The Last Shot (Essay Sample)

Last Name:
Instructor:
Course:
Date:
The Last Shot
Introduction
The last shot is a story by Darcy Frey. It describes the life of the inner-city blacks in the high school basketball team. Frey follows the life of four players to explore their experience in the basketball training and coaching for the All-Americans Basketball team sponsored by Nike. The company wishes to have the best of the players to form the team and get scholarships. Being from poor backgrounds, the four players struggle through the training and schooling in the Abraham Lincoln high school in Coney Island. The author easily brings out the character of the four boys, Russel, Tchaka, Stephon and Corey, to life through his interaction with them and using detailed descriptions of their appearances and life.
Russel lives in a small house with his family.
“…his family apartment is very small: a living room, kitchen, washroom…. walls of peeling paint, and two bedrooms. One is his mother\s while Russell two younger sisters share the other.”
The author uses this to describe the deep intent and determination of Russel to move out of this life. He is fully determined and in this neighborhood, he realizes that education is the only thing that can help. However to get that education, basketball is a means through which he can acquire scholarship. Although he is a student in the game he is able to quickly catch up. He is a bright student in academics and the author tells us that he has the highest GPA in the group. His determination brings out a hard-working student inspired by his poor background to succeed. He is ambitious and wants to make it through basketball to become a nurse.
Tchaka is not a new player in basketball. He is a gifted basketball player. In fact, the author tells us that he has been invited to participate in the training. He is boastful of his being above the social class of the other three boys. He does not see himself equal with the others and looks at them contemptuously. He even does not like the neighborhood, which others like Russel call home. He is not initially in the picture and when the author at last introduces us to Tchaka, he complains of "…so many low-life… Brooklyn niggers….” The author uses this character to compare with the lives of the others who are residents of Coney Island.
Stephon is depicted as a freshman in the school and in the team. From the description the author Frey gives us, he is more westernized and probably more culturally liberated than the others. He lives a complex life that is further complicated by his dressing and ornamentation
“…a stylish hair cut and a pierced ear with a huge gold stud….. Caught…. between puberty and superstardom,… walks around, sneakers untied,… his belt which seems to be dropping from his pants….”
This describes the life of the middle and upper class of the inner-city. He is also a talented basketball player and that is his motivation to join the team.
“...Dribbling alone in a corner of the basketball court, ….raised the ball in one hand …over his head… through his legs… doing it now with two balls!”
Frey describes Corey as the least talented of all but probably the most interested in basketball. Corey is creative in writing and his interest in basketball is from a realization that for him to rise above the lowly life and become a writer that he hopes to, he has to get a way up. In this neighborhood, the best way is playing basketball and obtain a scholarship. He is therefore depicted as determined and focused. Like Russel, he is ambitious and humble.
Russel is the most interesting of the four players. He is the most ambitious of them and is able to balance academics and basketball. Knowing well that his dream of becoming a nurse lies on education and the vehicle to this education is basketball, he is able to maintain a high GPA while still practicing like the rest of the players.
Frey brings out a clear relationship between the characters and the setting of the Coney Island. The island is described as a desolate neighborhood in which drugs and violence are norms. The Abraham Lincoln High School, which was once an academic hub has been characterized by school gangs and multiple student arrests, pushing academics below on the priority list. The island is represented as a stereotypical inner-city with public housing that are isolating the poor immigrants. In this neighborhood, and with the educational status, less is expected from the students. It therefore calls for personal efforts of people like Russel and Corey to achieve their dreams and move out of the desolate life.
The description given by Frey about the school shows a transition between what used to be done and what now is regarded as a priority. Academics was the priority in the school a few years ago, but now it’s not.
…From when the campers landed at the camp, they have always been told to concentrate on their education and, " go out and have fun," for basketball. But their athletic ability is checked constantly, and in many different ways.…”
This shows that although the school tries to maintain this tradition, transition is happening and the players are more likely to concentrate on basketball than on academics.
It is ironical that a school which once gave a good name to the island now no longer prioritize academics. One local basketball coach is quoted by Frey saying that “Lincoln did not make Coney Island. Coney Island is what has made Lincoln.” This is ironical because in the past, Coney Island had a name because of the school.
Frey widely uses descriptions to bring out the picture if his characters. He describes Stephon’s dressing to give us a picture of his affluence and modernity.
“…a stylish hair cut and a pierced ear with a huge gold stud….. Caught…. between puberty and superstardom,… walks around, sneakers untied,….his belt seems to be dropping from his pants….”
Through these deep descriptions, Frey has been able to bring out the characters and their attributes in relation to their setting.
Through The fire is a documentary movie that describes the life of two brothers determined to...