Analysis Of As I Lay Dying

Last Name 1

First and Last Name

Professor

Class

November 17, 2019

Analysis of As I lay Dying

Since its publication in 2010, Why athletes aren't role models by Raina Kelley suggests

that adults are not inspired by athletes since they do not articulate these players being their role

models or mentors. The article suggests that these athletes are often praised due to their uncanny

ability to perform while playing a particular game. As such, this praise and idolization gets to their

heads causing them to develop the spoilt –athlete syndrome. Spoiled –athlete syndrome starts off

early in the sports career of an athlete. At this point, the athlete is pampered by his coaches, family,

peers, teammates and partners and as such causes the individual to develop an ego. As the

individual grows older, he or she becomes spoiled and is never accountable for his or her actions

away from the sport since he or she is used to people ignoring his or her bad behavior.

Consequently, athletes are not loved because of their behavior, or nationality but because they

keep winning. The love of a fan is only conditional and is directed towards the winning nature of

the athlete. This paper will therefore be an evaluation of an extended argument of the article.

Rains Kelly, the author of this article is the managing editor of the ESPN Magazine’s

department labelled Undefeated. Kelly was initially promoted to the position of the deputy editor

in 2015 for the ESPN Magazine. Her major role was the incorporation of both the digital and print

editorial contents. Kelly first joined ESPN in the year 2011. During this period, she published and

covered news pertaining to the National Football League tennis, the ESPN Enterprise Unit and the

Olympics. Prior to joining ESPN, Kelley worked as a writer and wrote about American culture,

Last Name 2

more so the racial divide, gender issues and political issues of the United States and worked for

Newsweek magazine. While at News week, Kelley won several awards such as the Newsweek

Club of NY Front Page Winner for 2010. Kelley graduated from Yale University with a degree in

theatre arts in 1992.

After reading this article, Kelly’s thesis is demonstrated by the notion that although

athletes suffer from spoilt athlete syndrome and are unable to be role models, they are still loved

by their fans as long as they perform . Kelly’s claim is explicit since it leaves the reader with no

room to argue against the major point in the article by leaving no room for uncertainty. It is worth

noting, that the article is directed towards sportswriters and the fans of athletes since the author

keeps referring to them in her article. For instance, she argues that if sportswriters would want to

reveal the truth to their readers, then they would stop having any childlike expectations they might

have had on the athletes and thereby stop nagging them. Kelley also advises sports writers to relay

the actual truth of the athletes lives in their writing so that the readers who are the athlete’s fans

stop having any major expectations. She also advises the fan to stop writing off all the wrongs of

the athlete depending on his or her good performance in the field (Kelley). Additionally, Kelly

chastises sports journalists by urging them to demonstrate their role in the creation of the reputation

of the athlete. On the ideal audience of the article is the sports journalists and writers.

Kelley uses a reprimanding and advisory tone since she notes some of the mistakes done

by sports journalists in relaying what they think and the actual facts of what actually happens to

the perception fans have of an athlete who has a bad reputation but keeps performing well. The

author’s tone does not change since she mainly uses the same tone in many of her articles. Her

tone depicts a factual stance that allows the reader to see reason with most of the points she makes

Last Name 3

in the article. By explaining why athletes have seemingly bad behavior and the reason as to which

their fans often choose to ignore this behavior, the reader is convinced by the author’s approach.

Strategies such as rhetorical devices give the author a better chance of convincing his or

her reader. There are a few rhetorical devices used in this article. To start with, Kelly uses a

captivating opening sentence by stating that Ben Roethilisberger as well as Allen Iverson , both of

whom are athletes are creating controversial headlines again. For instance, she uses the topic

sentence; “Ben Roethlisberger is making controversial headlines again. So is Allen Iverson”

