Bissinger serves as the narrator who expresses his first-hand experiences with the Permian Panthers during the 1988 football season. As an outsider new to the town and legacy of Permian football, Bissinger's goal is mainly to understand the events and the emotions brought about by a painful season. Bissinger's careful attention the organizational structure of the book shows his attention to detail and his dedication. The author begins with explaining his motivation for moving to Odessa, Texas and follows by placing the reader at the conclusion of a complicated season that ended with a devastating loss to Permian's arch rival, Midland Lee. The story then uses flashback, a literary technique which takes the reader back in time and shows material that happened prior to the present event, providing the reader with insight into a character's motivation. …show more content…
Bissinger divided his story into four sections: "Pre-Season", "The Season", "Push for the Playoffs", and "Post Season".
This highlights the fact that the young men of Odessa and their lives are shaped by football. The reader can even see a metaphorical comparison between the division of the book and the divisions of the lives of the characters in the book. The Pre-Season section, relatively small, seems to assume that life outside of football gets very little respect and perhaps plays only a small role in the development of the player. The majority of the chapters are in the section "The Season", which compares to the teenage years of the football players and the shaping of their lives by their performance in the season. The story ends predictably with the devastating loss to Carter High School; a dominating team that the Permian players believe do not deserve to
win. The chapter titles used by Bissinger exemplify the focus on racial tension, and further give the reader a true sense of the ongoing conflict. The Table of Contents is covered with conflicting statements such as, "Black and White", "East Versus West", "Civil War" and "Heads or Tails." Bissinger uses the chapter titles to underline the difficulties and the hardships brought about by the hatred of racism. Bissinger names two of the chapters after student-athletes, and ironically, both are black. Both Boobie Miles and Ivory Christian are as well respected as their white counterparts on the football field. Attitudes change, however, when the players walk off the field. Boobie Miles is one of the main characters, and gets the most attention throughout the book. Football is all Boobie has in his life. He lacks the academic skills he needs to get a college education without the sport- "While other students casually worked to complete the worksheet, Boobie ate some candy and left blank the entire second page" (Bissenger, 136). His whole life totally changes when he sprains his knee playing football. One small move that he had made hundreds of times puts an end to his dream and ultimately, his future as an athlete. This event can be a metaphor for life. It shows the reader that individuals are not in control of their destiny. In contrast, Ivory is ruled by his nonchalant attitude toward football. Ivory loves the sport, but hates the pressure that comes along with it. As he is very religious, he considers being a preacher until he is contacted by a recruiter. After graduation, Ivory is the only player awarded a football scholarship. This character seems to represent the idea that, no matter how hard they try, the blacks of this community are unable to escape their designated role as football star- nothing more. Only by moving from the community and maturing is Ivory able to separate himself from the expectations of others and move forward to chase the life he desires.
The story A Television Drama, by Jane Rule is an exciting story about an unusual event, which the main character, Carolee Mitchell, experiences the end of. The story is about her quiet street becoming unusually busy with police officers, and how the man who is being chased by these officers ends up being outside her front door. Through the point of view of the story, the characterization and character change of Carolee Mitchell, and the setting of the story, A Television Drama is an exciting read. The story conveys how important it is to be aware of ones surroundings, and what is happening around oneself through these elements.
The Arizona atmosphere was visibly different in both literal and nonliteral ways from Kentucky. Taylor’s lifestyle would have been drastically contrasting with how she thrived in her new home of Tucson. Apart from having a night and day experience at maternity, and getting a fresh start at life on her own, Taylor also met a new group of people who changed her in many ways. Lou Ann, who molded her into a better mother, Mattie, who helped her to overcome fears, Esperanza, though she spoke very little, managed to open Taylor’s eyes the horrors of a life she would never have to experience, and finally Turtle, who made Taylor realize what she loved most in life. Pittman, Kentucky did not have any of these individuals to teach the protagonist of this story.
A town, a team, a dream. Friday Night Lights document the 1988 football season at Permian High School in Odessa, Texas. Bissinger explores the various themes of the novel and uses conceit to colorfully describe the contrasting attitudes towards sports and academics. In the small town of Odessa, Friday nights in the fall are dedicated to Permian football. As a result of the obsessive attitude towards football, a ridiculous amount of pressure is thrust upon the coaches and players.
David Michael Kaplan’s short story “Doe Season”, is about a young girl named Andy who is going through some growing pains. She struggles with the changes that come along with becoming an adult and the gender roles that apply to her as a young woman. Charlie Spoon, Mac (Charlie’s son), Andy’s father and Andy embark on hunting trip that turns in to life changing event for Andy. The symbols used in “Doe Season” support the theme of the story: we all must grow and change and with that certain roles apply.
The beliefs and values held by many of the characters change over the course of the film as a result of Coach Boone and Coach Yoast’s work. It is clear that their belief in racial equality and love for football helped a team, and ultimately a town, begin to come to terms with the issue of race in America’s schools.
