analyzing is “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike. Mr. Updike was born the 18th of March in 1932. He was an American novelist‚ poet‚ short story writer‚ art critic‚ and literary critic. He is one out of three authors who has won the Pulitzer Prize. He was well known for his craftsmanship‚ unique prose style‚ and prolificacy. Updike described his style as an attempt “ to give the mundane its beautiful due. His writing was influenced by frequently personal turmoil he experienced. In the poem “Ex-Basketball
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After looking at the title of the poem “Ex-Basketball Player‚” I assume it is about a former basketball player and his life now. After I read the poem‚ I find out that John Updike‚ the author‚ starts the first paragraph by describing a town. He tells about the trolley tracks and some of the stores‚ including a plaza and a garage. Then‚ the author goes on to introduce a character in the poem‚ Flick Webb‚ who helps in the garage in town. In the second paragraph‚ the author explains that Webb used to
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“Ex-Basketball Player‚” by John Updike is the poem that struck me this week. It is about a man who once had great potential but never followed through with it. Flick Webb is the focus of this poem; he was a basketball star in high school quite some time ago‚ but nowadays he merely pumps gas at a local station. The first stanza provides the readers with geographical information about the location of the gas station. “Pearl Avenue runs past the high school lot‚ bends with the trolley tracks‚
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The poem "The Ex-Basketball Player" by John Updike dramatizes the conflict between dreams and reality in the case of Flick Webb. Flick shows such promise in his teenage years‚ but he ends up in the pathetic reality of helping out at a garage and playing pinball in a luncheonette. The poem begins with the description of "Pearl Avenue" which "bends with the trolley tracks‚ and stops‚ cut off / Before it has a chance to go two blocks..." Pearl Avenue presents a ticket name connoting a clean‚ freshness
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A Reading of Updike’s “Ex-Basketball Player” The purpose of this essay is to inform the reader about a poem by John Updike‚ called “Ex-Basketball player”. The speaker in the poem talks about a man named Flick Webb and his apathetic life. He informs the reader about Flick Webb’s exceptional talent as a basketball player in high school. Towards the end of the poem the realization is that Flick Webb’s exceptional basketball talent had been berried under his reality of life. In the eyes of the
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Critical Lens Essay 12/8/10 American poet Robert Elliot Gonzales once wrote‚ “A good many family trees are shady.” What he means is that parents do not always give their children what is most necessary to achieve in life. In Ex-Basketball Player by John Updike and Death Of A Salesman by Arthur Miller the main characters lack self-esteem and cannot fulfill their dreams primarily because of their lack of familial support. More specifically‚ the protagonists‚ Flick Webb and Biff Lowman‚ suffer
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can’t let go of your past‚ you can’t move forward into the future. In the “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike‚ Flick Webb finds himself holding onto the past and not being able to move on. Flick’s disappointment in the present causes him to try and relive the glory days of life that he had in the past. To explore Flick’s disappointment in the present‚ Updike utilizes setting‚ tone‚ and irony. In the first stanza‚ Updike utilizes setting in order to explore Flick’s difficulty letting go of the
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Die with fame‚ not without. A.E. Housman can concur. The poems‚ “Ex-Basketball Player” by John Updike and “To an Athlete Dying Young” by A.E. Housman both concentrate on what occurs after an athlete’s days of glory. Most of them seek fame‚ but only a few will achieve it. Their goal is not to die within their days of glory‚ it is to live on and have their fame live for an eternity. Unfortunately‚ in today’s society athletes mainly want the monetary success that comes along fame. They quickly become
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decisions. In “Ex-Basketball Player‚” John Updike introduces a character whose surroundings emulate his success in life: Flick Webb. Flick’s momentary success did not remain later in his life. Because setting partially defines a person‚ Updike uses it‚ along with tone and irony to remind readers that success is as fickle as humans themselves. Just as an individual’s location often reflects his or her relative success‚ Flick’s success can be approximated by his current location. Updike brings his audience
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In the poem "Ex-Basketball Player" the author John Updike asserts the theme that some people spend their entire lives remembering the past instead of focusing on their present future. The character in the poem‚ a man named Flick Webb use to be a very good basketball player in high school. He seems to be caught up in what he was and not what he is now. His life is just passing by him because he is stuck in the past and not focused on what he is doing in his life now. He floats around on his job and
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