Suggestions for Writing

Sports

Now that you have examined a number of texts that focus on sports, explore this topic yourself by synthesizing your own ideas and the readings. You might want to do additional research or use readings from other classes as you write.

  1. Sportswriter Bill Simmons has named his Web site Grantland.com, the logo of which contains Grantland Rice’s famous line: “For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes—not that you won or lost—but how you played the Game.” Do you agree with Rice’s philosophy? Do you think Bill Simmons does? Write an essay in which you support, challenge, or qualify this assertion.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: Sportswriter Bill Simmons has named his Web site Grantland.com, the logo of which contains Grantland Rice’s famous line: “For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name, He writes—not that you won or lost—but how you played the Game.” Do you agree with Rice’s philosophy? Do you think Bill Simmons does? Write an essay in which you support, challenge, or qualify this assertion.
  2. “The Proper Place for Sports” by Theodore Roosevelt appears on page 617. Kathleen Dalton, a historian and high-school history teacher, subtitled her 2002 biography of Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life. In an interview, she explained that Roosevelt used that phrase to summarize his philosophy of life.

    He urged Americans to turn their backs on the soft, easy indoor life they had been leading and embrace the challenges of the twentieth century with a spirit of adventure and courage. He praised physical activity—sports, mountain climbing, exploring, and fighting if necessary—and strenuous endeavor of all kinds, including building an empire and making America a major moral force in the world. He criticized spectators and urged them to participate in sports rather than merely watch them. He also argued that you could lead a strenuous life by working politically to make your country a better place or by writing a book or a poem or by being a caring mother who raised good kids.

    Dalton added that the subtitle has a direct connection to Roosevelt’s own life. That is, Roosevelt

    followed his own advice and lived his own kind of rugged strenuous life. He threw himself completely into each new endeavor—wrestling, bronco busting, mountain climbing, chopping trees, or exploring a dangerous uncharted river. He also led a strenuous life of struggle by making a new man of himself again and again: he resisted illness and built a stronger body, he proved himself a true man by holding his own among western ranch hands and cowboys, he made himself a writer and reformer, and he made himself a leader and a political prophet without losing his sense of ethics.

    Write about your own philosophy of life. In your essay, explain your thoughts on how to improve humankind, and examine the ways you have practiced what you preach.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: “The Proper Place for Sports” by Theodore Roosevelt appears on page 617. Kathleen Dalton, a historian and high-school history teacher, subtitled her 2002 biography of Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life. In an interview, she explained that Roosevelt used that phrase to summarize his philosophy of life. He urged Americans to turn their backs on the soft, easy indoor life they had been leading and embrace the challenges of the twentieth century with a spirit of adventure and courage. He praised physical activity—sports, mountain climbing, exploring, and fighting if necessary—and strenuous endeavor of all kinds, including building an empire and making America a major moral force in the world. He criticized spectators and urged them to participate in sports rather than merely watch them. He also argued that you could lead a strenuous life by working politically to make your country a better place or by writing a book or a poem or by being a caring mother who raised good kids. Dalton added that the subtitle has a direct connection to Roosevelt’s own life. That is, Roosevelt followed his own advice and lived his own kind of rugged strenuous life. He threw himself completely into each new endeavor—wrestling, bronco busting, mountain climbing, chopping trees, or exploring a dangerous uncharted river. He also led a strenuous life of struggle by making a new man of himself again and again: he resisted illness and built a stronger body, he proved himself a true man by holding his own among western ranch hands and cowboys, he made himself a writer and reformer, and he made himself a leader and a political prophet without losing his sense of ethics. Write about your own philosophy of life. In your essay, explain your thoughts on how to improve humankind, and examine the ways you have practiced what you preach.
  3. Write an essay in which you discuss the connection between sports and character. Do you think that athletes should be role models? Develop your response with at least three examples—pro or con—of athletes mentioned in the readings in this chapter.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: Write an essay in which you discuss the connection between sports and character. Do you think that athletes should be role models? Develop your response with at least three examples—pro or con—of athletes mentioned in the readings in this chapter.
  4. Working in groups, research the ways in which sports such as boxing, football, car racing, and soccer have made reforms to preserve the health and safety of their participants. Create a visual, such as a timeline or graph, that indicates the timing of the changes as well as their effectiveness. Show for which sport the change has been most effective and/or most radical.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: Working in groups, research the ways in which sports such as boxing, football, car racing, and soccer have made reforms to preserve the health and safety of their participants. Create a visual, such as a timeline or graph, that indicates the timing of the changes as well as their effectiveness. Show for which sport the change has been most effective and/or most radical.
  5. Write an essay comparing the ways the media projects images of male and female athletes. Which images create more pressure to conform—images of male athletes or images of female athletes?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: Write an essay comparing the ways the media projects images of male and female athletes. Which images create more pressure to conform—images of male athletes or images of female athletes?
  6. Write a personal narrative in which you describe the effect sports has had on your connection to family, community, or school. Has the experience been positive or negative?

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: Write a personal narrative in which you describe the effect sports has had on your connection to family, community, or school. Has the experience been positive or negative?
  7. Do some research on Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds. What effect has this legislation had on participation in high school, college, and professional sports? Develop a thesis and then write about it, supporting it with your research sources. Be sure to consider the law’s effect on male and female role models.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: Do some research on Title IX, the law that bans sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds. What effect has this legislation had on participation in high school, college, and professional sports? Develop a thesis and then write about it, supporting it with your research sources. Be sure to consider the law’s effect on male and female role models.
  8. The following excerpt is from George Orwell’s essay “The Sporting Spirit,” published in 1945:

    I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between nations, and that if only the common peoples of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battlefield. Even if one didn’t know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympics, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce it from general principles. . . . At the international level sport is frankly mimic warfare.

    In an essay, agree or disagree with Orwell’s view of sports.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: The following excerpt is from George Orwell’s essay “The Sporting Spirit,” published in 1945: I am always amazed when I hear people saying that sport creates goodwill between nations, and that if only the common peoples of the world could meet one another at football or cricket, they would have no inclination to meet on the battlefield. Even if one didn’t know from concrete examples (the 1936 Olympics, for instance) that international sporting contests lead to orgies of hatred, one could deduce it from general principles. . . . At the international level sport is frankly mimic warfare. In an essay, agree or disagree with Orwell’s view of sports.
  9. Read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Write an essay discussing whether you think Joe DiMaggio would have been a good fishing companion for the old man.

    Question

    WvD/qlpt4lzzWb4zUwGWBQhKPjtDvqj8sRamu7J1DAyqPwYZ7lQ7Wr5WbEA=
    Chapter 9 - Suggestions for Writing: Read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway. Write an essay discussing whether you think Joe DiMaggio would have been a good fishing companion for the old man.