Q1. We love to tell stories about the amazing feats of our athletes, but we are also fascinated by them as people. Aristotle discusses the need for a person to be complete. Another famous philosopher Charles Barkley (yes, I am kidding) once famously asserted that he should not have the responsibility of being a role model. Do we expect too much from athletes? How does our understanding of “off the field” life affect our view of athletic heroes on the field? As Joanna Weiss asserts, does hero worshopblind us?

Q2. The research paper is due by Sunday week 8 at 11:59 PM (ET).

This term, we have seen how sports stories can connect to historical moments and sociological concepts. Greek philosophical ideas help us understand the idea of the hero. The history of civil rights in the U.S. helps us understand the film 42. Gender issues surface in Dare to Dream. There is always a context for our stories. Sometimes it is spelled out in the story, and sometimes there are aspects that are not explicitly considered. For this assignment, you will be exploring an idea that reaches a sports story beyond the bounds of the details of the story. For example, the story of Cubs fan Steve Bartman says a great deal about fandom, about how fans affect how stories are told and remembered. A research paper placing that story in the context of the psychology of sports fans could have as a thesis something like: The hysteria found in the story of SteveBartman, the man who became the hated scapegoat for the loss by theChicagoCubs' loss in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, can be explained through the psychology of sports team identification

A League of Their Own is a film that uses sports to reveal how women's societal roles were changing, in great part due to World War II. A paper using this context as the basis for the research paper would have a thesis something like: A League of Their Own is much more than a movie about the first women's professional baseball team; it also tells the story of the changing roles of women in US society during World War II.

For this assignment, you will need to select a work (either literature or a full length film) that is a sports story we will not be covering in class. Regardless of how you put the story in a social or historical context, you want to develop your own clear idea (thesis) and support it in a thorough essay. Secondary research is expected ( at least three reliable, credible, college-level sources documented correctly according to MLA format). The essay should be 3-5 pages, minimum. MLA must be used to format the essay and for documenting your sources. Remember the golden rule: "If you use a source (quote, paraphrase, or summarize), you must cite it in your essay and then provide the full citation in a Works Cited page." Remember that MLA has changed its rules for documentation. You are responsible for the most current format as explained in the PowerPoint slides (Found in Syllabus and Course Info under Plagiarism) and on the Purdue OWL website. Link provided: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/1/ If you use formatting other than the current MLA format, deductions will result.

I recommend that you take advantage of the extensive databases our library offers. The library tab is available through jwulink. I also recommend that you utilize the expertise of Kellie Nappa, who is the writing specialist for the COE.

I have also attached the rubric for this assignment