Remember the titans Essay

Gary, the team captain, and Julius, his black roommate, got off to a rough start. In the beginning, each disliked the other intensely. a) Describe why they disliked each other so much. b) In the movie, the two young men had a â€Å"heart-to heart† talk where each angrily told the other how he really felt. Describe the episode and why it was so significant. 1. A) Gary and Julius disliked each other because of the color of their skin and both of them thought that the other was not doing their job of a leader and bringing the team together. These boys were fearful of the change and each other, which lead them to avoid each other as much as possible. When together, the boys would communicate in unproductive ways; they treated each other with complete disrespect and without trust for one another. b) In their â€Å"heart-to heart† talk, Gary tells Julius that he is wasting his football talent by not listening to anyone. After an intense practice, Gerry and Julius bumped into each other. Gerry, tired of added practices that Boone had enforced, took advantage of the situation by trying to gather facts to tell Boon. Gerry ended up accusing Julius of being selfish; a stubborn player with a bad attitude. Julius responded to Gerry in a way that allowed Gerry to realize that he wasn’t being a true leader. Julius highlighted that â€Å"his white buddies† were not blocking for Rev. In that moment, Gerry realized that he hadn’t been a good team captain as he had been treating players unequally. 2) Other than Gary, Julius, and the two coaches, describe two other individuals who made a difference and who made a significant contribution to the success of the Titans. 2. The two other individuals that made a difference were Lewis Lastik and Ronnie Bass . Lewis Lastik was the first person who talked with someone from the other race and got along with them. When he was questioned by Julius why he was not sitting with his own race, he replied by saying that he is with everyone no matter their color. He showed how teammates should interact and behave with each other. Ronnie Bass also had a huge impact on the team. After Jerry Harris was injured, Ronnie Bass stepped in his place and emerged as one of the leaders of the team. Even though he was different from everyone else, he got along with everyone and help the team grow. 3) Provide three examples which illustrate how a friend or outsider was able to help another to see blind spots. 3. 1) Gary had the blind spot and Julius helped him to see it. The blind spot was that Gary was not doing his job as being the leader of the team and treating everyone equally. This was significant because it helped Gary realize that he is not trying his best to be a leader and bring together all his teammates. Coach Boone had the blind spot and Coach Yoast helped him to see it. The blind spot was that Coach Boone cared more about winning games and about him being a winner. This was significant because, Coach Boone realized that he was blinded by his own ambition about winning games and being seen as a winner and he should care more about his players. 3) Coach Yoast had the blind spot and his daughter Sheryl Yoast helped him to see it. The blind spot was that Coach Yoast had too much pride in himself to ask for coach Boone’s help on defense. This was significant because Coach Yoast realized that in order to win the game, he needs Coach Boone’s help. 4) Identify two conflict styles†¦ one used by Gary and one used by Julius and provide specific examples. 4. Gary used the Competing conflict style. The competing style has a win-lose approach in which the conflict is solved in the favor of the person who wants control of the situation and has low concern for others. Gary used this style when he was talking to Coach Boone about reserving half of the starting positions for the white players and not needing any black players on the defense. He also used this style , when Julius put up a picture of the famous Black Power Salute on his side of the room and Gary wanted him to remove the picture which led to a fight between them and some of the other players. Julius used the Collaborating conflict style. In this conflict style, the two parties involved share their ideas and work together to solve a problem. This conflict style has a win-win approach. Julius used his style when Gary failed to show up to his house to play basketball and the conflict among the two started to build again, Julius went to Gary’s house to retain the close friendship that they had built. Describe three things that Coach Boone did in order to transform the racial hostility into a unified team effort and explain the significance of each of the three examples. 5. 1) When the team was leaving for camp, all the white players and the black players were sitting in separate buses, when Coach Boone noticed this, he had all the defensive players sit in one bus and all the offensive players sit on the other bus. On the buses, he had everyone sit with someone from the other race and the two people sitting together had to  be roommates throughout the camp. The significance of this change was that it let the players know that there will be no differences among the two races and everyone should treat each other equally. 2) Coach Boone had all of his players meet and learn about someone from the other race and report to him until they have met everyone of the opposite race that was on the team. The significance of this was that Coach Boone wanted all to players to know each other and decrease the racial tension among the two races. 3) Coach Boone took the team on a run to the Gettysburg field. On this field , the Battle of Gettysburg took place. This was significant because it showed the team that if they don’t come together and get rid of the hate, they will be destroyed just like the many lives that were lost during that Battle of Gettysburg. Remember the Titans Case Study by Manpreet Singh Harjot Samra Interpersonal Communication Professor: Bart Chudleigh August 10, 2013