Day 14: One Shot At Forever (up to 64)

Pre-number --> For this book, your essay will be of your own design. You will craft a question and answer it in an essay of no more than five pages.

1. America in late 60s and early 70s
2. How is nonfiction storytelling similar and/or different fiction? (focus on basic elements of a story: character, setting, conflict plot, theme AND exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution)

Write: Chris Ballard said, "This book isn't really about baseball; it's about the memory of an event and how those memories changed lives." Think about memories, about major events in your life. How do memories turn into myths?

Characterization (in groups w/text evidence)
1. The town
2. Lynn Sweet
3. Britton
4. Steve Shartzer
5. Bill McClard

Style
1. How would you describe Ballard's style?
2. What techniques does Ballard use to characterize people and places?
3. How does Ballard set up the conflict early on in the book? Is it effective?
4. How does Ballard use stereotype to his advantage? break from it?

Discussion
1. Looking at Ballard's early characterization of the team, what conflicts does this set up? What surprises? (p.35-41)
2. How does Ballard weave together evidence of promise and failure and what is the effect of those pieces of description?
3. Ballard includes a number of side stories about Sweet. Look at one of them and discuss the added value of the details and story.
4. How does Ballard contrast Shartzer and Sweet? Be specific. Use the text.
5. p. 52: Heneberry characterization

**What themes are present in the book so far?
**What has Ballard set-up for the second half of the book?
**Passages that standout?
**Am Dream connections?