The activity will continue in class where we will discuss the passage further.
If you are like many people, you enjoy sports in your leisure time. Many of us watch sports on TV, go to games and meets, and play tennis or golf in the time left after school or work. We may even chat about sports on the Internet. Many observers note that sports reinforce norms and values important to society, like competition and teamwork. Sports metaphors, such as "There is no I in TEAM," teach us that success is achieved by putting the group above individual glory. Slogans like "Winners never quit and quitters never win" reinforce values of competition and working hard to get ahead.
Nevertheless, organized sports have been criticized for several things. One is that they encourage potentially harmful male aggression. Another is that they direct minority students, particularly African American males, toward athletics-instead of academics-as a road to success. However, only a very small minority of high school athletes are able to support themselves through athletics. In fact, according to one estimate, only one of 12,000 high school athletes will earn money as a professional athlete; among those who make it, the average professional career lasts only three years. Nevertheless, the importance of sports in teaching and reinforcing norms and values, along with the role of sports in symbolizing and integrating communities, are important reasons why nearly every nation has encouraged athletics. Brinkerhoff, David B., White, Lynn K., and Riedmann, Agnes C.1997. Sociology, 4th Edition, Belmont, CA: Wadsworth (page 79)
My thoughts about this passage is that its basically talking about sports and the benefits you can achieve from it. But then to each good thing there is a bad side to in. Paragraph one is stating one things, whilst paragraph two is contradicting and giving the bad things about it..
ReplyDeleteThat's called "compare and contrast" it is used in writing to present both sides of an argument/situation. When both sides are presented, even if not fully presented, the reader believes the writer is being objective and thus is more likely to believe or support the ideas presented.
ReplyDeleteI think that the writer is saying that playing sports is good and bad.The writer tells you about the value that sports can instill in you but also tells you about the bad that come from sports because most pro sports player only plays for three years.He is informing people that in life we need to have a back up plan and with education no one can take that away.The writer presents both sides of the story.
ReplyDeleteVery good analysis Arlien. You are off to a good start, now if only I can get you to edit prior to posting...1. Run on sentences and punctuation.
ReplyDelete