Discuss any interesting or confusing aspects of the novel with your classmates.
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This book I believe puts things into perspective through the eyes of basketball players that also relate to life. The overall message or theme that I gathered from Outside Shot is, even when you work hard, sometimes your best isn't enough and this theme is throughout the whole book. The Author also does a great job at describing the games, he creates really detailed imagery for each event in the book. One of the ways he does this is when he's describing the atmosphere of games and practice you can actually feel like you're there in the stands or sitting in the gym during a practice. The diction that is used helps the reader to be able to understand the way that the characters are feeling when certain events occur. One that sticks out most to me is when Dakotah is being recruited by former University of Kentucky basketball coach, Gillispe, the Author uses interior monologue to help the reader understand how Dakotah was feeling when he was put up on a pedestal and then he soon disappoints everyone and is "bullied" by everyone around him and by mostly people he doesn't know.
ReplyDeleteI thought this book was interesting because unlike most books it wasn't a Cinderella story for the Scott County Cardinals. They worked their butts off all season to become state champs and fell short of their goal. Losing in the semi-finals of the state championship, the Cardinals were devastated. Most stories tell how a team from no where becomes a basketball icon with an undefeated season and would win the state championship. But this book is different. It shows how the Cardinals had their wins and losses and was just like any other team. It gives a real perspective of how life works. People go through ups and downs to work towards their goals but fall short. I agree with Hannah in the sense of how the author describes practices and games. He describes it in a way where you feel like you are sitting in the stands watching it. Being a basketball player, my favorite part in the book is about Ge'Lawn's injury. Every athlete goes through the struggle of an injury at some point in their life. Sports play a toll on an athletes body and make it hard to play through it. But like me, Ge'Lawn loves the game and doesn't want to sit out because of his injury so he just plays through it. This shows the reader how he persevered and what kind of man he is for not wanting to give up on his team, coach and himself. Even though his dad was hard on Ge'Lawn and the coaches, Ge'Lawn wasn't like his father and just wanted to be on the court with his teammates.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this book especially because of the way the author used basketball to teach different lessons of life. You learn in the end of the book when the Cardinals don't win the state championship that not all stories are a happy ending, but important things can still be learned through the boys experiences. I agree with Shania that this book is not like many others. It isn't a cinderella story where everything works out the way they wanted it to. However, even though the team has lost, they learned a lot throughout the season that they can apply to the rest of their lives. For example, multiple times during the book, Scott County was losing in their games. Just like in life, you win some and you lose some, but you should never give up. The boys didn't give up and kept fighting to try to win their school another state championship. My favorite part of the book is how the author didn't just describe the boys record and all the basketball aspects of the season. In addition to all the basketball, the author took time to write about the boys lives outside of basketball, which was very interesting to me. I thought it was good that the author described where the boys came from and events that led them to where they are now in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this book this summer. The author did an amazing job at describing the basketball games in way that made you feel like you were right there and that really stuck out to me because as a basketball manager, I can relate to that intense game and the feelings you have when the score keeps going back and forth, it keeps you on your toes. As well as Conner, I also thought was really neat and interesting how the author talked about the boys' personal life and how it led them to where they are today. I think Shania put the book's message in a very clever way with saying it's not a Cinderella story, because this book isn't a Cinderella story as one could say. The book doesn't end happily for the Scott County Cardinals, yes they made it to Rupp which accomplished one of their goals but they didn't win the state championship. The boys unfortunately lost in the semifinals. However, the Cardinals learn valuable lessons in basketball and life.
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