I. RESEARCHED ARTICLES ABOUT MICHAEL VICK
I chose Michael Vick as the cultural icon to research because I constantly need to be reminded that:2. No one is beyond redemption.
(Please don't tell my sister Lisa that I chose Michael Vick because she is angry at him. I've never heard her say a negative word about President Obama until he praised the owner of the Eagles for giving Michael Vick a second chance.)
Bradley, John Ed. "A Cut Above The Rest - 08.14.00 - SI Vault." Breaking News, Real-time Scores
and Daily Analysis from Sports Illustrated – SI.com. Web. 10 Sept. 2011.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1019914/index.htm.
Citation #2:
Price, S.l. "Is It Okay To Cheer? The - 11.29.10 - SI Vault." Breaking News, Real-time Scores and Daily Analysis from Sports Illustrated – SI.com. Web. 10 Sept. 2011.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1178826/index/index.htm.
Citation #3:
"Michael Vick: Eagles QB's Journey from Prison to the Pro Bowl - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis,
Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. Web. 10 Sept. 2011.
Citation #4:
King, Peter. "Back To Prison With Michael Vick - 03.28.11 - SI Vault."
Breaking News, Real-time Scores and Daily Analysis from Sports Illustrated – SI.com.
Web. 10 Sept. 2011.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1183564/index.htm.
Summary of "Back To Prison With Michael Vick" article:
Michael Vick returns to prison, but this time he is a different man. This time he's not returning as a guilty inmate. This time he's returning with a message of hope for others. He's nervous, but this time he feels useful.
The Eagles quarterback answers questions about his football life with laughter, but he turns serious when asked what he'd do differently in his life. He says he'd do nothing different, albeit his role in the dogfighting crime and the length of his term, because his seventeen months in prison gave him time to change.
Vick is able to emphathize with the inmates about the dark days that prison life brings and that gives him credibility to share his message of hope. He motivates the inmates to be proactive by taking responsibility of their lives and making a plan of action for when they leave prison. He challenges the fathers to become the role models their children deserve.
In the picture above, Michael Vick encourages the eighteen year old inmate in solitary confinement to keep his head up and to get an education. Michael Vick is showing the inmates and the world beyond those bars that redemption is possible.
Articles include:
1. "A Cut Above The Rest" by John Ed Bradley Source: Sports Illustrated Date: August 14, 2000
2. "Is It Okay To Cheer?" by S.L. Price Source: Sports Illustrated Date: November 29, 2010
3. "Prison to Pro Bowl: The Meaning of Michael Vick" by Eric Dodds Source: Sports Illustrated Date: January 30, 2011 http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2044938,00.html
4. "Back To Prison With Michael Vick" by Peter King Source: Sports Illustrated Date: March 28, 2011 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1183564/index.htm
II. QUOTES THAT EXEMPLIFY MICHAEL VICK'S LIFE
- To err is human; to forgive is divine. – Alexander Pope
- Appearances may be deceiving. – Aesop Reflection: Michael Vick appeared to have it all prior to his conviction: fame, money, good reputation. And it looked like he lost everything by going to prison, but Vick says that going to prison was a good thing in his life because it caused him to change.
- Oh, what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive! – Sir Walter Scott
- Success is knowing what your values are and living in a way consistent with your values. – Danny Cox
- The greatest discovery is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of the mind. – William James
- You can’t pray a lie. –Mark Twain
- The unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates
III. LITERATURE THAT
EXEMPLIFIES MICHAEL VICK'S LIFE
Before the World Intruded by Michele Rosenthal
Return me to those infant years,
before I woke from sleep,
before I woke from sleep,
when ideas were oceans crashing,
my dreams blank shores of sand.
my dreams blank shores of sand.
Transport me fast to who I was
when breath was fresh as sight,
when breath was fresh as sight,
my new parts — unfragmented —
shielded faith from unkind light.
shielded faith from unkind light.
Draw for me a figure whole, so different
from who I am. Show me now
from who I am. Show me now
this picture: who I was
when I began.
when I began.
This poem could exemplify how Michael Vick felt in prison. I imagine during those seventeen months of incarceration that he remembered the first time he adorned the cover of Sports Illustrated in August of 2000. In that article, his mother bragged on her son:
"The kid is so good he makes his mother cry. She cries in her van on the way to the store. She cries behind the wheel of the school bus she drives for a living. She cries at home watching his games on TV. She cries in the stadium watching him play in person."'Dear Lord, I just want to thank you,' she says whenever the tears start to fall. 'Yes, Lord, thank you. Thank you, Lord.'"
"She prays because in her mind God has created something unique in a world too ordinary, and that is her son, Michael Vick, the All-America quarterback for Virginia Tech, and maybe, if you believe what football people are saying, the most exciting player at his position the college game has ever seen. 'Michael makes me happy, that's why I cry,' says Brenda Boddie, 37, as yet another sob seems on the verge of being unleashed. 'I hate to brag, but everything he does is so positive and just so good. I'm shocked myself, watching him run and throw that ball. Every day I thank God for the blessings He's given my son.'"
Like the narrator in the poem, Michael Vick wanted to be whole again. He wanted to have faith like he had before he ever began his rise to fame.
IV. MY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT MICHAEL VICK'S PERSONALITY PROFILE
I conclude that Michael Vick is an ESTP--The Promoter. Following are my reasons:
(Quotes from www.famoustype.com are in blue.)As a quarterback, he must be in touch with his surroundings and good with visual details. He must be able to pick up on slight changes of expression and notions of awkwardness in others in order to execute his plays. When ESTP’s tap into this subtle awareness, they have a remarkable ability to tell people what they want to hear. Slick, smooth, lively, charismatic, the ESTP knows how to draw a crowd and enthuse them. Furthermore, the ESTP is often able to pull off their desired response in others. The previous statements show how he was able to con those around him. Some may think this new Michael Vick is just another con job. Time will tell.
Many ESTP's see small daily tasks as competitions between themselves and others. Even when it comes to menial activities such as work or video games, the ESTP is likely to have a win-at-all-costs attitude. But make no mistake, the ESTP is comfortable with this and enjoys it. Michael Vick's competitive nature matches the ESTP's.
V. MICHAEL VICK'S TOP MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
1. KINESTHETIC (I base this on his athletic skills.)
2. VISUAL/SPATIAL (I base this on his responsiblity to read and execute plays.)
