Compare And Contrast Ex-Basketball Player And To An Athlete Dying Young

220 Words1 Page

“Ex-basketball Player” seems to have a more negative tone than “To an Athlete Dying Young.” Though, both a talk about former athlete’s glorious past when the runner in the first dies and the athlete in the second retired. In the poem ‘To an Athlete Dying Young” the runner dies at a young age of natural causes even though his fame does not but while in “Ex-Basketball Player” the fame of Flick washes away in his growing of age. The tone of “To an Athlete Dying Young” overall is much more positive since the poet praises the young athlete as "smart" to leave a world where glory does not remain and can only vanish. It is far better to die young, as Houseman suggests, than to join the many who had enjoyed glory but now have faded. Dying young

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart By David Foster Wallace

    481 Words  | 1 Pages

    In David Foster Wallace’s essay, “How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart,” he argues that the true talent of star athletes is to completely engross themselves in playing the game. While worshipping the “abstractions like power and grace and control” of Tracy Austin, he notes the contradicting quality, her inability to articulate such abstracts (143). He continues by writing, as people’s expectation while reading the autobiography of a successful athlete is to take a peek at the secrets of their god given gifts, whereas the expectations are rarely met, making spectators, such as himself, disappointed. As a matter of fact, Wallace suspects that the exceptional talent of athletes may be brought out by their apathetic and ignorant nature when it

    Read More

  • Ex-Basketball Player by John Updike

    1039 Words  | 3 Pages

    Remember that boy in high school that was the star of the basketball team? He still holds most of the records for the team. He scored more points than anyone else in the school’s history. He never studied much because he was an athlete. His basketball skills were going to take him places. But high school ended and there are no more games to be played. Where is that former all-star now? In his poem “Ex-Basketball Player,” John Updike examines the life of a former high school basketball star. Flick Webb was a local hero, and he loved basketball. He never studied much in school or learned a trade because he was a talented athlete. Now years later, the only job Flick can find is working at the local gas station. He used to be a star, but now he just “sells gas, checks oil, and changes flats” (19-20). The purpose of Updike’s poem is to convince the reader that athletes should also focus on getting a good education.

    Read More

  • Broken Dreams and Predictable Future in Ex-Basketball Player by John Updike

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    Never put all your eggs in one basket. It is the ever so common tale of a talented kid with broken dreams. Flick was an extremely gifted basketball player in high school with endless talent and lofty expectations but had nothing to fall back on once those dreams where shattered. In the poem, Ex-Basketball player, John Updike uses basketball imagery and puns to relate to the larger themes of broken dreams, and a predictable future.

    Read More

  • Richard Cory and To an Athlete Dying Young

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    The speakers in the A. E. Housman poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” and the Edward Arlington Robinson poem “Richard Cory” serve different purposes but use irony and rhyme to help convey their message. In “To an Athlete Dying Young” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience that dying young with glory is more memorable than dying old with glory. In “Richard Cory” the speaker’s purpose is to show the audience “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” In the poem “To an Athlete Dying Young” the author uses rhyme to show the reader how the glory of the runner came and went in a dramatic way. By having rhyme in “To an Athlete Dying Young” it allows the irony in the poem and the meaning that poet A. E. Housman is trying to convey, to really stick with the readers.

    Read More

  • Should Professional Athletes Deserve A Second Chance To Play In Professional Sports Case Study

    2061 Words  | 5 Pages

    This research paper will determine whether professional athletes deserve a second chance to play in professional sports after inappropriate behaviors. Professional athletes are considered idols and are often held to higher standards. Society has become concerned with so many of today’s athletes making the evening news for their unsuitable behaviors.

    Read More

  • Housman's To An Athlete Dying Young

    1640 Words  | 4 Pages

    A. E. Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young," also known as Lyric XIX in A

    Read More

  • Macbeth's "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" Speech Vs. Robert Frost's "Out, Out - "

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    An unknown author once wrote “Never take life too seriously; after all, no one gets out of it alive”. When reading this quote, there can almost be an immediate connection between two very good works of writing: Macbeth’s “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” speech from Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, and the poem “Out, Out --” by Robert Frost. Both allude to the idea that a single life, in its totality, denotes nothing, and eventually, everyone’s candle of life is blown out. However, each poet approaches this idea from opposite perspectives. Frost writes of a young, innocent boy whose life ends suddenly and unexpectedly. His poem is dry and lacks emotion from anyone except the young boy. Whereas the demise of Shakespeare’s character, Macbeth, an evil man, has been anticipated throughout the entire play. Through these writings, we are able gather a little more insight as to how these poets perhaps felt about dying and life itself.

    Read More

  • Ex – Basketball Player

    1078 Words  | 3 Pages

    To conclude, the poem “Ex-Basketball play,” is a poem that shows the reality of life. It reflects the nature of life in the real world and it helps people who have a dream and want to pursue their goals to go for it. The poem was formally organized and provides a number of figurative languages that helps to bring out tone of the poem.