(Kelley) .The topic sentence used catches the attention of the reader by ensuring that he or she

continues reading. Likewise, Kelley demonstrates the direction to which she is going by creating

an opening paragraph that is both straightforward and interesting. Moreover, she appears to be

sincere by using the words of other researchers on the topic as evidence. Additionally, Kelley also

uses an open dialogue at the end of her article by using the word “we” when urging the sports

writers and fans to start acting as role models for their children. More so, Kelley also employs the

rhetorical devices of pathos, logos and ethos in her writing. Ethos is used by a writer to convey

that he or she is a credible and authentic writer hence the reason why the audience should also

listen to him or her. While starting her argument, Kelley remains unbiased and mentions athletes

who have had scandals in their career. She then moves on by building up on this point by providing

evidence such as the actual words of other researchers on the topic. The use of direct quotes from

speeches of other researchers conveys the credibility of the author since the reader is able to

understand that the topic written on has been highly researched on (Kirszner, 12). On the other

hand, pathos is used to invoke empathy and sympathy from the reader. Likewise, pathos is also

used in order to inspire the audience to act against something by prompting their action. In Kelley’s

article, Kelley invokes feelings of anger by using Tiger Wood’s example of how fans continue to

Last Name 4

love him despite the fact that he lives a morally rotten life. His great talent in tennis has caused

his fans to forgive him of the major atrocities he has committed in his personal life and by so doing

enabled him to get away with his actions. Logos is also depicted in this essay. The use of logos

can be accurately used in the citing of important facts and statistics on a particular subject. Logos

also incorporates supportive evidence in trying to convince the reader (Kirszner, 15). Kelley uses

examples of athletes who have had a bad reputation in convincing the reader of how their lives

seemingly relate to her major claim in the article. Unfortunately, this article does not include any

counter arguments to the major claim set out by the author. In doing so, the author does not give

the audience a chance to refute any of the ideas presented in the article. Ethical appeal has also

been used in the article since Kelly is able to convince the reader that even though the athletes

social behavior dis morally wrong, he or she can get major deals such as advertisements for major

companies. She uses the example of Tiger Woods getting a Nike endorsement deal after his scandal

as an example (Kelley). Throughout the article, Kelly incorporates the rhetorical device of pathos

by appealing to the reader’s emotions in conveying the ethical and moral wrongs created when

athletes are depicted as role models. This strategy was chosen because the reader would be able to

compare the life of an athlete and that of another person in another career. If an individual in a

different career were to commit the same atrocities as that of an athlete, he or she would not be

spared even though he or she is a high performer. Kelly then leaves the reader with the question

as why should athletes be treated any different even though they perform well?

Kelley makes a convincing case because she uses real life examples. By incorporating

examples such as those of Tiger Woods, the reader is able to relate better with the argument created

and hence agree since the athletes’ lives depicted in the article correlate to the earlier claim given

by the author.

Last Name 5

Unfortunately, the article is not framed. In doing so, Kelley’s article id depicted in form

of a blog. Moreover, there are some weaknesses depicted in the article. One of the fallacies evident

in the articled is the fact that the author generalizes his or her findings to that of all the athletes and

fans. There are athletes who have been ruined by their behavior. A good example of an athlete

whose career was put at a standstill due to his behavior is Magic Johnson. Magic Johnson retired

from playing basketball after contracting HIV. Notably, many sports companies at the time did not

hire him to represent their products since his reputation had been soiled. There are still other

examples of athletes who have had their career shortened due to their bad behavior.

In conclusion, Kelley’s work is quite convincing since it incorporates real life examples

and as such becomes more relatable towards the audience. The author’s claim that athletes often

suffer from spoiled athlete syndrome and as such are unable to become role models, they are get

the conditional love of their fans after performing. This article is quite insightful and enjoyable,

however, the author should also incorporate other opposing opinions to increase her credibility to

the reader. She concludes by suggesting that people should aim to be real models to their children

so that they can avoid their children looking up to athletes who have dysfunctional lives.

Last Name 6

Work Cited

Kelley, Raina. "Why Athletes Aren't Role Models". Newsweek, 2010,

http://www.newsweek.com/why-athletes-arent-role-models-69515. Accessed 16 May

2018.

Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology.

Macmillan, 2010.

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."