Ishmail R.

Coleman 1/18/2015 Role Playing Report

1) WHAT ARE THEY DOING AND ARE THEY PLAYING A ROLE? (Remember the
class discussion – I was the TEACHER and you were the STUDENT. Also, your subject
may not be playing a discernible role.).

The person that I chose to observe for this assignment was a campus police officer
which was very interesting because of the setting in which I was observing him. I
was in the campus bookstore looking for textbooks, and I noticed the officer as he
paced up and down the aisle. My original thought was that he was simply doing
security based on his pacing back and forth; therefore I figured that he was securing
the top floor area. Based on his motions, appearance, and actions, I felt that he was
playing the security guard role for the bookstore at the current time; however, as
time progressed, I noticed that he was looking for textbooks for himself, and he
began to search for textbooks as if he was student as well. Therefore, I began to
ponder whether or not if he was actually on security guard duty, or a student as well
checking out books. As time progressed, his walkie-talkie sounded and he went on
to perform his campus officer duties/role by replying to the message.

2) ARE THEY SPECIFICALLY DRESSED FOR THIS ROLE? (A uniform or name tag,
for instance) IF SO, HOW SO. IF NOT, WHY NOT?

Yes the campus officer was dressed for this role because he had on his campus
officer uniform. In addition to his campus officer uniform, his posture and stern
mannerism also indicated that he was a campus police officer and was indeed
playing a role. Furthermore, the way in which he answered his walkie-talkie and
responded in code also let me know that he was dressed and functioning within this
role as a campus officer.

3) Do they present a mask or a play a discernible role in the world? (Examples: A business
man with a suit and cleanly shaved face, a woman with lots of makeup dressed to go out,
a teenager trying to look tough.).

I would say that the person presents a mask of how a campus officer is supposed to
behave, dress, and act. In addition to having the basic campus uniform on, which
would solidify his position as a campus officer, the manner in which he spoke and
greeted people was the persona of a police officer that you would see on television or
film. Also, the officer was very clean shaved, in which he sported a low haircut,
which is typically of most police officers. Also, his language and dialogue was one of
a cop, in which he spoke very clear and stern, in which it was noticeable that he
most likely doesn’t talk in that manner when in a more private setting, or outside of
the officer role.
Ishmail R. Coleman 1/18/2015 Role Playing Report

4) HOW DOES THEIR MASK OR ROLE help them achieve what they’re doing? Explain.

Their mask helps them achieve their job because it makes them seem plausible, and
capable of performing the job that that they are portraying. The officer carried
himself in a manner in which he seemed capable to perform security actions if
needed, and I responded to him as an officer on duty because of the way he
portrayed himself. If I didn’t see him pick up textbooks to buy, I wouldn’t have
thought that he could have been a student as well.

5) NAME some roles that you play. NAME AT LEAST TWO, although most of us play
many. For instance, I play the role of doting Grandmother - she is indulgent and easy-
going - as well as director. The director is more authoritarian, more focused and tough-
minded.

Some of the roles that I play are the boyfriend role to my girlfriend, and the son role
to my mother. These are interesting roles because I have to cater toward two
distinctive types of women, one being my mother who is an older woman, and the
other being my girlfriend, who is my age (21). While playing the boyfriend role, I
have to take on the characteristics of a leader, protector, provider, intellectual,
charismatic, and my speech has to filled with love, confidence, and humor. I would
also have to take on different vocal registers too in order to accommodate certain
feelings. While taking on the son role in correlation to my mother, I have to be
obedient, listener, and play a more formal role in which I let my mother claim her
parental dominance, in addition to me showing her qualities of being a young adult
male.