Argument Evaluation
Robert Lipsyte is justified by stating that the Jock Culture is a distortion of sports in his “Jocks vs. Pukes” essay. Throughout the text, the author tries to portray the Jock culture as a danger to common good due to its application of competitive sports rules to every aspect of life. From the story, the reader can determine the transition of the life of a child in the sports that makes him classified as either a Jock or Puke. In the story, Robert has maintained the focus on the thesis by explaining how different stages of child development affect the adoption of Jock Culture. Although supports were a way of promoting collaboration, teamwork, and leadership, currently the majority of the sportsmen use it as a channel for bullying and development of the attitude of winning at all cost. Hence, Robert throughout the text aims to outline the dangers of Jock Culture more so among the growing children (Lipsyte).
“Arm Wrestling with My Father” by Brad Manning aims at showing the relationship between the son and father, physically and emotionally from childhood, and how it is likely to change as they grow older. The author spends the majority of the time to contrast the academic personality of the son and the non-verbal personality of the father. The description of Manning as a young man and his life-altering arm wrestling match with the father depicts the evolution of love as a person grows. From the story, I agree that Manning has experience in depicting father-son competition by showing the struggles and thoughts during their embraces and matches. In both stories, the authors aim to show the evolution of behaviors as a person grows as well as the gradual changes. Even though there is a correlation between these two stories, each author uses unique conditions and ways of describing their points in the story. From my analysis of these stories, it is evident that Robert’s “Jocks vs. Pukes” piece vividly describes behavioral evolution compared to Manning’s “Arm Wrestling with My Father.”
Robert Lipsyte gives a detailed description to the audience why jock culture is significant in the USA. He provides a detailed description of the masculinity and power that surrounds sports as well as how the myths that pertain to the games are inseparable from our daily lives. It also explains the inclusion of such values in early stages of life and the applicability in adulthood. The writer shows that despite the entertaining aspect of sports, its culture has instilled violent behavior and aggressiveness in children that reappears as they grow (Jacobson). One of the stereotypes present in Lipsyte work is the expectation of boys to be jocks while the others seen as pukes. In the text, the author shows that people perceive jocks as goal-oriented, masculine, and decisive while pukes care less about winning and are weak. Despite the fact that values learned in Jocks Culture during childhood is significant and beneficial in the labor market, Robert Lipsyte disapproves such stereotypes by citing examples of pukes that are competitive in the market such as the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg among other coaches that have changed their values and beliefs like Bill Stowe (Lipsyte). Therefore, it is evident that Lipsyte gives a vivid description of how training the athletes the code of Jock Culture impacts on their future behaviors. Such influence is evident in the children that affect the coming generation with "jock" and "puke" ideals.
In E.B. White, “Once More to the Lake,” the author describes his experiences at the lake and how it shaped his future life. The lake is the setting that defines both the present and past of the writer. It reflects the White’s childhood memories. Currently, he is the one taking his son to the same lake his father took him. In the entire text, White describes the dual existence he experienced while having time with his son on the lake. It is evident in the circumstances where White finds it difficult to distinguish his experiences from his son. In the text, there are instances where the author gets lost to the setting that results into an identity crisis. Compared to Robert Lipsyte “Jocks vs. Pukes,” the movement of White’s story is non-linear since the author weans in and out of both the current and the past due to his flow of mental processes or the stream-of-consciousness. However, Lipsyte provides a chronological review of how the Jock culture impacts on future behaviors of athletes. Throughout the text, the author focuses on his idea of differentiating between the Jocks and Pukes cultures in the form of attitudes, future objectives, capabilities, and values.
Just from the beginning of the story, Lipsyte separates people as belonging to sports and classifies them as a stoner, jock, or hippie, or you belong to the pukes. Thus, Lipsyte deals with identity issues by focusing on the setting from the start to the end of the story. Readers can never get lost since the flow is evident as the writer presents all the events linearly hence the ability to maintain the focus on the thesis. He focuses on the continuous stereotypes of the Jokes and Pukes in a context that vividly describes how these cultures affect our future careers. By using the example of Mark Zuckerberg Lipsyte was able to show that it is not only the jocks that are successful in life. Hence, “Jocks vs. Pukes” essay offers a clear description of the stereotyping surrounding the cultures in a consistent manner that enables readers to stay abreast to the message conveyed by the author.
Brian Doyle, “A Note on Mascots” discusses how the mascots are a representation of our daily lives. The author further explains how individuals choose animals as a representation of a sport and the strengths exhibited by the teams. In his analysis, Doyle only talks about the various animals for the high school mascot. Compared to “Jocks vs. Pukes” essay that creates awareness on the Jock culture, Brian Doyle’s “A Note on Mascots” fails to make the audience understand the picture he sees when observing mascots. He does not show the image representation of the mascots as a sport. The author fails to show the strength and energy from the team which makes it difficult to understand the primary thesis of the story. However, Lipsyte has outlined the contribution of Jock Culture to the U.S society categorically. Readers can determine the competition and division it creates among men in two major categories, the Jocks and Pukes. In the entire article, the author focuses on the individuals that take this Jocks culture seriously to the extent of embracing all of its teachings despite some being negative. The phrase “no wonder there are so many abusive athletes, emotionally stunted ex-athletes and resentful out-lookers” is significant in the current main challenges in Jock culture (Lipsyte). Lipsyte shows the connection between the actions of people and their relation to the Jock culture.
From the above analysis, it’s very clear that Lipsyte has been consistent in discussing the thesis of his essay to “Jocks vs. Pukes.” It shows the trends that are evident in America. Throughout the text, he outlines the Jock culture and its effect on the current, past, and future lives of the athletes.