The Link between Sports and Success in Death of a Salesman and Fences E

The Link between Sports and Success in Death of a Salesman   and Fences Sports have become one of the most dominant elements in society. Today sports are an integral part of lifestyle, entertainment and leisure. Sports have become an outlet for success and prestige. The recurring emphasis on sports appears in both Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and August Wilson’s Fences. While Death of a Salesman portrays sports as a means to popularity and subsequent success, Fences portrays sports negatively, discouraging sports, in spite of an unmistakable talent.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miller’s Death of a Salesman is the tragic account of the demise of a meager salesman, Willy Loman. Willy is passively nearing the end of his career and life. His two sons, Biff and Happy show little remorse or pity for Willy, despite his obvious senility. When Biff borrows a football from his coach to practice passing, Willy encourages him: â€Å"Coach’ll probably congratulate you on your initiative!† (Miller 30). Willy erroneously praises Biff, not realizing that such affirmation could deceive Biff. Later, as Biff awaits an appointment with a prominent businessman, he feels compelled to steal his fountain pen, â€Å"I don’t know, I just—wanted to take something†(Miller 104). Such incidents set a precedent for Biff, eventually leading to his lackluster professional status. Willy once again deludes Biff as he mistakenly deters him from his studies. When Bernard reminds Biff, that in order for Biff to graduate, he must study his math, Willy initially agrees and encourages Biff to study: â€Å"You better study with him, Biff. Go ahead now†(Miller 32). When Biff confidently shows Willy his sneakers, on which he printe... ...troubles with theft persist. On the other hand, Cory joined the marines and has advanced to corporal.   As Miller and Wilson revealed, athleticism is not always analogous with success. Willy regarded Biff highly because he observed Biff’s presence and athleticism, and he believed these qualities would result in immediate success. Today many parents associate sports with success and therefore pressure their children to excel in sports. In today’s society it is very rare that fears of discrimination would cause children to not pursue a lucrative career in sports. Both Miller and Wilson knew the impact of sports on family dynamics, and how sports have evolved from a leisure time activity to a full-time commitment. Clearly, many of the qualitative aspects of sports--competition, teamwork and physical dexterity can contribute to being a success in almost any career.

