Sport in Film and Fiction[Steve Estes]

SPORT IN FILM AND FICTION
PHED 510

Dr. Steve Estes			       SUNY College at Cortland
Dep. of Physical Eduction	       Office Phone: (607)753-5702
ESTES@SNYCORVA.CORTLAND.EDU

Course Description: This course examines sport themes expressed in films, fiction, and poetry, with special emphasis on themes that can be compared with real sport experiences. These themes include, but are not limited to: heroes in American sport compared to heroes in the myths of Western Civilization; youth and aging in sport; sport in the country and the city; nationalism, racism, and sexism in sport; the individual versus the community (team) in sport; and humor and poetry.

Objectives:
The student should be able to identify recurring themes that are often evident in sport stories. The student should be able to compare and contrast experiences that actually occur in sport with the stories that have been assigned. The student should be able to express in oral and written form specific narratives that define sport experiences.

Required Reading:
Textbook/Reading Packet: ORIARD, M. (1982). Dreaming of Heroes: American Sports Fiction, 1868 - 1980. Chicago: Nelson-Hall.

Novels:
MALAMUD, B. (1952). The Natural. New York: Avon Books.
KINSELLA, W.P. (1982) Shoeless Joe. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Reading Packet:
Oriard, Michael, "On the Current Status of Sports Fiction," Irwin Shaw, "The Eighty Yard Run," Jack London, "A Piece of Steak," Jack London, "The Madness of John Harned," Ernest Hemingway, "The Capitol of the World," William Harrison, "Roller Ball Murder," "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio," A.E. Housman, "To An Athlete Dying Young," Ernest Lawrence Thayer, "Casey at the Bat."

Films:
Field of Dreams, The Natural, Rocky , Bull Durham, A League of Their Own, Rollerball.

Evaluation:
Students are required to lead a discussion of a selected film, novel, or short story. Examinations are essay, and makeup examinations are granted on a case-by-case basis; if you plan ahead we will re-schedule examinations, reports, and presentations. The term report consists of a thematic analysis of a selected film, novel, or short story. No makeups for unplanned absences. The grading scale is a curve, where your work is evaluated relative to others in the class.

Point Distribution Possible Points
Oral Analysis of selected film or fiction 10
Report on a selected story 30
Midterm 30
Final 30
Total 100
Scale: To be developed in class

Point Distribution	Possible Points
Oral Analysis of selected film or fiction	10
Report on a selected story	30
Midterm	30
Final	30
Total	100
Scale: To be developed in class

General:
This class discusses sport from the narrative perspective which includes film, fiction (novels and short stories), and poetry. This is an enjoyable activity, one which requires you to be familiar with the material when it is discussed in class. Make sure you get the reading done! Films are available at the Reserve Book Room in the library or can be rented at the local video stores. Plan ahead to get your viewing done.

Oral analysis:
This is a seminar where each student will have the opportunity to lead the discussion of a selected work. Depending on the size of the class, several students may do the same story. Use the fiction study sheet to provide the format for your discussion.

Term Report:
All students will be required to analyze one story for a term project. This will be a written report of 8 to 10 pages in length using your own analysis, your text, the fiction study sheet, movie and book reviews, and journal articles reviewing the story.

Examinations:
The midterm and the final will cover the themes of the sections discussed in class. All questions on the tests are essay, and will be given to you ahead of time. Answers must be typed.

Academic Dishonesty:
A student who employs dishonest tactics shall be subject to action ranging from reprimand to a grade of "F." Refer to the current catalog for specific information. Basically, this means don't cheat.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

CAMPBELL, J. (1972). Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

CAMPBELL, J. (1988). Myths to Live By. New York: Bantam Books.

COOVER, R. (1968). The Perfect Game. The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. New York: Random House.

GENT, P. (1975). Monday. North Dallas Forty. New York: Morrow.

HARRISON, H. (1985). Roller Ball Murder. In D. Vanderwerken and S. Wertz (Eds.). Sport Inside Out (pp.9-19). Fort Worth, Texas: TCU Press.

HEMINGWAY, E. (1987). The Capitol of the World. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

HOUSEMAN, A.E. To An Athlete Dying Young. The Collected Poems of A.E. Housman. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

JENKINS, D. (1985). Game-Face. Sport Inside Out. Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press.

KINSELLA, W.P. (1982) Shoeless Joe. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

LARDNER, R. (1916). A New Busher Breaks In. You Know Me Al. New York: Scribners.

LONDON, J.(1905). The Game. New York: Grosset & Dunlap.

__________ (1913). The Abysmal Brute. New York: Century.

__________ (1958a). A Piece of Steak. In P. Schweb and H. Warren Wind (Eds). Great Stories From The World of Sport. New York: Simon & Schuster.

__________ (1958b). The Madness of John Harned. In P. Schweb and H. Warren Wind (Eds). Great Stories From The World of Sport. New York: Simon & Schuster.

MALAMUD, B. (1952) The Natural. New York: Avon.

NOVAK, M. (1988). The Joy of Sports. Lanham, Maryland: Hamilton Press.

The Natural. Tri-Star Pictures, 1984.

Personal Best. United Artists, 1980.

Rocky. MGM/UA Film, 1976.

Rollerball. United Artists, 1975.

ROBERTSON, J.O. (1980). American Myth, American Reality. New York: Hill and Wang.

SHAW, I. (1985). The Eighty Yard Run. In D. Vanderwerken and S. Wertz (Eds.). Sport Inside Out (pp.9-19). Fort Worth, Texas: TCU Press.

SPEED, E. (1985). The Coach Who Didn't Teach Civics. In D. Vanderwerken and S. Wertz (Eds.). Sport Inside Out (pp.680-84). Fort Worth, Texas: TCU Press.

THAYER, E.L. (1971). Casey at the Bat. Sports Poems. New York: Dell.

WASSERMAN, E. (1965) "The Natural": Malamud's World Ceres. Centennial Review, 4(9), 47-64.

WEINSTEIN, S. (1984). The Tournament. Arete: The Journal of Sport Literature, II(1), 131-39.

WRIGHT, J. (1962). Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio," The Branch Will Not Break. Wesleyan University Press.

REFERENCES

BERMAN, N.D. (1981). Playful Fictions and Fictional Players: Game, Sport, and Survival in Contemporary American Fiction. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press.

DODGE, T. (Ed.). (1980). A Literature of Sports. Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath and Company.

HIGGS, R.J. (1981). Laurel and Thorn: The Athlete in American Literature. Lexington: The university Press of Kentucky.

HIGGS, R.J. (1982). Sport: A Reference Guide. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

MESSENGER, C. K. (1981). Sport and the Spirit of Play in American Fiction: Hawthorne to Faulkner. New York: Columbia University Press.

Tentative Course Outline: Topics are sequential

Introduction Introduce students to the general nature of the course. Give syllabus, fiction study sheet to students. Describe generally the nature of literary criticism, with an emphasis on theme, plot, and narrative. Discussion of the "archetype" as a means of comparison with experience. Describe the main themes the course will cover: heroes in America compared to heroes in the myths of Western Civilization; youth and aging in sport; sport in the country and the city; nationalism, racism, and sexism in sport; the individual versus the community (team) in sport; and humor and poetry.
The athlete-hero in Mythic and American Stories Discussion of how the American athlete-hero is derived from the mythic hero. Discussion of Vladimir Propp's study of Russian folk tales, Joseph Campbell's Hero of a Thousand Faces. Discussion of fertility gods, the phoenix, and other heroes associated with fertility. Discussion of the hero in American junvenile fiction, how this archetype developed, and examples in contemporary American sport. Oriard's morphology of the American athlete-hero. Assign for reading Kinsella's Shoeless Joe, Oriard's Chapters 1 & 2.
Exerpts from Rocky Analysis of Rocky in seminar.
Exerpts from Field of Dreams Analysis of Field of Dreams in seminar.
Analysis of Shoeless Joe in seminar. Comparison of Field of Dreams, Rocky, and Shoeless Joe with respect to the morphologies of the American athlete-hero and the mythic hero. Assign Shaw's "The Eighty Yard Run," London's "A Piece of Steak," Oriard's "Intimations of Immortality in American Sport."
Youth and Age in American Sport Introduction to the concept of sport representing immortality, mortality, birth, rebirth, and death. Discussion of Oriard's chapter, "Intimations of Immortality in American Sport." Exerpts from Bull Durham Analysis of Bull Durham in seminar. Assign Malamud's The Natural
Analysis of Shaw's "The Eighty Yard Run," London's "A Piece of Steak" in seminar Comparison of Bull Durham, Shaw's "The Eighty Yard Run," London's "A Piece of Steak" with respect to the issue of the aging athlete, what it means to leave sport in one's 30s, how sport symbolizes mortality and immortality.
Rural and Pastoral Sport Images in the City Exerpts from The Natural (film) Analysis of The Natural in seminar
Analysis of Malamud's The Natural in seminar; compare and contrast the film with the novel. Review for midterm.
Midterm Discussion of nationalism, racism, sexism Exerpts from Personal Best Assign London's "The Madness of John Harned," Hemingway's "The Capitol of the World," Weinstein's "The Tournament," Oriard's chapter "Men Without Women: Sexual Roles in American Sports Fiction."
Nationalism, Racism, and Sexism in Sport Hand back Midterms. Re-examine themes discussed on test. Examine the themes of Oriard's "Men Without Women." Discuss racism, sexism, and nationalism in sport, and then discuss in seminar and contrast with Personal Best
Discuss in seminar London's "The Madness of John Harned," Hemingway's "The Capitol of the World," Weinstein's "The Tournament." Compare and contrast with Personal Best. Assign Harrison's "Roller Ball Murder," Robertson's "The Rituals of Community."
The Individual versus the Community in Sport Discussion of the concepts of individual and community Robertson's "The Rituals of Community." Discuss in seminar Harrison's "Roller Ball Murder."
Exerpts from Rollerball Compare and contrast Harrison's "Roller Ball Murder" with Rollerball. Assign Ernest Speed, "The Coach Who Didn't Teach Civics, Robert Coover, "The Perfect Game," James Wright, "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio," A.E. Housman, "To An Athlete Dying Young," Don Johnson, "Home Game," Ernest Lawrence Thayer, "Casey at the Bat."
Humor and Poetry in Sport Analysis in seminar of Ernest Speed, "The Coach Who Didn't Teach Civics, Robert Coover, "The Perfect Game," James Wright, "Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry, Ohio," A.E. Housman, "To An Athlete Dying Young," Don Johnson, "Home Game," Ernest Lawrence Thayer, "Casey at the Bat."

Final Review
Summarize course
Collect term papers
Review for final

16. Final Examination