ipl-logo

John Updike's The Ex-Basketball Player

578 Words3 Pages

John Updike poem “The Ex-Basketball player” is a form free verse poem written in third person narrator about a young man, Flick Webb who still lives in his past rather than moving forward in his life. Flick Webb who was once a great basketball player during his high school years but now he just “sells gas, checks oil, and changes flats.” Flick is an indeed example towards high school students of what not to be. A person should not cling to one important memory in one’s life but should move further and be capable of doing something beyond. Flick Webb in this poem is a role model, especially teenagers, of what not to end up like. Updike uses certain figurative language effectively to lead the reader through Flick’s life- principal road in town that decides his future, lowly job and his menial habits. …show more content…

“Pearl Avenue bends with the trolly tracks, and stops, cut off before it has the chance to go two blocks.” This part represents the principal road in town that did not go further and ended at a dead end. At the end of the road is Berth’s Garage “you’ll find Flick Webb, who helps Berth Out” which refers to that Flick is not well known as he used to be in high school and now is he only occasionally seen. “Berth’s Garage is on the corner facing west” the use of diction “facing west” literally reflects upon how the sun sets off to the west leading darkness. The darkness indirectly refers to Flick’s future ahead of

Show More
Related

Imagery In Hoods By Paul B. Janeczko

326 Words | 2 Pages

When it says that the narrator used a parking meter to get themselves around the corner, it makes it seem like the narrator is running as fast as they can, which clearly shows that the narrator wants to get away from the gang. Later in the poem, the author used a specific

Read More

Analysis Of American Hero By Essex Hemphill

223 Words | 1 Pages

The poem “American Hero” by Essex Hemphill, is about a competitive match of basketball, however, towards the end the author describes a social denial from other neighborhoods that despise his team. To convey his feelings, the author’s tone in the beginning of the poem is thrilling as it stimulates the feeling of playing competitively in a game of basketball when reading until the game is over when the tone gets wretched as the thought of being denied by the opposing team’s school sinks in to the author’s mind. Furthermore, the tone and the use imagery are used to convey the sense of being in the game and knowing the environment in this tense basketball game. An example of this is on lines 5-9, it states “It’s a shimmering club light and I’m

Read More

Becoming And Going By Gerald Hill Summary

430 Words | 2 Pages

The narrator characterizes the son as a young man who “loves the highway” (p.185), which is also the same as the narrator’s father. The two men both enjoy driving on the highways and both enjoy driving fast on the highways. While the men are driving they are both thinking about their girlfriends, with the father “thinking Alice” (p.183) and the son “heading for a date with that red-haired beauty of his” (p.184). That is shown when the two men both pass the narrator on the highway being very cautious when they do to make sure it is safe. Another similarity between the two men is when the narrator states “and like all Hill men, at least the two before him, wouldn’t he rather be playing ball?”

Read More

Theme Of Deer Hit 'And The Rose That Grew From The Concrete'

639 Words | 3 Pages

poem (lines 1-12). The author began with such a vivid description to create the tone through the rest of his poem, a tone of fear and regret. Nonetheless it only gets more intese as the poem continues to describe the teenagers desperate actions to try and get rid of his problems. One sees towards the end Jon Loomis ’s idea that teenagers are irresponsible and do not want to deal with their own mistakes.

Read More

The Boys Of Dunbar Essay

1067 Words | 5 Pages

The Boys of Dunbar written by Alejandro Danois is a compelling narrative about an inner-city Baltimore high school basketball team who became a national powerhouse from 1981-1983. This is “A story of love, hope, and basketball”. Throughout this essay, The Boys of Dunbar will be explained, reviewed and critiqued. The two Dunbar teams from 1981-1983 are regarded as some of the best high school basketball teams that were ever assembled and many of the players on these teams are thought of as some of the most talented basketball players to ever come from Baltimore.

Read More

Shark Culling Persuasive Speech

2636 Words | 11 Pages

Focus question: To cull or not to cull great white sharks Great white sharks are the biggest predatory fish in the ocean and they can grow to about 15 feet in size, although larger than 20 feet have been seen. Their name comes from the white underbellies of the sharks and their bodies are designed to blend in with the seabed. The great whites have powerful tails which makes them excellent swimmers that can travel up to 24 km/h. They have many rows of triangular shaped teeth and have a great sense of smell and even their body can sense electromagnetic fields produced by animals. They mainly eat sea lions, small toothed whales and sea turtles.

