Sports Deviance

I'm going to talk about one sport deviant that changed the game of professional football forever. This isn't the normal "deviance" you would expect someone to write about. When people think of a deviant, they thing about someone who does bad things and breaks tons of rules. Not in this case. This article was about a man who took the flashy game of professional football and showed how humble he was and he much integrity he beheld. This article is about Barry Sanders, the 5'7" 200 pound running back who never showed off, never chased records, and was far smaller than most running backs seen in that day in age. Opposition said Sanders never took a big hit because he always made his opponents play of balance and out of their comfort zone by being shifty and keeping a level head. No one could talk trash to Sanders because nothing got to him and he was unbelievably kind. Fans couldn't believe it. Sanders would run 20, 30, 50 yards for a score and wouldn't celebrate. He would simply hand the ball back to the ref and walk back to the sideline. He came from humble beginnings and only received one scholarship offer from Oklahoma State University where he won the Heisman Trophy, which now sits on his father's shelf behind his father's beloved OU Sooners helmet. The year he retired from the NFL, before the 1999 season, he was in his prime and was just over a thousand yards from breaking Walter Peyton's rushing record of 16,172 career rushing yards, which would have been easily obtainable for Sanders if he would have played that last season. This fact did not bother him, and he had no desire to go for that record. The one player that he played behind in his football career, Thurman Thomas, said that Barry Sanders was the greatest running back to step foot on the field in a duel-interview, in which Barry replied, "Thank you Thurman, but that statement is not correct."

Andre Gide

I think this quote is saying that people can kill each other, without actually killing them. People are evil and will kill each other financially and other more discreet and cynical ways. Maybe, almost slowly killing them physically by destroying by other methods until the no longer have the will to live. Then, you can not get charged with murder and you still make gains of some sort. People will lie, steal, and do many other things to get ahead and killing them some way is definitely not out of the question. Big businesses slowly choking the life out of little businesses and their owners.   

Savage Self

I think that people are naturally born good natured and without hate. But I think that people, if they can not control it, will turn to savages. This is just a natural part of being human. We want to be top of the food chain and we want all the power we can get. This is what turns us savage. Nothing ever seems to be good enough, and the ones who settle for "good enough" usually do not accomplish what people who strive for better will. Our savage side is a side of strength and the will to compete and survive. Civilized us would never stand a chance against this side of people. Even though the world seems a lot more civilized than it was 1,000 years ago, we are more savage in different ways. War and conquest, money raking, talking behind each others back, and etc. People will do anything to get to the top, the only difference today is that we conceal it better and have different methods of doing it besides brutally killing each other.

Do We Control Society or Does Society Control Us?

Society is nothing without people, but people are still people without society. We as a human race created society to fit the needs of us. Yes, some societies are different, but that is because people made them that way. Society can be whatever people make of it. Some people may go against their society, but that doesn't mean it controls them, that just means that they are not part of the majority. Society can change if enough people are behind that change, because we are the ones who decides what our society is like and what we want to happen.

The Lottery

Discussion Questions:

1. Were you surprised by the ending of the story? If not, at what point did you know what was going to happen?

-Yes I was surprised

How does Jackson start to foreshadow the ending in paragraphs 2 and 3? Conversely, how does Jackson lull us into thinking that this is just an ordinary story with an ordinary town?
-Tessie started freaking out, but he makes it sound like everyone is in good spirits talking to one another

2. Where does the story take place? In what way does the setting affect the story? Does it make you more or less likely to anticipate the ending?-A small village

-Makes it seem simple-minded a traditional
-Less likely

3. In what ways are the characters differentiated from one another? Looking back at the story, can you see why Tessie Hutchinson is singled out as the "winner"? '

-Some people are for it and some are against it

-Yes, she had a black dot on her paper

4. What are some examples of irony in this story? For example, why might the title, "The Lottery," or the opening description in paragraph one, be considered ironic?

-Winning means that you die

5. Jackson gives interesting names to a number of her characters. Explain the possible allusions, irony or symbolism of some

of these:

 Delacroix - means cross in French, corrupt because everyone says it wrong

 Graves - death

 Summers - occurs during summertime

 Bentham - fear

 Hutchinson - Tessie protested the drawing

 Warner - there were warnings of change

 
Martin - symbolizes change

7. Take a close look at Jackson's description of the black wooden box (paragraph 5) and of the black spot on the fatal slip of

paper. What do these objects suggest to you? Why is the black box described as "battered"? Are there any other symbols in the story?
-These are traditional symbols in the village and have been used for many years, black is the color of death

8. What do you understand to be the writer's own attitude toward the lottery and the stoning? Exactly what in the story makes her attitude clear to us?
-She doesn't think that it's right, there was talk of people ending the lottery

9. This story satirizes a number of social issues, including the reluctance of people to reject outdated traditions, ideas, rules, laws, and practices. What kinds of traditions, practices, laws, etc. might "The Lottery" represent?

-Laws that are outdated but people still do not change them

10. This story was published in 1948, just after World War II. What other cultural or historical events, attitudes, institutions, or rituals might Jackson be satirizing in this story?

-POW camps and the Holocaust

People enjoy violence and tradition. For example, the NFL draws millions of fans all around the world because people enjoy watching huge men crash into each other at very fast speeds. They will pay hundreds of dollars for tickets and TV channels to view these events. There has also been a lot of rule changes to make the game safer and less hectic, this changes up tradition and people are not very happy about that. This story symbolizes the violence and traditions that run this world and some of the people that are working to change it. Just like those towns that are giving up the "Lottery". Those people symbolize the youth today, trying to take out the violence and tradition of things on this Earth. But it will never change; some people will never give up traditions, so it seems as if their acts are worthless. I still believe in tradition, which is a thing that a younger person like me would catch a lot of crap for if I were to ever voice that publicly to other people my age. Just like when Mr. Warner got mad at the other towns for getting rid of the Lottery. Back in the day this book was written, that is how things were. People with tradition still ruled and looked down upon those who were trying to change it, but it seems as if now, in today's society, people look down on you if you try and keep tradition.

SND Questions

1. Obama appointed AG
2. Delayed their cabinet time
3. She didn't support Trump's act on immigration and spoke out against them. The said she was fired for purely political reasons.
4. She doesn't think that it is lawful for the Executive Order to create this hold on immigration

Barnga

1. Frustrating
2. That I was going to take house
3. When Cody tried telling me Clubs topped Spades and Barker disagreed
4. Told Cody to do something vulgar
5. Made me even angrier
6. Yes, many cultures disagree because of lack of communication
7. I think it would help greatly
8. We need to be more understanding