A predominantly black town in Florida by the name of Rosewood was abandoned in 1923 due to the city being left in devastating ruins after a horrendous bloodshed massacre. The massacre was initiated by accusations of a black man by the name of Jesse Hunter assaulting a white female by the name of Fanny Taylor. But their troubles didn’t begin there this was long awaiting battle due to prior false information that often ended with a black person being lynched.The incident regarding Jesse Hunter and Fanny Taylor set havoc to the little town of Rosewood.In spite of the rumors that the two were romantically involved or that at least the woman was using the incident to cover up her premarital affairs. Meanwhile, members of the Ku Klux Klan rallied in nearby towns and gathered people to go and rise terror on Rosewood. The one person who knew the truth was a man named Sam Cartier. Who was lynched by the Ku Klux Klan as a warning to whoever was helping Jesse. It was soon rumored that Jesse’s friend Aaron’s cousin Sylvester was hiding him at his house. The KKK demanded
A message that really explains the movie in a sentence is every human is not perfect and each human has their own personal struggles that they will try to overcome. Boobie Miles thought he was perfect and he actually put a curse on himself and got injured right at the beginning.The primary theme in the film is the Underdogs don’t always win. We thought because they were underdogs they were going to win but they ended up losing. They still did put up a great fight. Some other themes are the impact of adults’ hopes and goals lived vicariously through their children. The most important theme of the novel involves the impact of adults’ hopes and goals lived vicariously through their children. The people of Odessa place an unmistaken spell on the shoulders of their sons to be champions every year so that the adults can take the triumph as their own. The result is that their children can never leave their triumphs and defeats of that short time behind. It follows them no matter what they make of their lives, and it is unfair that they must do so. The last important theme is that of misplaced priorities. The people of Odessa wouldn’t accept the fact that their obsession with football was impacting on the educational success of their children. Their need to have a winning season affected class time, homework, tests, and even whether school
In John Grisham’s, Bleachers, this fiction story takes us through a small town in Messina, Mississippi. Everyone who is anyone attends their local high school football games. Thousands of locals come to the Friday night football games to watch the Messina Spartans play each week. Bleachers takes place in a present time setting in which former players talk about past games. The legendary coach of the Messina Spartans is getting close to the end while the former players await his death. Former players from different years are sitting on the bleachers of Rake Field talking about past games and memories. Because this is a fiction story, none of the characters or events are real. There are characters in this book that could portray real people, because the things these characters go through are common in today's world. Characters like Neely Crenshaw, an all-American whose career ends up short with a career ending injury. Then there is Coach Eddie Rake, a coach that leaves a legacy in a small town by making an unbelievable winning streak during his prime years. Almost everyone who played for Coach Rake hated his guts. Fictional characters in this book are believable. Even events like a coach who hits their athlete, and starts a brawl seem believable. Although this book is fiction, the majority of the events and characters could exist and are believable.
Coach Herman Boone is the main African-American character in this film. He is a football coach who is brought in by the newly diversified T.C. Williams High School as a form of affirmative action. This character struggles throughout the movie with dealing with the prejudices of his players, of other football coaches, of parents, and even of the school board who hired him in order to try to create a winning football team. Another key black character is Julius Campbell. He plays a linebacker who ends up becoming best friends with a white linebacker on the team. He, too, struggles with prejudices from some of his teammates and people in the town because of the new desegregation of the team. The remaining black players on the T.C. Williams High School had very similar roles in the film. Petey Jones, Jerry Williams (quarterback), and Blue Stanton all are shown facing racial inequality by players, citizens, and even other football coaches. The attitudes of ...
The story takes place in the 60’s in an East Texas town called ‘Leechfield’, Karr is the narrator and telling the story based on her memories. Although
As Coach Boone takes the boys to Gettysburg, they see first-hand where men laid their life on the line for them. The small town of Alexandria shows how a Friday night football game should be and what football and community are all about. The community also proves that even though not everyone sees eye to eye, there is always a compromise. Coach Boone and Coach Yoast also face many difficulties. They must also come together and work as a team to lead this football team where it needs to be. Coach Yoast realizes that he must work with Coach Boone for the sake of the boys he has watched grow up. These two do a great job in showing that overcoming problems is
Coach Jones treats Radio as if he was one of his own. He doesn’t look at or treat Radio as if he was disabled. Instead, he pays attention to what his interests are by inviting him to his practices and introducing him to the team. Jones enrolls him in the local school and tries to teach him how to read and write. He even goes to meet his mother and tries to understand his background and where he comes from. With the help of Jones, Radio becomes apart of the community.
Boone faces the challenge of being accepted by the community, encouraging them to work together rather than judging and persecuting one another. At that time in Alexandria, Virginia there was an active atmosphere of racial tension within the community between both the African American and Caucasian population. Boone, a black coach, faces the challenge of taking on a new position as head coach of the T.C Williams High School football team. This is fraught with conflict and peril however due to the opposition of those that do not and will not accept the integration of black and white students into mixed race schools. In a move by the school board coach Boone is now unknowingly threatened by the loss of his job if The Titans loose a match. If The Titans are to loose a match Coach Boone will not only loose his job, both himself and the community will loose the hope of ever having this system of integration work. Boone in an effort to be accepted by the community uses his work with the football team to support the system of integration by emphasizing that he is in fact a valued ...
Some people feel all alone in this world, with no direction to follow but their empty loneliness. The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D Salinger, follows a sixteen-year-old boy, Holden Caulfield, who despises society and calls everyone a “phony.” Holden can be seen as a delinquent who smokes tobacco, drinks alcohol, and gets expelled from a prestigious boarding school. This coming-of-age book follows the themes of isolation, innocence, and corrupted maturity which is influenced from the author's life and modernism, and is shown through the setting, symbolism, and diction.
The film The Other Sister, tells the story of Carla, a young woman with an intellectual disability, and her struggles that involve Erikson’s psychosocial stages, parenting styles, and humanistic perspective.