    Read More

  • What Are The Advantages Of To An Athlete Dying Young

    195 Words  | 1 Pages

    The speaker addresses three advantages to dying young in To an Athlete Dying Young, by A. E. Houseman, these are an athlete’s glory fading, records broken, and being forgotten. After the athlete’s death, the speaker states that the athlete was right to leave “fields where glory does not stay” (10). Moreover, the speaker implies that the athlete is lucky because he will never live to see the glory of his achievements fade away. Similarly, following the athlete’s burial the speaker states that the athlete “Cannot see the record cut” (14). Furthermore, the speaker implies that an early death is to the athlete’s advantage because he will never see his records and achievements beaten by another athlete. Lastly, the speaker states that the athlete

    Read More

  • To An Athlete Dying Young, by A.E. Houseman and Crossing The Bar, by Lord Alfred Tennyson

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both poems have a propitious view of the theme of death. In “To An Athlete Dying Young” Houseman praises the young athlete for dying relatively young. He says “smart lad…not stay (9-10).” Houseman tells the athlete that he was smart to die at a young age because he can no longer witness his glory fade away as he gets older. His interpretation of death is very ironic. Many people consider it a tragedy when an athlete dies young because the athlete cannot further his career anymore, but Houseman argues that an athlete should not further his career because once he is old, he is a shell of his former self. By taking his life during a young age, the athlete gave himself eternal life in people’s mind. Moreover, in “Crossing The Bar”, Tennyson describes death as something people should not fear. Tennyson k...

    Read More

  • Michael Jordan Persuasive Essay

    1654 Words  | 4 Pages

    It’s one of the greatest debates right now in modern time sports. Who is the greatest basketball player ever? Is it His Airness, or is it King James? The debate on whether Michael Jordan or LeBron James is the greatest basketball player ever is a prevalent topic in sports news daily. Many people believe that LeBron James is the greatest basketball player to be currently playing and also the greatest player to ever have played in the NBA. My theory, however, is that rather than LeBron James, the greatest basketball player to ever have played the game is Michael Jordan. Although I agree with the claim that LeBron James is the best current player in the NBA, I believe that he is nowhere near being considered better than Michael Jordan.

    Read More

  • A Separate Peace: Nature of Man

    1624 Words  | 4 Pages

    Umphlett, Wiley Lee. “The Death of Innocence: The Paradox of the Dying Athlete.” The Sporting Myth and The American Experience: Studies in Contemporary Fiction. 1975. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1975. 130-45. Rpt. in Children’s Literature Review. Ed. Tom Burns. Vol. 98. Detroit: n.p., 2005. N. pag. Gale Literature Resource Center. Web. 21 Nov. 2011.

    Read More

  • The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movie “Basketball Diaries” is based on a series of journal entries written by Jim Carroll during the early years of his life, these entries would later on be published as a novel. Growing up in the slums of New York City, Carroll was exposed to many instances of drugs abuse and as a result of his life being filled with stress such as him living in an unstable household without a father, and losing his best friend he began to engage in substance abuse. As a teenager, Carroll was willing to go to extreme lengths just to fit in with his peers. He was an avid basketball player who seemed to be devoted to the sport and was knowledgeable when it came to teaching others what he knew about the sport. Based on the opening scenes of the movie, one can tell that Carroll was a very impressionable teenager. Like many teenagers, Carroll was left open to the influences of his environment and so he was misguided because instead of trying to steer him on the right path, the older folks led him to what would inevitably become his destruction. This paper will provide background information of the ...

    Read More

  • Does Aging Bring Sadness to an Athlete?

    654 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, I agree with A.E. Housman and his idea that athletes get sad because of the fact that they age and become too old and weak to keep up with younger athletes. We can see that even today with sports teams in America that there is always a cycle of younger replacing the older. We can see players be happy and sad because of their forced retirement due to the aging process. They are happy because they get quality resting time to be with friends and family and can spend their money freely. And sad because the talent they have been playing all their life is no longer something they can physically do because they lose the breathe easily and need more resting time. So yes, I agree with the author because athletes lose their fans to younger people, and lose their endurance levels all due to the aging process.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of An Athlete

    124 Words  | 1 Pages

    There are many things that these athletes deserve to have and seems only right for them to have most of them. Anything they can get will be great progress. All of these options could work, but they will all take time. There are positives and negatives to everyone. The one thing each athlete needs is to feel secure if they get injured while playing the sport they love. They need to feel that since they went all out for their sport and their school has their back and will honor them for their hard work and not let them suffer with medical bills or losing a scholarship. An athlete is a one of a kind person so why shouldn’t we treat them like

    Read More

More about Compare And Contrast Ex-Basketball Player And To An Athlete Dying Young

Open Document