Read More

Behaviorism In William Stafford's Traveling Through The Dark

972 Words | 4 Pages

(Line 1 and 2, Stafford), adds a sense of setting to the story. The conflict becomes recognized in the next two lines, “It is usually best to roll them into the canyon: the road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.” (Lines 3 and 4, Stafford). Apply your brakes here to reassess this statement. Not only does this add to the sense of setting by giving detail of Wilson River road, but it gives the reader more detail into the conflict.

Read More

John Updike Symbolism

796 Words | 4 Pages

The short story “A&P” by John Updike introduces us to a young teenager named Sammy who worked at the A&P grocery store looking to find his freedom. Throughout reading A&P, I 've noticed the main character Sammy had a very keen eye that spotted every minor detail. When Sammy saw the three teenage girls only wearing bathing suits enter the grocery store, he perceived the girls dressed as if they were going to the beach. Sammy explained to us in detail the different bathing suits that the girls were wearing and their physical appearances. The primary symbol represented in this story is the bathing suits worn by the three teenage girls.

Read More

Figurative Language In Irving Layton's Rhine Boat Trip

344 Words | 2 Pages

He begins by telling the reader of the castles, vineyards, and railroads he crosses while on his path. However, this quickly takes a grim turn with his focus shifting to the past rather than the present. It seems that every structure he views while traveling down the river comes with a back-story that is not pleasant. As Layton’s focus shifts

Read More

The Symbolism Of The Wind In Ann Petry's The Street

730 Words | 3 Pages

Ann Petry pens a stimulating expositional read in her 1946 novel, The Street. Running with the over-arching anticipated universal theme of vulnerability, Petry establishes Lutie Johnson’s relationship with the urban setting quite succinctly. Through her use of well-placed literary conventions, Ann Petry delivers a piece that will withstand the test of time. Petry establishes the wind as a symbol of an attacker to foreshadow Lutie Johnson’s violent future. From the very first paragraph, the wind is written ripping through the street, doubling over the pedestrians against its force.

Read More

Friday Night Lights Rhetorical Analysis

1457 Words | 6 Pages

In Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger appeals to his audience’s sense of emotions in order to persuade his readers that the obsession with high school football negatively affects everyone’s future in Odessa, Texas. Bissinger relies on emotional appeals by employing devices and techniques to present individuals’ personal stories and experiences. His searing portrayal of Odessa, and its Permian High School football team, exposes the side of sports that severely impacts the people living in this society. Bissinger shows the long term consequences of this delusion on the people who are directly and indirectly associated with Permian football. This demonstrate how detrimental the burdens are for the children, which touches the reader’s heart.

Read More

Analysis Of John Updike's Ex-Basketball Player

934 Words | 4 Pages

In John Updike’s poem “Ex-Basketball Player” the poet uses literary devices to depict the existing way of life of a once-famous sportsperson. Flick Webb was in before times a gifted athlete on his high school basketball team, and he was commendable of much awe. However, Flick never acquired any other skills to prepare him for a future. Accordingly, he now is locked into an unskilled job and his former glories have pale to all but Flick himself. Updike has created a character that is at this point in time going nowhere and spends most of his time thinking about his former days of glory.

Read More

An Analysis Of Poem In 'Incident' By Natasha Tretheway

873 Words | 4 Pages

Through the poem’s tone, metaphors used, and symbols expressed the poem portrays that fear can make life seem charred or obsolete, but in reality life propels through all seasons and obstacles it faces. The poem begins with a tone of conversation, but as it progresses the tone changes to a form of fear and secretiveness. The beginning and ending line “we tell

Read More

The Banning Of Jack London's The Call Of The Wild

1180 Words | 5 Pages

The narrator is as if he 's in Bucks ' head throughout most of the story. It helps the readers understand how Buck feels and why he acts the way he does. The tone of the story is very reflective. Throughout the plot, London stops to show what Buck is thinking, the things he has learned, how he has changed, and what that lifestyle means to Buck. The story takes place in the Southland and Northland.

Read More

Prose Analysis Of Ann Petry's The Street

634 Words | 3 Pages

Prose Analysis Essay In Ann Petry’s The Street, the urban setting is portrayed as harsh and unforgiving to most. Lutie Johnson, however, finds the setting agreeable and rises to challenges posed by the city in order to achieve her goals. Petry portrays this relationship through personification, extended metaphor, and imagery.

Read More

More about John Updike's The Ex-Basketball Player

Related Topics

Open Document