Multicultural Literature Essay

During this semester in Prose class, I have learned many kind of short stories by writers of various background. I also learn how to analyze the text critically, especially about structuralism and culture studies. There are 8 short stories that I have discussed with the class and written in one-page journal response. First, A Short Happy Life of Conat by Mochtar Lubis , Rising Flood by Riem Eng, First Confession by Frank O’Connor, Wings by Catriona McKenzie, Ta-Na-E-Ka by Mary Whitebird, Indian Camp by Ernest Hemingway, Bali by Putu Setia, and Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play â€Å"The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock by Sherman Alexie. Moreover I learned about what Prose is and Intrinsic element of literature, such plot, character, theme, point of view,setting, etc. Then I learn about structuralism in literature, such as binary opposition, the sequence of the event, unequal treatment of time, etc. On the other opportunities I also learn about symbolism, narration, multicultural literature and Indonesian multiculturalism. Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play â€Å"The Star-Spangled† at Woodstock is a story that does not only focus on Indian people who are marginalized but it contains how the modern Indians life is. In this story, we could find some of multiculturalism. First, from the narrator,Victor’s point of view, he shows the mix culture between traditional Native−American values from his mother and the dependence to American influences from his father. There also some multiculturalisms about the difference treatment towards Indian fathers who leave their children compare to white fathers and how Indians family live such as the difference of Victor’s friend experience about how their parents making love and Victor’s parents who are Indians . In the beginning of the story, the mixture of the culture is shown by Victor’s father. â€Å"During the sixties, my father was the perfect hippie, since all the hippies were trying to be Indians.† There is an irony here that Victor’s father does not like the perfect hippie. He wear bell-bottom, flowered shirt and holds a riffle above his head that represented American, not the hippies. He use red peace symbols splashed across his face and there is a sign â€Å"MAKE LOVE NOT WAR† in his demonstration but he seems does not stand for peace. â€Å"The caption under the photograph read DEMONSTRATION GOES TO WAR FOR PEACE. The editor capitalized on my father’s Native America identity with other headline like ONE WARRIOR AGAINST WAR and PEACEFUL GATHERING TURN INTO NATIVE UPRISING†. Then his obsession with pop music America icon, Jimi hendrix, damage his family relationship and affects the values of his Indian culture. â€Å"Only the good die young,† to his mother replied, â€Å"No, only the crazy people choke to death on their own vomit.† So Victor’s father asked â€Å"Why you talking about my hero that way?† In this case, Victor saw their parents argue just because of different perception of the death of Jimi Hendrix. So indirectly Victor’s father obsession on Jimi Hendrix make him having arguments with his wife. In addition, on page 32 â€Å"A hundred years ago, an Indian marriage was broken easily. The woman or man just packed up all their possessions and left the tipi. There were no arguments, no discussion. Now, Indians fight their way to the end, holding onto the last good thing, because our whole lives have to do with survival.† It also indicates that by â€Å"fighting† stage, an Indian family problem now becomes clear since both wife and husband spill out their feeling and thought that might become the solution of the problem. On the other hand, Victor’s mother still involved with Native−American traditions, such as her dancing. As soon as her husband does not need her when he was sick in a hospital, â€Å"she went back to the life she had created. She traveled to powwows, started to dance again.†. In this case I could see that Victor’s mother as a woman have to make hard decision. Even though she still loves him, she can not follow the lifestyle of the man. Culture will always influence the characteristic of the society. Victor’s father’s dependence on music, alcohol, and other American influence separates him from his wife and son. In addition, when his marriage get worse, Victor’s father does not follow tradition that inspires the Indians about survival or the importance of family . It bring the multicultural further that is about the difference treatment towards Indian fathers who leave their children compare to white fathers. â€Å"On a reservation, Indian men who abandon their children are treated worse than white fathers who do the same thing. It’s because white men have been doing that forever and Indian men just leraned how.† In this matter, we could see that white people who indicate as more individual people, give influence Native-American to leave the children. There is also multiculturalism about how Indians family live such as the difference of Victor’s white friend experience about how their parents making love and Victor’s parents who are Indians. â€Å"Some night I lay awake and listened to my parents’ lovemaking. I know white people keep it quite, pretend they don’t ever make love. My white friends tll me thay can’t even imagine their own parents getting it on.† I think in this occasion, it would be positif knowledge for Indian’s children that their parents still love each other although sometimes they have fight. For the conclusion, we could see that multiculturalism can be the mixture culture between one culture to another. It could give positif affect or even negatif affect. Especially when we look at Victor’s father, the influence of acceptance of white American pop culture with Jimi Hendrix ironically contributes to his family breakup. However, for Victor, an Indian boy these sound of American pop culture (not always Jimi Hendrix but also Roberst Johnson) offer the hope that maybe someday his father will return home. These sounds are an inspiration for this Indian boy to go on. â€Å"Until the sun rose so bright that I knew it was time to go back inside to my mother †. So he knew when the sun comes up and shines brightly.

Initiation or Incarceration Hazing in Fraternities and...

Initiation or Incarceration: Hazing in Fraternities and Sororities Frat boys and sorority girls, what do they do for society? They party all weekend, every weekend. None of them care about academics. They are elitist and snobby. They violate noise ordinances. They do not serve the community. They couldn’t possibly hold any value as individuals in our society, right? Wrong. Many people think of those who belong to the Greek system as the rich, preppy Caucasian students who get drunk and party on a day-to-day basis; these among other stereotypes have, in essence, erased even the thought of belonging to a sorority or fraternity from the minds of countless students. While in actuality, Greeks are the students who do the best in†¦show more content†¦This happened to the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep) when thirty one pledges were found in a crawl space in an off campus house. The young men were shivering in thirty degree weather, covered in raw eggs, catfish-stink bait, flour and vinegar, and they were covered in red welts. W hen things this intense happen, people get hurt and people get in trouble. Thankfully no one got hurt in the incident at FSU, but four brothers did get arrested and charged with misdemeanor hazing charges. But it doesn’t always happen where no one gets hurt. In a case involving the Chi Tau fraternity at Chico State University in California, Matthew Carrington died after being hazed too hard by the fraternity brothers. One man, Gabriel Maestretti, was charged with Matthew’s death and convicted of felony charges. At the present, forty four out of fifty states have laws against hazing, and even still there is at least one hazing related death on a college campus every year since 1970. Fraternities all over the country have been shut down for behavior involving the hazing of pledges. In the state of Florida, just recently, FSU’s Sig Ep chapter and the University of South Florida’s Lambda Chi Alpha chapter have been shut down completely and not just suspended or removed from campus, both for hazing. And while the public normally only sees hazingShow MoreRelatedBullying in the National Spotlight2365 Words   |  10 Pagesthrough so I could relate with the juniors and seniors on the team. Some may see it was an initiation process and some may see it as a type of bulling or hazing. Rainer Martens (2012) discusses that bullying is an act of aggression by someone or a group with the intent of harming a person either physically or psychologically through hitting, threatening, intimidating, teasing or taunting. He defines hazing as a form of bullying created by a group to intentionally produce mental or physical discomfort