AP English Spring Break Assignment
Danny Puhek
Mrs. Kelsch
Period 5
Theme and Diction in “Whatever the Outcome, All Eyes Are On Tiger”
Throughout this article Thomas Boswell carries the theme that no matter how well or poor Tiger Woods plays at the Masters, everyone is going to be concerned with him. The reason everyone is concerned with Tiger is he’s the biggest super-star left in sports, everyone knows him. In addition, Tiger knows how to win. He could have the worst round of his life, but his focus is still on winning the tournament, whereas his competitors’ focus is on him. That’s why everyone is concerned with Tiger. “Woods never talks about them, never watches their scores or cares what they think. Whether eight strokes behind or eight ahead, his eye is always on the prize. And so, our eyes are always on him.”
Woods early play at the Masters made people “terrified” and he “shivered” at his score. However, no matter how bad he performed everyone was still thinking about him. The reason for this is he’s a superhuman golfer, a star, and his “...star quality drips off...” on the other golfers. They are constantly thinking about him and perhaps this alters their games. I guess that’s the respect you get when you are the best golfer in the world and perhaps the best golfer of all time. One thing is for sure, Tiger never worries about his fellow competitors. Boswell uses diction in this article to demonstrate the roller coaster ride Tiger Woods undertook at the Masters, but in the end no matter how he performs all eyes will be on him.
Boswell, Thomas. “Whatever the Outcome, All Eyes Are On Tiger”. The Washington Post. Saturday, April 12, 2003, pages D1 and D11.
Theme and Syntax in “It Doesn’t Take a Wizard to See the Difference”
Theme and syntax are used in this article to demonstrate how Michael Jordan brought hope to a Wizards’ franchise that had long been off most people’s radar. If you think Jordan’s two years playing with the Wizards was a failure, then you are dead wrong. Jordan was the only Wizards’ player to consistently put forth an effort to win while the other players played lazy basketball. However, Jordan brought recognition to a franchise and city that hadn’t had any for nearly 20 years. It isn’t Jordan’s fault the Wizards were bad, it was the owner’s fault for consistently drafting troublesome players and trading away the good player the team did have. Obviously, hope is a major theme in this article because now the Wizards have recognition throughout the country and probably some parts of the world. Before Jordan came to Washington, the Wizards had no scouts; now it has scouts in all parts of the world. “The franchise had no presence when it came to searching for players in Europe and Asia, but does now.” Jordan brought a ray of hope to the Wizards that can either be destroyed or harnessed.
Wilbon writes in an active voice style of syntax. He speaks his mind and there isn’t any doubt about how he feel...
