed. Click here to read the Griggs v. Duke Power case.
• Describe how the supervisor should state minimum job requirements when he or she requests new employees to be hired into the department.
• Explain how the supervisor might communicate to his or her department (of all male employees) when a female is about to become part of the work team.

References

Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971). Retrieved from the FindLaw Web site: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=401&invol=424

Passel, J. S., & Cohn, D. (2008, February 11). U.S. population projections: 2005-2050. Retrieved from thePew Research Hispanic Trends Project Web site: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2008/02/11/us-population-projections-2005-2050/

Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project. (n.d.). Reports. Retrieved from http://religions.pewforum.org/reports

Pierce, R. (n.d.). Dealing with a changing workforce: Supervision in the 21st century. Retrieved from the Business Expert Webinars Web site: http://www.businessexpertwebinars.com/content/view…

Submitting your assignment in APA format means, at a minimum, you will need the following:

1. TITLE PAGE. Remember the Running head: AND TITLE IN ALL CAPITALS
2. ABSTRACT. A summary of your paper, not an introduction. Begin writing in third person voice.
3. BODY. The body of your paper begins on the page following the title page and abstract page and must be double-spaced (be careful not to triple- or quadruple-space between paragraphs). The type face should be 12-pt. Times Roman or 12-pt. Courier in regular black type. Do not use color, bold type, or italics except as required for APA level headings and references. The deliverable length of the body of your paper for this assignment is 4-6 pages. In-body academic citations to support your decisions and analysis are required. A variety of academic sources is encouraged.
4. REFERENCE PAGE. References that align with your in-body academic sources are listed on the final page of your paper. The references must be in APA format using appropriate spacing, hang indention, italics, and upper and lower case usage as appropriate for the type of resource used. Remember, the Reference Page is not a bibliography but a further listing of the abbreviated in-body citations used in the paper. Every referenced item must have a corresponding in-body citation.

Write an essay that conforms to the requirements below. The paper must be 1500 to 2000 words in length (excluding the title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

The paragraphs of your essay should conform to the following guidelines:

• Introduction
  Your first paragraph should begin with the topic question, suitably revised. It should be focused, concrete, and on a relevant moral problem. You should then introduce the topic in the way described by the Week One instructions, but reflecting the developed understanding and information you have gained about the topic and any necessary refinement of the scope.

  Follow this with a thesis statement that states your position, and a brief description of the primary reason(s) supporting your position. (See the handout on thesis statements provided). Finally, provide a brief preview of the overall aim and procedure of your paper.

• Explanation and Demonstration of Moral Reasoning
  This section of the Final Paper will explain and demonstrate what you believe to be the best way of reasoning about the question you have chosen, and showing how that reasoning supports the position you have taken on the question. You might explain the principles, rules, values, virtues, conceptions of purposes and ends, and other general ideas that you find persuasive, and show how they support concrete judgments.

  In the course of doing so, you must make reference to at least two of the approaches that we have examined in the course (such as deontological, utilitarian, or virtue-based), and utilize at least one resource off the provided list for each of the two approaches. One of these theories may be the theory you discussed in your Week Three Assignment, but your discussion here should be more refined.

  For example, you might find the reasoning associated with Aristotelian virtue ethics to be the most compelling, and reference Aristotle in the process of showing how that reasoning supports a certain conclusion. In the course of this, you could contrast that with a utilitarian approach, referencing Mill for instance.

• Objection and Response
  After explaining the ethical reasoning that supports your position, you should raise an objection and respond to it. An objection articulates a plausible reason why someone might find the argument weak or problematic. You should explain how it brings out this weakness, and do so in a way that would be acceptable to someone who disagrees with your own argument. Then, provide the best response you can to the objection, showing how it does not undermine your position. Your response should not simply restate your original position or argument, but should say something new in support of it.

• Conclusion
  Provide a conclusion that sums up what you presented in the paper and offers some final reflections.

Resource Requirement
You must use at least four scholarly resources. Two of the resources must be drawn from the list of acceptable primary resources on each of the two theories you discuss. For example, if you discuss deontology and virtue ethics, you would need at least one resource under the “Deontology” list and at least one resource under the “Virtue Ethics” list. The other two may be from either the Required or Recommended Resources, or scholarly resources found in the Ashford University Library.

• The textbook may be cited, but it does not count toward the resource requirement. If you cite the textbook, you will still need to cite at least four more sources that fulfill the requirements stated above.
• If you need help with finding additional resources, or are unsure about whether a particular resource will count toward the requirement, please contact your instructor.
• For sources to count toward the resources requirement, they must be cited within the text of your paper and on the reference page. Sources that are listed on the references page, but not cited within the paper, do not count toward fulfilling the resources requirement.
• For information regarding APA, including samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center.

First secret

According to Daniel Goleman and the research that has been completed in the area of emotional intelligence, there are five essential skills that individuals need in order to be particularly successful. The first is the ability to establish rapport. You can imagine how important this might be, whether you are at your first day on a new job, trying to schmooze a room full of executives, attempting to make a sale with a new client, meeting the in-laws, or trying to figure out a way to make contact with an attractive individual at a party.

How would you go about establishing rapport with someone you didn’t know? What would you say and do?