Rhetorical Precis & Summary: "Schooled- The Price of College Sports"
Rhetorical Precis:
In Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, and Jonathan Pailey's documentary, "Schooled- The Price of College Sports" the directors convince the viewers that college athletes are being unfairly treated by the NCAA and are just generally exploited in several ways. A main topic that is being conveyed throughout the documentary is that college athletes should be receiving at least some compensation for everything they do to earn their colleges the billions of dollars they are making. In addition, the directors are also trying to persuade viewers that athletes are not getting the college education that they need for later purposes in life. The directors use many strategies throughout the film that influence viewers to feel the same way. To begin with, the directors use actual stories of people that have been wronged by mostly the NCAA but also other organizations as well. Another thing they do to add on to that is use both primary and secondary sources to show that it has been a developing issue over time.There was one student athlete that played basketball in the NCAA, was extremely talented, and probably one of the best players in the league at the time. Without his consent or knowledge of even being in the video game, he was put into one and the organizations that did this made huge amounts of money off of it. So, this specific athlete was basically gypped from a huge opportunity to make large amounts of money off of this game. A football player got seriously and almost fatally injured during one of his games and the college gave him no compensation for his medical bills or anything like that and said it was his responsibility not theirs. Directors of this film also displayed many interviews from people that opposed the NCAA or previous employees of the NCAA that disagree with their actions. This strategy added on to the fact that the directors were trying to advise viewers to sway their opinions towards those who think the NCAA is doing unjust things. A huge topic that the documentary enforced was that athletes weren't getting the right education. To do so, they had to bring up some of the opposing views to in turn prove their point. In an attempt to defend themselves the NCAA would use the "student-athlete" argument. Basically colleges say that athletes should be mainly focusing on school before sports. Enforcing their point, the creators argue that it is so unbelievably difficult to put school before sports when those sports are interfering with these athletes' education.
Adrian Foster (athlete unsatisfied
by NCAA's actions)
In Ross Finkel, Trevor Martin, and Jonathan Pailey's documentary, "Schooled- The Price of College Sports" the directors convince the viewers that college athletes are being unfairly treated by the NCAA and are just generally exploited in several ways. A main topic that is being conveyed throughout the documentary is that college athletes should be receiving at least some compensation for everything they do to earn their colleges the billions of dollars they are making. In addition, the directors are also trying to persuade viewers that athletes are not getting the college education that they need for later purposes in life. The directors use many strategies throughout the film that influence viewers to feel the same way. To begin with, the directors use actual stories of people that have been wronged by mostly the NCAA but also other organizations as well. Another thing they do to add on to that is use both primary and secondary sources to show that it has been a developing issue over time.There was one student athlete that played basketball in the NCAA, was extremely talented, and probably one of the best players in the league at the time. Without his consent or knowledge of even being in the video game, he was put into one and the organizations that did this made huge amounts of money off of it. So, this specific athlete was basically gypped from a huge opportunity to make large amounts of money off of this game. A football player got seriously and almost fatally injured during one of his games and the college gave him no compensation for his medical bills or anything like that and said it was his responsibility not theirs. Directors of this film also displayed many interviews from people that opposed the NCAA or previous employees of the NCAA that disagree with their actions. This strategy added on to the fact that the directors were trying to advise viewers to sway their opinions towards those who think the NCAA is doing unjust things. A huge topic that the documentary enforced was that athletes weren't getting the right education. To do so, they had to bring up some of the opposing views to in turn prove their point. In an attempt to defend themselves the NCAA would use the "student-athlete" argument. Basically colleges say that athletes should be mainly focusing on school before sports. Enforcing their point, the creators argue that it is so unbelievably difficult to put school before sports when those sports are interfering with these athletes' education. by NCAA's actions)
In all, the creators of this documentary are trying to persuade viewers that student-athletes are being unfairly treated by the NCAA on top of other organizations as well, and that the NCAA is advocating for the money and themselves over the athletes. Another main thing the directors are trying to convince viewers is that institutions have way too much power. Throughout the documentary, the directors seem to have a specific audience they are trying to convey their message to. Mainly the targeted audience is people who may be considering participating in a college sport, victims of the mistreatment of the NCAA, and also NCAA officials or previous employees. Furthermore, they are directing it to all of society because it not just the NCAA or the college athlete's problem, it is everyone's. This is because it is a problem that effects all people/all of society. From my point of view, I mostly agree with the argument/main idea of this documentary. I do think that many athletes are being mistreated and that it is really not fair to them. I think it is very unjust and that it is a huge problem that our society as a whole needs to work together on fixing.
Summary:
As stated before, the general argument that is being made throughout the course of the documentary is that college athletes are being greatly mistreated by the NCAA. A person interviewed by the directors during the film states, "They all knew, and they all know what they did wrong, it is the adults that are failing the students. A mass murderer has more rights than a football player in the NCAA system." In all, this quote accurately describes the main argument of the film. To sum it up, officials knew what they were doing was unjust and that they should have been the ones punished instead of the athletes as they still continued to do nothing about it. The NCAA wins every trial and they have all the power to shame and accuse athletes of terrible things. "Student-athletes" have no rights at all and are basically controlled by the NCAA and other organizations and it is very unfair to them. Essentially, everyone has a right except for the player. Throughout the documentary, "Schooled- The Price of College Sports", the directors are advocating for the athletes over the organizations in a persuasive, but fair manner to the opposing side. By and large, the main argument made by the directors is that college athletes are very unfairly treated by the NCAA and should receive the treatment that they deserve.
Summary:
As stated before, the general argument that is being made throughout the course of the documentary is that college athletes are being greatly mistreated by the NCAA. A person interviewed by the directors during the film states, "They all knew, and they all know what they did wrong, it is the adults that are failing the students. A mass murderer has more rights than a football player in the NCAA system." In all, this quote accurately describes the main argument of the film. To sum it up, officials knew what they were doing was unjust and that they should have been the ones punished instead of the athletes as they still continued to do nothing about it. The NCAA wins every trial and they have all the power to shame and accuse athletes of terrible things. "Student-athletes" have no rights at all and are basically controlled by the NCAA and other organizations and it is very unfair to them. Essentially, everyone has a right except for the player. Throughout the documentary, "Schooled- The Price of College Sports", the directors are advocating for the athletes over the organizations in a persuasive, but fair manner to the opposing side. By and large, the main argument made by the directors is that college athletes are very unfairly treated by the NCAA and should receive the treatment that they deserve.
