22 November 2016

Today students further developed topics for synthesis essays, building out specific pieces of textual evidence that could support the examination of specific strands that come out of our examination of what American football reveals about American culture and American values. Some topics students are exploring include:

• hypermasculinity
• misogyny
• a protracted "win-lose" mentality
• exaggerated patriotism/false patriotism
• the NFL and nationalism
• the illusion of impenetrability or invulnerability
• "action movie ignorance" and the unseen impact of the game
• a tendency to ignore frightening or ugly realities
• rites of passage
• committing to an identity at an early age
• the relationship between sports and education
• the culture of commodification
• mental health as a stigma
• sport as a means to build community
• sport as a way to transcend economic class
• racism
• loss of identity
• risk-taking or deep play
• CTE

Some resources that may be useful going forward include:

• Frontline's "League of Denial"
• Andrew Sullivan's essay "The He Hormone"
• PBS Newshour's "Football's Grip on America is a Double-Edged Sword"

During our next two class sessions, students will be drafting synthesis essays to support their thinking about the issues they have become invested in.