Humanities Homework Help

For this assignment, you will focus on a case, and complete the first three steps of the critical thinking process: 1) Identification, 2) Research, and 3) Analysis.

First, read the Case Provided Below – entitled, “Grace in the Pandemic”.

Grace in the Pandemic

Grace is an online college student.  She lives at home with her father who is a professor at her college, her elderly grandmother, and her four-year -old brother. Grace, her father and grandmother have all been vaccinated.  Her younger brother is not vaccinated, as he is too young to get the vaccine. Grace is worried about her brother as he suffers from asthma.

Grace works part-time at a local restaurant.  She was furloughed during the pandemic but was rehired when the restaurant could reopen.  There are many new rules that she must follow. The rules were put into place by the restaurant owner.  All of the rules were implemented to keep patrons and workers safe during the continuing pandemic. 

Grace attended a Zoom meeting with the restaurant owner, wherein the owner personally outlined the new rules requiring lower capacity, wearing masks and social distancing.  The owner also discussed rules that specifically apply to Grace’s new role at the restaurant.  In addition to her regular duties, Grace, and all employees, must: always wear a mask while inside the restaurant, social distance, stay home if feeling ill, wash their hands often, and disinfect all tables and seats every time patrons finish their meal and leaves a restaurant.  The owner impressed upon Grace that if she could not adhere to these rules, she could not return to work. 

The owner also instructed Grace to report anyone not following the rules since the owner would not be on the property.  The owner explained that she genuinely cares about her patrons and workers, and she wants this to be a safe workplace environment.  

When Grace returned to work, she saw others following the rules outlined by the owner, most of the time.  As the weeks went on, she noticed that the rules she discussed with the owner were being implemented less and less.  Her manager now told employees to wear a mask when the public could see them, but when not visible, the manager said, “Don’t bother with a mask.  What the patrons don’t know can’t hurt them.” Also, social distancing began to disappear, and capacity was normally far above the limit the owner had set.  Some patrons complained and left, although enough stayed to keep the restaurant busy.  When Grace asked the manager why they are over capacity and not social distancing, the manager responded, “Don’t be a baby.  Either be happy with the extra tips or find another job.”  

Most evenings were busy, and Grace was now told to stop disinfecting tables and seats between customers.  The manager claimed it took too much time.

One evening, when arriving at work, Grace overheard the manager’s conversation with the owner.  While on speaker phone she heard the owner confirm with the manager that all of the pandemic policies were being followed. She asked if masks were being worn at all times, about social distancing, capacity limits, etc.  The manager lied.  He said he was strictly enforcing the wearing of masks, social distancing, capacity and hygiene rules. 

When the phone conversation was over, Grace walked away but the manager saw her.  “Hey, Grace” he shouted, “If you keep your mouth shut, we’ll be fine.”

Grace asked, “But shouldn’t the owner know?”

The manager furiously reacted, “You’ll lose your job if she finds out you and the others weren’t following the rules”  

What should Grace do?

Follow the Sample Format: Identification, Research, Analysis, and submit to this Dropbox using MLA formatting.

Complete this assignment, as follows:

Identification (one sentence in bold print)

• State the main ethical/moral issue in question format: Should ______? or What should ______?
• Be impartial
• Write just one issue, not two; so, do not use the word “or.” 

Research (bulleted list)

List three topics that would be appropriate to research regarding this case and what you identified as the main ethical issue. Suppose you were the person named in the main ethical issue, and you had to make a decision about the main ethical issue, what facts would you want to discover to help you make a better decision, and where would you find it? You do not need to actually complete the research; just list the three specific topics you would research and discuss why you chose these topics.  What would you like to discover? Three distinctly different topics are required.

Analysis (chart)

Complete the analysis chart to include:

• at least four options and four stakeholders.
• Stakeholders are people or a business/entity that represents people.  A stakeholder cannot be a thing such as a friendship or a reputation.
• All options must be in the control of the central person named in the main ethical issue. For example, if the issue is Should Jack report, Jill?  The first option could be -Jack could report Jill’s stealing to the boss. There are probably many more than 4 options but choose the 4 best options. All options should be reasonable ones that the person named in the main ethical issue could choose to make their decision. For example, you could NOT use, Jill could turn herself into the boss because Jill is not the central person named in the main ethical issue.
• Once you have four options and four stakeholders filled in, complete the chart with possible consequences; briefly explain how you believe each stakeholder may be affected by each option. For example, for the option – Jack could report Jill, a possible consequence for Jack, as one of the stakeholders, is that Jack could become a victim of Jill’s scorn. For Jill, as one of the stakeholders, a possible consequence is that Jill could lose her job.

Helpful Hints:

How to Create a Chart:

• In MS Word click on the INSERT tab
• Click on Table
• Create a 5 x 5 Table if you have 4 options and 4 stakeholders.  
  As you write in the squares the chart will expand to support your writing
  Include at least 4 stakeholders and 4 options