The Ex Basketball Player by John Updike Essay

In the poem, “Ex – Basketball Player” by john Updike, (which is a narrative poem) illustrates the nature of life on how life is potentially is seen has a mirror to other people’s life, especially people who play sports. Life is the physical and mental experience of an individual. An in the poem the main character Flick, supply the poem with a good example of how life is potentially a mirror for other people. This poem is formally organized, even though it locks some qualities, it still haves the qualifications of a good poem. The “Ex Basket Player” is an interested poem because it has a good theme, tone and lots of figurative languages.

Everyone has had an extraordinary dream. For some it is to be a movie star or to be in a professional sports team. However, while great goals they are, they are not likely. About 1 and 70,000 people make it to be a major movie star (study.com). Also the likelihood of getting into the NBA from high school is 3 and 100,000. The great majority have to find something else to pursue and get good at. Since people's dreams are usually so out of reach, it is hard for them to succeed with their goal. John Updike is seen using personification many times in Ex Basketball Player. In the poem, the main character is described with numerous examples of personification. With it, the description shows great characterization of the main character, Flick Webb

In this paper we are looking at the poem “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike and; looking at these questions relating to the poem does the poem's speaker pity or admire Flick? Are readers meant to pity or admire Flick?

In this analysis I will cover the different aspects of sport subculture and what it means to be a recognizable member within a group. I will give examples of what it means to be a part of such subcultures. For example, shared ways of dressing, group status and credibility, as well as some of the groups norms and rituals. The specific group I will discuss will be my basketball team and the role I play within it. Because my team is at highly competitive level, our norms may be unlike to other teams’ especially those of less competitive teams. Each and every team has their own culture and practices, and it is through these that they identify themselves as being different from other teams along with giving them an identity and a

In sociology, there are 3 paradigms. There is the conflict theory perspective, the symbolic-interaction perspective and the structural-functionalist perspective. From a conflict paradigm point of view, the essay would focus on gender and how the assumption that girls lack the same level of strength and stamina as men. The WNBA (Women National Basketball League) doesn’t get the same amount of respect as the males do in the NBA (National Basketball League). Another issue could be that the NBA players have a higher annual salary than an average teacher. A structural-functionalist approach could be focused on how it creates jobs (the NBA) and academically too. Basketball could also be focused on how

According to the NCAA, only about 0.03% of high school basketball players get drafted out by an NBA team. 0.03% is such a little percentage that it is the same chance of someone getting four of a kind in a first round of poker (www.norwichcsd.org/Downloads/ ProSportsOdds.doc). With this striking percentage it is amazing to think so many young players hope to make it to the pros. In the end, regret and defeat are much too common, a theme that John Updike features in his poem, “Ex Basketball Player”. The poem's persona, Flick Webb, was surely not one of those lucky 0.03%. Flick Webb was the star basketball player at his high school. Now older, he works at a gas station, sometimes reliving his old dream by gloomily bouncing a tire by himself.

There are over 5,000 different types of sports. Basketball, a popular and world renowned athletic is a subculture Paul cuffee student Ramses cruz is part of. Especially now when the season is just beginning and being part of the Junior Varsity team is his main focus.

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

Most everyone has had an extraordinary dream; for some, it is to be a movie star or to be on a professional sports team. Nevertheless, while great goals they are, they are not likely. For example, about 1 in 70,000 people become a major movie star (study.com). Entering the NBA from high school (Gerund) has a likelihood of 3 in 100,000 (ehow.com). Therefore, the great majority are obligated to find something else to pursue. As a result of people's dreams being so out of reach, it is difficult for them to succeed with their goals (infinitive). Because this scenario is so common, it is often the central conflict in movies or literature. For example, this problem occurs for the persona Flick Webb in John Updike’s poem “Ex-Basketball Player”. Consequently, Flick, the main character in the poem (Appositive), is one from the great majority that did not make it in pursuing basketball. In high school, Flick was an extraordinary basketball player. In fact, he was so good that he set high school records for points scored. Now after he is out of high school (Preposition), Flick has nothing. Relying on basketball in high school, (Participle) he never learned a trade in the real world to use.. He sits in the same town, but now he is ignored, as a gas station employee. As John Updike characterizes Flick, in the story of his high school fame (Preposition)to modern day gloom, he realistically develops the characterization of Flick. John Updike uses personification

In contrast to the imagery used by Housman, Updike stresses the athlete’s fading glory as the athlete has lived past his triumphant days. As “To An Athlete Dying Young” begins the poem through the imagery that shows the athlete’s success and his gain of honor, whereas “Ex-Basketball Player” indicates that the athlete’s life is no longer filled with glory. The road leading to the place where he works shares with the readers how meaningless and empty the athlete’s life has become as the road “runs past the high-school lot, bends with the trolley tracks, and stops, cut off” (2). Flick, the subject of the poem, has had his years of glory when he played for his high school since he had the skills and talent to break records. He had extra talent that made him become one with the basketball and handle it like no one else could as “his hands were like wild birds” (18). Although Flick had his glorious years, unlike the athlete in “To An Athlete Dying Young” Flick’s glory does not last because he now “checks oil, and changes flats” (20). “To An Athlete Dying Young” emphasizes that it is better

Although men and women’s basketball are closer to being equal than softball and baseball, the leagues are still separate. America has a women’s league and a men’s league and never the two shall meet. A woman is not allowed in the NBA since she has the WNBA. The separation is strong, obvious, and seemingly permanent. Like basketball, they created softball to play indoors during the winter. The game earned the name softball and due to its easier properties was often “regarded as baseball’s stepchild” (Ring, p. 60). They passed the game down to women, as it seemed safe enough to limit the risk of injury. And so the separation began.

The game of basketball is recognizable high school or the NBA. The sport is very popular and is played worldwide. Everyone may also know the sport from some names of basketball stars. Maybe the names Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Dr. J, Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, or Carmelo Anthony ring a bell. They are all outstanding players of the game and have a significant understanding of how the game is played. Basketball has changed alot overtime and has become one of Americas most played sports.

Once I became a junior in high school I had been too far in the process of skipping school, not paying attention, and putting all my focus on other things. I’m not saying I didn’t learn things while or whenever I did go to because I learned a lot of things but not enough. I didn’t reach my full potential. I think this was the year I made friends who weren’t as great of influence. So, at this point my lack of focus on my education was because of

Within Hollywood’s movies depiction of drug addiction, many have failed to represent all true aspects that come along with such lifestyles. The movie, The Basketball Diaries, is based off a novel Jim Carroll wrote from his own diary entries. As a teenager growing up in the sixties, Carroll reveals his progression of drug abuse which eventually leads him addicted to heroin.Heroin is a white powder derived from morphine found in opium. It is commonly prescribed as a painkiller, but is also a popular street drug.The director casted Leonardo DiCaprio as Jimmy, and concentrates on creating the character as a stereotypical drug abuser. DiCaprio’s most captivating scene is when he is going through heroin

“Tommy wake up Gage and Henry just pulled up and you have practice in 40 minutes” mother said.