Final Proposal

Final Proposal

Bibliography

11)      Teitelbaum, Stanley H. Sports Heroes, Fallen Idols. Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2005. Print.

·         Working extensively with professional athletes, Teitelbaum asks why do these sports heroes who seem to have it all also seem, increasingly, to have a superhuman proclivity for self-destruction

·         This book looks into the circumstances behind so many star athletes’ precipitous fall from grace.

·         Through this book I will be able to look into the mind and see firsthand experiences of what leads many “heroes” to fall from grace.

   2)      Teitelbaum, Stanley H. Athletes Who Indulge Their Dark Side: Sex, Drugs, and Cover-ups. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010. Print.

·         This book takes a serious look at why professional athletes--individuals whom society has put on a pedestal--lapse into decadent or criminal behaviors.

·         Very similar to my first source, this book will strongly help me figure out why athletes or “heroes” fall from grace.

   3)      Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth

·         Using Jimmy Corrigan, I will be able to relate my paper about heroes fall from grace back to what we talked about in class.

·         Jimmy looked at Superman as a hero throughout the book even after sleeping with his mom, and eventually Superman jumps off a building and kills himself as Jimmy watches.

Argument

Too many times do you turn on the TV and hear another story about how someone famous turned to drugs, alcohol, or gambling. What hurts the most is that many people consider some of these famous people their heroes. A main group that can easily be considered heroes are professional athletes. So I have a main idea about looking into the effect of heroes’ downfalls on society. I can use Jimmy Corrigan and talk about Jimmy’s life and relationship with Superman which would relate my paper back to the class. I hope to relate Superman to heroes in our world, especially in professional sports. Many people in our society at one point in their lives have looked at professional athletes as heroes, and when you hear about their downfalls it has an impact on your life.

Once I relate Jimmy Corrigan to my argument, I will study the athlete’s and Superman’s fall from grace. Looking closer at the athletes I can study how their usage of drugs, alcohol, gambling and many other things eventually lead to their fall from grace. It is this fall from grace that I will then analyze and see the effect on society. The effect on society will be where I can once again relate my paper back to Jimmy Corrigan. I will be using both my sources and first hand experiences. My sources give first hand experiences and interviews with athletes who have once fell from grace. And my first hand experiences give accounts of how heroes’ falls can truly affect society (myself and my friends). Through my lifetime many athletes have destroyed their reputations in various ways and some I even looked at as my heroes, so this paper involves my interests and will be enjoyable to write.

Some specific arguments I could use are…

1.      What effect does our heroes fall from grace have on society and Jimmy Corrigan?

2.      What causes a hero to start using drug, alcohol, ect,?

3.      Can heroes return to grace after destroying their social image?

4.      Relate the first 3 arguments together and talk about all 3 in my paper.

Counterargument

I am sure that someone could argue that society does not look at athletes as heroes as much as someone closer in their lives such as a parent. Or that the majority of athletes do not turn to a life of drugs so it does not have an impact on society.