Rachel Motts

English 112B-Unit of Study

12/6/11

Dr. Warner

Sports: The Journey Behind the Athlete

Sports are many times looked at as an extra curricular activity that is meant to take place outside of the classroom, but sports can be utilized inside the classroom effectively as well. Sports can many times be looked at as dangerous, boring, or too competitive, but there is a reason many Americans are drawn to the television each week, cheer their favorite team on, or even tune in to the Olympics every two years by the millions. It is more than just the competitive aspect of the game or just the need to win at all costs. It comes down to more than that. Sports are an outlet for people to believe in something and in someone. In chapter six of Literature for Today�s Young Adults, it states, �To deny or even to question the significant place of sports in many American lives is to misunderstand American life or values.� It is many times the story behind the athlete that draws us in, the perseverance and hardships they had to deal with to get where they are and people root for that hard work to pay off with success. Many times, sports related novels are not just about sports and can have many different themes that appeal to many different people. Just because someone does not love athletics, or have a care in the world to play a sport, they can still learn valuable lessons through the athlete(s) journey to play the sport and succeed.

This journey is usually one of self-discovery, perseverance, triumph, heart-ache, and a drive to never give up. For the center piece of my project, I chose Chris Crutcher�s Ironman, as I feel it deals with many of these issues and these are issues that young adult students deal with on a day to day basis as well, even if they do not play a sport. Crutcher is known for effectively using sports as a catalyst to provide other themes and ideas and I do not think I could choose a better author for my centerpiece work. It is important that students can take a novel like this one and see it for more than a novel about football or running in a marathon. It is a story of self-discovery, overcoming obstacles, and following your dreams. They should be able to take from it and its main character Beauregard Brewster, that when you have a goal in life or a desire to succeed, that it is possible despite the setbacks that can come about or how difficult it may be. Even though this message is coming from a book about athletics, it can still translate into others areas of a young adult�s life. They can learn by reading about the athlete in the story and seeing what his or her�s path to self discovery is, how they persevered through the difficult times and how they did not give up when times got difficult and then use those lessons in their own lives. This novel also connects to the rest of my Young Adult sources because they also are all dealing with one or more of these themes.

Launching the Unit

Before reading Ironman, I would have some activities for the class to prepare.

1. I would begin the unit by playing the song, �Fly� by Nicki Minaj featuring Rihanna. I believe this song introduces feelings and emotions that I also hope to evoke from my students in this lesson. I want them to begin this lesson feeling uplifted and motivated and I believe this song does just that.

�I came to win, to fight, to conquer, to thrive

I came to win, to survive, to prosper, to rise

to fly

to fly�

I feel this excerpt is important because it brings about the themes I discussed earlier to fight to never give up and to prosper and rise despite any hardships along the way. After playing this song I would have the students write a response on how it made them feel, using some of these questions to help them:

A. Did you like the song? Why or why not?

B. What feelings and emotions does this song evoke from you?

C. How can this song relate to sports or athletics? How can the two be intertwined?

2. Next I would introduce a poem called �Casey at the Bat� by Ernest Thayer. This poem is well-known and one I learned about in school and I think it will be an effective way to introduce some poetry into the unit. The poem is a good comparison with the song because while the song is uplifting, this poem ends on a sour note with Casey striking out at the plate in a big game. While the poem doesn�t end perfectly, it brings forth the idea that sports are not always easy or fun. They do come with hardships and struggles, but that is part of the learning experience of the journey as a player. Learning to overcome these hardships and continue to strive to do better is the lesson to take from it.

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, "If only Casey could but get a whack at that —
We'd put up even money now, with Casey at the bat."

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a hoodoo, while the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat;
For there seemed but little chance of Casey getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It pounded on the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile lit Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt.
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance flashed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped —
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one!" the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore;
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted some one on the stand;
And it's likely they'd have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the dun sphere flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said "Strike two!"

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered "Fraud!"
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer has fled from Casey's lip, the teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.

After reading the poem, I would have the students write another response to the feelings or emotions that this poem evoked and how that compares with how they felt after the song. I would then have a class discussion where students could share their responses or discuss or compare their feelings during both the song and the poem. I think this is a great way to begin the unit, because we are discussing the positive and negative feelings that can come about with sports and by getting those feelings out on the table now, it will help the students recognize when a character is going through those same feelings when reading Ironman and doing the other activities in the unit.

3. From the beginning of the lesson, I would want my students to keep a folder or small binder to keep their writing responses and notes in. This folder will allow a safe place to store everything we work on during this unit and gives the students a chance to have all of their work in one area to reference whenever need be. The responses to both the song �Fly� and the poem �Casey at the Bat� will go into their folders. I will collect their folders periodically to make sure they are doing the writing and to give them feed back on their ideas and their writing.

