Longman / Prentice Hall

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Sports Talk
Lisa Beckelhimer

ISBN-10: 0205583377
ISBN-13: 9780205583379

Publisher: Longman
Copyright: 2009
Format: Paper; 256 pp
Estimated Availability: 08/29/2008

Suggested retail price: $20.00
This item is not yet available for purchase. See estimated availability date above.

Sports infiltrate nearly every aspect of our society–mass media, the economy, our bonds with friends and strangers, our language, politics, industry, and international relations–and this lively anthology provides a foundation for critical discussions and good writing on a wide range of contemporary issues centered around sports.  

 

Analyzing sports goes far beyond keeping up with players’ and teams’ statistics, and even beyond reading books or magazines about sports or athletes. This reader is intended to give students the apparatus to analyze sports and sportswriting in a more critical context.  The readings and discussion questions prompt a variety of thinking and writing skills including research, comparison, analysis, reflection, argument, and synthesis–skills that will be helpful to students in college and in the work force.

Thirty-five reading selections organized into six chapters focus on particular rhetorical and cultural issues in sports that demand critical thinking. Authors range from sports “outsiders” such as scientist Carl Sagan and cultural commentator Roger Rosenblatt, to former athletes and sportswriters like S.L. Price and Mariah Burton Nelson, to literary greats like Ernest Hemingway and Joyce Carol Oates.

 

Ã? Coverage of a variety of sports, ranging from mainstream sports like football, baseball, and soccer to less common sports like bullfighting, gymnastics, and martial arts, addresses the diversity of interests in readers and instructors.

 

Ã? A range of opinions, from avid endorsement to outright criticism of sports, provides teachers with the apparatus for teaching multiple perspectives, debate, and counter-argument.

 

Ã? A variety of styles and genres–essays, articles, sports reporting, and more–and a variety of disciplines–writing, sociology, business, and more–provide a wealth of teaching possibilities for instructors and experiences for student readers.  

Ã? Introductions before each reading provide biographical information and context, while questions for discussion and writing serve as prompts for in-class or homework discussion and assignments.

 

Ã? Lists of recommended readings, movies, and Web sites offer a springboard for encouraging students to continue their research and study.

Every reading is preceded by a headnote and followed by Questions for Discussion and Reading.

Every chapter includes the following end-of-chapter sections:

·          Making Connections: Writing

·          Books Worth Reading

·          Films Worth Watching

·          Sites Worth Surfing

 

Preface

 

Chapter 1        Playing or Competing: What Do Sports Mean to America?

Roger Rosenblatt, Reflections: Why We Play the Game

John Gerdy, Sports: The All-American Addiction

Richard Hoffer, A Break in the Action

Robert Lipsyte, March Madness–a lot like life

Mary Billard, NASCAR Nirvana: R.V.’s, Rock Bands and Jell-O Shots

Christopher R. Martin and Jimmie L. Reeves, The Whole World Isn’t Watching (But We Thought They Were): The Super Bowl and U.S. Solipsism

 

Chapter 2        Popular or Political: What Do Sports Mean to the World?

Carl Sagan, Game: The Prehistoric Origin of Sports

Allen Guttmann, The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games

Lucian Kim, Buzkashi: An Afghan Tradition Thrives

Somini Sengupta, A Cricket Match Bridges a Longtime Gap in Punjab

Ernest Hemingway, Bullfighting a Tragedy

Jack Curry, Passion in Work and at Play

 

Chapter 3        Offensive or on the Defense: What Role Does Violence Play in Sports?

John H. Kerr, Examining the Bertuzzi-Moore NHL ice hockey incident: Crossing the line between sanctioned and unsanctioned violence in sport

William C. Rhoden, In NFL, Violence Sells, But at What Cost?

Joyce Carol Oates, On Boxing

Richard Ryan, Where is the Budo in Mixed Martial Arts?

Peter Fimrite, Danger on the Dome

 

Chapter 4        Discrimination or Opportunity: What Role Does Race Play in Sports?

S.L. Price, The Indian Wars

C. Richard King, Ellen Staurowsky, Lawrence Baca, Laurel R. Davis, and Cornel Pewewardy, Of Polls and Race Prejudice: Sports Illustrated’s Errant ‘Indian Wars’

Tim Wendel, Latino players can revive baseball in America

Dave Kindred, Joe Louis’ biggest knockout

Tamara K. Nopper, Asian America’s Response to Shaquille O’Neal Riddled with Racial-Sexual Anxiety

Jere Longman, Debate on Women at Augusta Catches Woods Off Balance

 

Chapter 5        Barriers or Breakthroughs: What Role Does Gender Play in Sports?

Patricia Vignola, The Patriotic Pinch Hitter: The AAGBL and How the American Woman Earned a Permanent Spot on the Roster

Thomas Huang, Sex sells, and many athletes are cashing in

Mariah Burton Nelson, Embracing Victory: Life Lessons on Competition and Compassion

Children Now, Boys to Men: Sports Media–Messages About Masculinity

Marcia Smith, Sports world seems to only care about women when they face men

Women’s Sports Foundation, Dropping Men’s Sports–Expanding Opportunities for Girls and Women in Sport without Eliminating Men’s Sports: The Foundation Position

 

Chapter 6        Trash Talk or Free Speech: What Do Words Mean in Sports?

Eric Hoover, Crying Foul Over Fans’ Boorish Behavior

David Haugh, Trash-talk? Hear no evil: Barbs may cross line, but athletes hurt only themselves by taking bait

Richard Sandomir, Football, Set for Return, Will Avoid War Clichés

Nancy Huppertz, The Importance of Language

Steve Rushin, Sport Makes the Words Go Round

Ann E. Cudd, Sporting Metaphors: Competition and the Ethos of Capitalism

  • Exam Copy for Sports Talk
    Beckelhimer
    © 2009 | Longman | Paper; 256 pages | Estimated Availability: 08/29/2008
    ISBN-10: 0205639895 | ISBN-13: 9780205639892


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