Analysis Of The Parts That Really Matter By Daniel James Brown

In the section “The Parts That Really Matter” of The Boys in the Boat I noticed that Daniel James Brown starts moving the story along faster, which correlates greatly to the section title. In addition to this, he also uses paradoxes in order to portray the complexities for rowing. For example he states that a shell, which is “powered by unusually large and physically powerful men or women-is commanded, controlled, and directed by the smallest and least powerful person in the boat” (178). What this shows is that the coxswain has to control his crew members whereas in other sports, team members are more equal. When he explains that “as the tempo accelerates, the penalty of a miscue… becomes ever more severe”, which the author uses to reveal another unique quality of rowing. Building off that, a third paradox he uses is that “rowers must subsume their often fierce sense of independence and self, at the same time, they must hold true to their individuality…” (179).The author includes this because it really enables the reader to envision the subtle and not so subtle intricacies of rowing, specifically the idea that rowers must be able to flow with his crew, but their own “physical

When Joe’s boat “finishing(finished) a comfortable two lengths ahead of Navy” and the varsity boat finished “two lengths behind”, the author wants the reader to question Al Ulbrickson’s decision to demote the sophomores (189). The two thousand meter race defeat in Long Beach California further encouraged the reader to question Ulbrickson. While these defeats are unacceptable for the varsity squad, they are good for Joe and his squad. The author also includes information relating to Joe’s stay at the Grand Coulee because it signifies his effort to keep moving forward regardless of the difficulty. With this job, Joe is able to get enough money for another year at Washington