Part 3. Short essays (around 200 words) Please use at least one citation for evidence. (15 points)

a. The most consistent and damning criticism of fighting sports is that they exploit the competitors. From ancient Rome to the bare-knuckle era, aristocrats watched from the stands while slaves and lower classes battled it out in the ring.

Does the exploitation narrative carry over into modern boxing and/or MMA? Please defend your answer by forwarding and/or countering with at least one cited piece of evidence.

b. At 2017’s Golden Globes awards, Meryl Streep was awarded the Cecile B. DeMille Award, which recognized her body of work as an actress. In her acceptance speech, she made the following comment: “So Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners,” Streep said, a criticism of Trump’s anti-illegal-immigrant rhetoric. “And if we kick them all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”

Please write an opt-ed in response to Streep’s statement on MMA. Please defend your answer by forwarding and/or countering with at least one cited piece of evidence.