Thesis: Both “Ex-Basketball Player” and “Miss Rosie” portray that fame and beauty do not
last. However, while Updike’s poem shifts from an admiring to a despairing tone, Clifton’s
poem presents a sad and respectful tone throughout.
Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence: Both an “Ex-Basketball Player” and “Miss Rosie” portray people who have
fallen from fame. In Updike’s poem, Flick is a former basketball star who now works at a gas
station.
QUOTE: “The ball loved Flick.”
QUOTE: He now dribbles an “inner-tube.”
TRANSITION: Similarly, in Clifton’s poem, Miss Rosie is a former beauty queen who now sits
on park benches, perhaps homeless.
QUOTE:
QUOTE:
Paragraph 2
TRANSITION: Even though both poems portray tragic lives, they differ in poetic devices and
tone.
TOPIC SENTENCE: Updike uses metaphor in “Ex-Basketball Player” to create, at first an
admiring, and then a sad tone.
QUOTE:
QUOTE:
TRANSITION: In contrast, the similes in “Miss Rosie” present create a sad tone, which shifts
to respect at the end of the poem.
QUOTE:
QUOTE:
Thesis: Both “Ex-Basketball Player” and “Miss Rosie” portray that fame and beauty do not
last. However, while Updike’s poem shifts from an admiring to a despairing tone, Clifton’s
poem presents a sad and respectful tone throughout.
Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence: Both an “Ex-Basketball Player” and “Miss Rosie” portray people who have
fallen from fame. In Updike’s poem, Flick is a former basketball star who now works at a gas
station.
QUOTE: “The ball loved Flick.”
QUOTE: He now dribbles an “inner-tube.”
TRANSITION: Similarly, in Clifton’s poem, Miss Rosie is a former beauty queen who now sits
on park benches, perhaps homeless.
QUOTE:
QUOTE:
Paragraph 2
TRANSITION: Even though both poems portray tragic lives, they differ in poetic devices and
tone.
TOPIC SENTENCE: Updike uses metaphor in “Ex-Basketball Player” to create, at first an
admiring, and then a sad tone.
QUOTE:
QUOTE:
TRANSITION: In contrast, the similes in “Miss Rosie” present create a sad tone, which shifts
to respect at the end of the poem.
QUOTE:
QUOTE: