Sportogrpahy

Sport in Society

"Sportography"

(See Syllabus for Due date)

Your textbook discusses how people filter sport experience through history and context.

The author also analyzes how people become socialized into sport, and the effects that sport has on

people's lives as a whole (in particular, Chapter 4). Your task is to use the ideas and insights from

the first five chapters of the text to develop an analysis of another person's individual experiences

in sport (as a participant). This might include formal sport (e.g., organized teams or competitions),

informal sport (e.g., pick-up games with others), and/or sport in a physical education context.

You will interview a classmate and prepare a "sportography" of that person. This

sportography will (1) describe the kinds of sports he/she has participated in; (2) provide an analysis

of how he/she was socialized into sport; (3) consider the effects sport participation has had on

him/her as a person; and (4) derive implications from that experience.

Your essay must go beyond description to be analytic and insightful. To cover the

information thoroughly (yet succinctly), your sportography is required to be between 3-4

pages (not including your title page), double-spaced, using 12-point font (either Times New Roman

or Arial), and 1-inch margins. NOTE: Anything beyond five pages will not be read and,

therefore, will not be graded. The title page should be AT THE END of your paper and will

NOT be counted in the 3-4 required pages.

The outline for your essay is provided below. The points available for each portion of the

essay are also shown. NOTE: Your course syllabus specifies that assignments should be uploaded

via Safe Assign. I will NOT accept any hardcopy or emailed assignments. You should include a

title page at the end of your paper.

Choosing your partner: In your groups, choose one person to interview. Everyone must interview

one person and BE interviewed by one person.

Sport in Society

Total Points: 150

I. Brief description of sport experiences [as a participant] (e.g., teams, recreation, PE) particularly as a young person (child and adolescent) - including the level of competition and the intensity of

involvement [15 points]

II. Analysis of how the person was socialized into sport—what the influences brought them to: A) become involved B) stay involved C) quit or change involvement (if they have) [30 points]

III. Consideration of the effects that involvement in sport has had on your subject as a person (e.g., their activities, interests, opinions, aspirations, self-concept) in terms of:

A) positive aspects of sport's effects, including an analysis of why those effects occurred for your subject

B) negative aspects of sport's effects, including an analysis of why those effects occurred.

Hint: This section is not a story about the good and bad experiences your subject has had.

To earn the full points for this section, you must provide an analysis of the effects that sport

has had on your subject as a whole person (e.g., relationships, education, social life, etc.)

and a consideration of the nature of experiences that caused those effects - both good and

bad. [45 points]

IV. Implications you derive from your subject's experiences for: A) improving the ways we get people - particularly young people (children and adolescents) - to

participate in sport

B) improving the retention of sport participants C) enhancing the positive impacts of sport D) reducing the negative impacts of sport

Hint: The implications you derive from your subject's experiences must be logically presented so

that it is clear how those ideas derive from their experiences. It is not suitable to repeat old

maxims or what was said in lecture or the text (unless you can show that those derived from their

experience). What we are looking for here is your own personal analysis - that is, what

someone’s actual experience can teach us. [45 points]

V. Spelling/grammar & style [15 pts]