Essay on Foul Shouts

Words: 1086
Pages: 5

FOUL SHOTS Summary & Critical Response Draft

We do have memories to recall from our past – good and bad. From these memories brings a part of who we are in a diverse nation and a lesson that changes our lives forever. This is evident to Regelio Gomez' article entitled “Foul Shots”, that shares his memorable experience in playing basketball during his teenage years as both being his ghost and his teacher for almost 2 decades. His narration is a consequence of anyone who describes winning in the name of game or losing in the name of race. The article starts with Regelio's feeling of vigilant and regret dealing with gestures of other people, as each of these gestures let him recall the basketball incident during his senior
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With this statement he placed justice from being discriminated through where? In the basketball court. How? By beating the White boys of Winston Churchill High. Although it is an awkward solution after the “Frito Bandito” comment in the locker room, I believe this is something understandable for Rogelio to use his strengths to win (through basketball), just as his past memories of people around him forced him to use the English language, a tool that he is weak from, to make him inferior. The basketball game was an outlet for Rogelio's inferiority complex as the team believe that they will feel better after winning the game. Unfortunately, his teammates and he felt their power over the White boys initially. And eventually for Rogelio, he felt in the latter that he failed; that this is just another wasted opportunity of uniting diversity of common interests. “I think, moreover, that they felt justified, not only because our failure to respond to their insult underscored our worthlessness in their eyes.” This is a turning point of Rogelio as he realized how beating the Churchill would make them prove their belief about the Luther Burbank High team – and what would that point be? Who knows but definitely something about the “Frito Bandito” comment. And from the Mirriam-Webster disctionary, “bandito” is defined a s an outlaw especially from a Mexican descent. Knowing how they may had played the game with Churchill