Perseverance In 'The Sacred Acre'

In life you will always get knocked down, but if you keep going, success is bound to happen. In “The Sacred Acre” by Mark Tabb, Parkersburg, Iowa was struck by a tornado in 2008. The tornado destroyed the small town as well as the prized football field. Ed Thomas, the head football coach, and his family brought the community together to lift spirits and rebuild the football field. The Thomas family gave the community perseverance, but right when things were looking better they were faced with the most unbelievable event that would affect everyone's lives forever. In “The Sacred Acre”, Tabb uses dialogue to show perseverance is the key to success. Tabb incorporates dialogue throughout, “The Sacred Acre'' to show perseverance. Chris, Ed's former player, comes to talk to Ed about what they are going to do and how he is feeling. Chris helps lift Ed up to build the football field on time to play, “Coach, I meant what I said. We can rebuild this town… you said adversity shapes character… we will play our first home game right here on our field.” (51-52) This dialogue shows how Ed did not realize what to do, but got talked to and decided to preserve and play their first home game

Ed decides to get the team together to let them recognize that they will be playing on time, but it will be a lot of work. Even though some of his players had lost their homes, they still managed to show up. “I wanted to tell you myself that we will be playing our first home game… when we work together, we will be successful.” (76-77) This scene shows how Ed had the courage to get his players together and tell them that they will rebuild the field in time to play. The player also had perseverance to show up even though they had lost their