Author: edockery3

The image that I chose to analyze for this assignment is a photo of African Americans being depicted as crabs in a barrel. This is an image that resonates very well to me, and should be relatable to others as well. This image is a very real depiction of life and how some cases of success can lead to unfortunate behaviors from others. In the image you can see the jealousy and self-hate (as in within your own race), popping out of the photo. For the African-American community, this image really hits home. It tells the story of so much of our history and some of the struggles that we have today. This is the reason why African-Americans are shown as the crabs in the barrel. We are the target audience. 

When you look at the image, you can see African Americans trying to climb out of a barrel. The arms that are of crabs given to the people as well as the water that is surrounding them, helps to depict the “crabs in the barrel” message. Not only are the African Americans in this image trying to climb out of the barrel, but others in the image are pulling the ones down that are closest to the top, closest to making it out. You can even see a few people in the image just sitting in the water, motionless, almost as if to be depicted as hopeless. I see people being selfish, uncompassionate, and filled with hate.  

Unfortunately, in many cases in the African American community, people would rather see you at your lowest or stuck in your worst state than to see you prosper. It is very comparative and similar to people telling you that you cannot do something or not wanting to see you do well, simply because they can’t. In some cases, people want to see you do well, just not better than them. Some people want to see you be successful, as long as they can come along for the journey. People will say that they support you, but are never around when you need them most, only when it pertains to their needs. Lastly, sadly, people love to see you fail. Not only so that you can end up at ground zero again, along with them, but also to say, “I told you so”. As a result of many of these instances we see a lot of hate within our own people. 

Jealousy, envy, and the overall “crabs in the barrel” mentality is a root issue to many of the problems within the African American community.  

The theme from this image is to let go of all the jealousy, envy, and hatred that is within you. You should feel happy for others in their success, especially when in often times, they come from underprivileged situations. If you were to have any feelings from someone else’s success, it should be motivation. In order for people to prosper, especially in the African American community, we need to come together.

On one hand, athletes are viewed and depicted as almost superior beings. People who possess superior levels of athleticism, ability, and people who live such perfectly glamorous lifestyles. On the other hand, there is reality. The fact that athletes are just like you and I. People who are susceptible to common forms of mental health issues, depression, anxiety, etc. After learning that, yes, athletes do battle mental health, I was curious to see what are common root causes of this…

In a study done by “Frontiers in Psychology”, British athletes were examined regarding mental health. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of elite athletes who suffered from depression during their athletic career. This examination was carried out in the form of an interview. The interview started with a question about the participants “background”, which lead to questions on the three main areas of study, diagnosis, genesis, symptomatology. The diagnosis of participant one listed as, “depression, anxiety, and ADHD”. The genesis or “trigger” for this participant was listed as “bullying and mistreatment within a sport organization”. Symptomatology for this participant was listed as “aggressiveness, increased impulsivity, and isolating themselves from others.  The diagnosis for participant two was listed as, “depression”, and the “trigger” was listed as, “end of career injury”. Lastly, the symptomatology for this participant was listed as “aggressiveness, withdrawing behavior, and increased anxiety.”

My source above is only a small sample size of the research I found regarding the “triggers” of mental health issues in athletes. My final takeaway or analysis of the most common trigger for mental health issues in athletes is what I label as a “shock of reality”. A shock of reality that is basically telling the athlete that their career is over, and they just cannot play anymore. There are different scenarios for different athletes. Whether it is a career ending injury, constantly being traded, decreased level of play, etc. All leading to a decrease in confidence, which ultimately leads to depression.

Studying this topic has been very interesting to me, because of the reason I listed above. With the way that athletes are generally depicted, it is almost amazing with how frequent mental health occurs in athletes. Athletes such as Michael Phelps, NBA Legend Jerry West, Lou Williams, Kevin Love, etc. all have suffered. Then again, to contradict myself, when you look at how extreme fans and the media can be critical of professional athletes with social media, it is not that surprising. Mental health is a serious issue in sports, I hope that these athletes can find a way to win their respective battles.

My biggest concern for writing my paper consist of being repetitive. Although my topic is interesting to me, which makes the paper easier to write, a lot of my points correlate and tie into each other. I have a lot to say, but I don’t want to say a lot of the same things.

For this assignment, I have decided to write about the “Mental Battle of Professional Athletes”. This is something that not only interests me, but I can relate to as well as a former athlete. I want to dive into research of what other forms of emotions these mental battles lead to (depression, anxiety, etc.). As well as find out what is being done to overcome these obstacles.

In my proposal, I plan to write my paper on “The Mental Battle of Professional Athletes”. Most stories on professional athletes always glorify their triumphs and superior strengths. Yet, weaknesses of professional athletes are not always talked about. Whether those weaknesses are anxiety, depression, lack of confidence, etc. I plan to take a deep dive into the types of things professional athletes go through mentally while being in the public eye.

Space Colonization… good idea, or bad idea? At this point in time, it is most logical to lean towards it being a bad idea. As exciting it is to imagine living in an almost “Jetsons” like environment, we have to put our emotions to the side here. With the many exciting pros there are to Space Colonization, there are just as many notable cons to go along with them. First, let’s take a look at the pros. 

    According to Wikipedia, Space Colonization can bring forth survival to the human civilization. There is no secret that humans are essentially destroying its own habitat, so developing the early alternative of Space Colonization. The amount of resources in space is another argument that is made. The Solar System is estimated to have the energy to be able to close to a billion times that of Earth. 

    Again, these arguments are exciting, and interesting. Yet, there are so many cons and “what ifs?” to go along with them. A simple barrier in the way of space colonization is cost. Sending the simplest of supplies into orbit is expensive. Think of just how expensive sending people, vast resources, etc. would be. I can almost assure you, the final cost would be an amount the government would surely be unwilling to pay. Another argument that could be made against colonizing Space, is arguing the very same point as to why people are considering leaving Earth. If we are considering leaving Earth because of man-made destruction, why put another planet such as the moon in jeopardy of destruction? Humans will very much so look to make advances on the moon that will put the moon in harm. Also, colonizing in a different environment means that you are bringing different illnesses, and organisms to the moon that may harm it as well.

    Moving to space sounds amazing, almost dream-like. There is a lot that needs to be done, and solved if it is going to be made possible. I hope that I am wrong, and we can make our way to the last frontier. 

While in the 11th grade, Maya Walker began suffering from serious mental health issues. Ongoing feelings of loneliness, and discouragement, even lead to thoughts of suicide. Maya’s friends never took notice of her struggles after gradual conversations with them. Maya later found the root of the lack of notice. Which was an acclimation to suicidal tendencies, that are of core values in today’s memes. Throughout Maya’s battle, depression and suicide meme’s were a form of comfort that she could not find in her friends or anything else. This comfort grew to be soothing, but generated some unhealthy mind patterns. Maya realized that if a certain meme or joke about suicide was brought up, it was followed by relatable laughs. Or a joking response of “same”. Instead of having compassion and concern towards someone for their struggles, jokes were often the alternative. Maya painfully explains how she observed a growing nonchalance towards depression. The way that teenagers today are handling depression is making it hard to distinguish jokes from cries for help. 

    Maya’s biggest tactics of argument were given through the concepts of “ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos.” In other words, authority, emotion, logic, and urgency. The authority that Maya was able to display was a key strength to her story. The biggest aspect of authority given, was her own personal vulnerability. Sharing her own story, battles, and observations really gives her immense authorization over the matter. This gives Maya a sense of control over the reader. The reader essentially takes a step back, and absorbs all of the informative and emotional details that the writer has to offer. Maya also enhances her authority by giving different types of examples and sources. Maya used different health statistics from the “U.S. Department of Health and Human Services”, as well as different examples of memes from Twitter that relate to mental health victims. 

• Thesis
  • “That’s right: internet memes played a role in my depressive spiral.”
  • The writer gives a clear and concise thesis as to where part of her depression stemmed from
  • This thesis statement gave a great introduction for many of the facts behind memes/depression written in the journal

• Target Audience
  • People who are suffering from depression, specifically as a result from memes
  • People who participate in creating memes
  • Internet/Social media users

• Ethos
  • Showing personal vulnerability from meme depression gives the author authority
  • The author uses different examples of memes that could have effect on people
  • The author also uses sources to enhance her authority

• Pathos
  • Emotion is the biggest strength of the article
  • The author uses emotion to grab readers, using herself as a victim of meme depression was the start
  • Using meme examples of certain emotions that we go through as people was a great way to connect with the reader

• Lagos
  • Again, the writer does a great job of making her situation logical to the reader by her meme examples. (A screenshot where an official Twitter account suggests to a person that memes are more beneficial than seeing professional help)
  • The way that the situation is explained throughout the journal brings logic. Simply, for people suffering from depression, memes can cause an added promotion to unhealthy behaviors

• Kairos
  • A sensitive, common, and dangerous topic such as depression itself brings about an urgency to help the issue
  • Memes are very frequent and viral. There is a sense of urgency to fix the problem because of how fast and widespread they are

Hello, my name is Elijah Dockery. I am a Junior here at UD, with a major in Sports Management. I am from Wilmington, Delaware. My passion in life is sports. I am a die hard Eagles and 76ers fan.

I view myself as a fun, smart, and outgoing person. I can be a selectively quiet person, usually when I am around people that I don’t know. My very competitive athletic background has groomed me into being a gym rat. Working out has become a huge part of my life.

My future is always in the forefront of my mind. A career in the sports industry would be a dream come true. I am constantly working hard to put myself in the best position to make my dreams a reality. With faith, hard work, and making connections, I believe that I can achieve my dream.