4. Along with the Young Adult resources for this unit of study, I think it would be beneficial to show some movies as well. These would of course be relevant to the theme and help expand the ideas of the lesson. The first movie I feel would be beneficial is actually one of my personal favorites, Remember the Titans, which is a well-known and popular movie that came out in 2000. I believe this movie would be especially motivating to the students because it is based on true events and I think the students will relate to it much more knowing that what they are watching actually happened. Through the vehicle of athletics, the movie has themes of racism, discrimination, tragedy, triumph, and never giving up. These themes tie perfectly into the themes of the unit.

Before the movie is viewed, I would split the class into groups of between 3-5 people, depending on the class size. I would give each group one of the athlete characters from the movie. Through out the movie each student would take notes on their designated character and what they notice about their journey as an athlete. Questions to help the students would be:

A. What do you notice about your character? What is his life like and what are some issues he may be dealing with?

B. What triumphs or struggles do you see your athlete going through?

C. What lessons does your character seem to learn through out the course of the movie about himself, the people around him, and athletics in general?

After the movie, the students would meet in their groups and discuss the themes and ideas they came up with, with their group members. Their assignment will then be to compile their information and create a group presentation on the themes and life lessons they discovered with their character. I want them to focus on what their character went through and how they dealt with their situations and then in turn what the class can learn from that. Presentations from each group will need to include some sort of visual aid whether that be a power point, a video, a poster, or acting it out. Also, each group will turn in one paper in which they have compiled their ideas about their character. They will have time to work on this assignment in class and have time to meet with their groups multiple times. Again, all writing or notes they take during the movie or for the presentation and paper, will go into their folders.

5. Another movie that I feel is beneficial to this lesson is The Blind Side which was released in 2009. It is a semi-biographical film written and directed by John Lee Hancock and based on the 2006 novel The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. This movie follows the life of a young teenager named Michael Oher and his journey from impoverished child to NFL offensive lineman. The journey that Oher goes through in this novel with the obstacles he has to overcome is exactly the type of journey I want my students to be aware of. By seeing what Michael was able to overcome, I am hoping they feel they can overcome problems in their everyday lives and still strive to accomplish their goals and dreams. The movie shows that dreams can come true, if you work hard and never give up. After the movie, I would have the students write a response on their feelings after watching it and what they noticed about Oher�s journey. This should be easier for them now as they have already worked on recognizing these themes and ideas in their presentations and papers on Remember the Titans. Again, this response would go into their folder.

6. Now it is time to read our center piece, Ironman. This novel brings forth a lot of issues that many young adults deal with on a daily basis. The main character is Beauregard Brewster, who is a high school student with anger management issues because of his father and who has a dream to become an iron man by competing in the Yukon Jack's triathlon. I feel this novel is crucial to the overall theme of this unit because the main focus of it is to depict a character that is following his dreams, even while dealing with issues at home with his family and with his own internal issues. Brewster is able to use the issues he is dealing with in his life as drive and motivation to succeed in the iron man event. The journey behind the athlete in this story shows the students that they can take what is going on in their everyday lives and use it as motivation towards a goal, a dream, or of course, a sport.

My hope is that our earlier activities will help the students be able to locate themes, ideas and life lessons through out Brewster�s journey much easier. They will have already had practice with this and know what to look for. Through out the book, I will have the students write responses on their feelings after certain chapters, on themes or ideas they thought were important, or on quotes that stood out to them and keep them in their folder. They will then be able to use those notes to help them on their assignment. I will have each student write a 3-5 page essay analyzing the novel and Brewster�s journey. I will encourage them to find important themes and life lessons that were learned. They will be able to use the notes they wrote down and the quotes they picked out to help with this paper. I want them to finish this novel feeling motivated that they can succeed, just as Brewster does when he is victorious at the triathlon.

Extending the Unit

I believe this Young Adult literature will further expand the students knowledge of the themes and ideas discussed in this unit. They will be able to discover more journeys behind other athletes and learn from their experiences.

Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories by Chris Crutcher. This collection of six short stories has a unifying theme of sports and is a collection in which Crutcher uses characters from his previous novels. Each story is one of a character�s journey, each story concluding with a moral. I believe this novel is important because it gives a diverse look into multiple teen athletes and the struggles and triumphs that they endure.

Ball Don�t Lie by Matt de la Pena. This is another great novel in which the game of basketball and being on the court means everything to high school senior Sticky Reichard. The story depicts Reichard�s tough life growing up as a foster child as well as the love and dedication for a sport. The story is one of self-discovery, overcoming obstacles such as OCD, and where the game is his life and the people he plays with are like brothers (Synopsis taken from blogcritics.org).

Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock. This novel is about a young teenager named D.J. Schwenk who struggles with a home life where her family doesn�t communicate very well. She also struggles because she was once a star athlete in volleyball and basketball, but had to quit and help out on the farm when her father got injured. Through out the course of the novel she decides that she wants to try out for the football team and she learns a lot about her relationships she has with her friends and family. It is a path of self-discovery for her in learning about others and learning that she needs to speak out, while using the drive to play sports as motivation to be better (Synopsis taken from Catherine Murdock.com).

My next source is a short story called �Lines of Scrimmage� in the collection of short stories First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants edited by Don Gallo. The main character in this short story is Ameen Abu-Shakra, who is an Arab teenager playing football on team where almost everyone else is white. Once chosen to play quarter back, Ameen deals with discrimination and hatred from his white teammates who would rather throw a game than let an Arab take any credit for the team�s performance and win. This story is one of perseverance though, and how Ameen refuses to give up on his dream to be quarter back, even if that means taking matters into his own hands and scoring the game winning touchdown himself. His journey is one of self-discovery and learning that although others may be rooting against him, he can succeed if he tries hard and does not give up

Gym Candy by Carl Deuker. The main character in this novel, Mick Johnson, thinks the world of his father, who was a college football player and had a brief stint in the NFL. This story is about his journey to be like his father and his journey to go from being good to being great because he knows he has to be great in order to be like his dad.

Whale Talk, also by Chris Crutcher. This novel is about a young high school student named T.J who loathes the way sports are conducted at his school. The story is about how T.J takes this problem into his own hands and puts together a swim team of misfits to help them get recognition and earn letter jackets. He works very hard to help everyone else but himself, while at the same time discovering himself and who he wants to be. The story truly brings forth the themes of never giving up and persevering even when people try to stop you.

Concluding the Unit

By the end of the unit, the goal is for the students to have a greater idea about more than just sports, but also the lessons that can be provided by them. I want them to be able to see how beneficial it can be inside the classroom and in their everyday lives, as well as a great extra curricular activity. My goal is to have them make a connection between the characters we read about and their own lives. I want each student, whether they love sports or not, to feel that through this unit they learned valuable lessons that sports, athletes, and the stories behind them, can bring forth. I would end the unit by having each student write one last response as a reflection of sorts on the unit as a whole. I would want them to focus on how they feel about sports now and what they feel they have really learned now that the lesson is over. These questions could help them:

A. What are your feelings about sports now that the lesson is over? How have your feelings changed from what you thought before we started?

B. What lessons do you feel you have learned through sports and this unit that may help you in other areas or your life?

C. Do you feel inspired to play a sport? If so, why and which sport?

D. Did you enjoy the unit? Why or why not?

Again they will put these responses into their folder, which can be used for other units or just too keep so the students can refer back to their writing and work whenever they want. My overall goal is that students can look past sports as just a game or a ball and a bat, and instead be inspired by the journey that the athlete took and then use that inspiration in their everyday lives.

Works Cited

Crutcher, Chris. Athletic Shorts: Six Short Stories. New York: Harper Collins, 2002. Print.

Crutcher, Chris. Ironman. New York City: HarperTempest, 1995. Print.

Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Print.

De la Pena, Matt. Ball Don�t Lie. Delacorte, 2005. Print

Deuker, Carl. Gym Candy. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007. Print.

Gallo, Donald. �Lines of Scrimmage�. First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants.

Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2007.

Monaj, Nicki. �Fly�. Pink Friday. 2010. Audio CD. http://www.killerhiphop.com/nicki-

minaj-fly-lyrics-rihanna/.

Murdock, Catherine. Dairy Queen. Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Print.

Murdock, Catherine. Dairy Queen: �About the book�. Catherinemurdock.com.

Web. 1 Dec 2011. http://www.catherinemurdock.com/catherinemurdock/DQ_about_book.html.

Nilsen, Aileen Pace and Kenneth L. Donelson. Literature for Today�s Young Adults. Boston: Pearson Education, 2009. 8^th edition. Print.

Remember the Titans. Director: Boaz Yakin. Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, 2000. DVD.

Rudnicki, Alicia. Review: Ball Don�t Lie by Matt de la Pena. Blogcritics.org. Published:

26 May 2011. Web. 28 Nov 2011. http://blogcritics.org/books/article/review-ball-

don�t-lie-by-matt/page-2/.

Thayer, Ernest. �Casey at the Bat�. The San Francisco Examiner, 1888. Print. http://ops.tamu.edu/bob/poems/casey.html.

The Blind Side. Director: John Lee Hancock. Alcon Entertainment, 2009. DVD.