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Presentation Write-Up

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Presentation Write-Up

What is the product?

            The product is an educational and professor style PowerPoint presentation of why individuals value sports.  The presentation tries to explain why many of the reasons people value sport in our society and how this relates to the movie Phantom Pains.  Marc is an avid biker and fines biking as an escape from his ordinary life.  Also, I ask the class questions to help get them thinking why they play sports from a more in-depth idea then they may have ever looked at it from before.  I explain why I use sport as an escape from my ordinary life just the same way Marc does.  I use three scholar works to help explain the importance of sport and to help clarify why individuals play sports from views of highly educated professors of past and present.  Finally, the product helps to look at current threats that modern sport are facing and to think how these can affect the future of our sports values and why we value sports.  Then I will as the class if they have any questions over my presentation.

How were the product and idea for the product developed?

            The movie Phantom Pains has a heavy sports theme in the movie with Marc’s biking so it was easy for me to figure out what I wanted to present about.  I am currently in a sports and social values class where we discuss sports philosophy and talk about similar ideas of why people play sports in general.  Also, I have taken two sports history classes that have helped me to gain more knowledge on this area of study.   After taking these classes I was about to relook up articles that we have used in class that would be relevant to my argument of this topic for my presentation. 

            In my major professors often use PowerPoint presentations and at most sports related conferences PowerPoint is the main way of presenting, so it made for an easy decision for me to do a PowerPoint presentation.  Also, I plan on doing some sports related conferences so I plan on doing an informative presentation where I try to help the audience gain some further knowledge on the presented subject.  I am a big believer in getting the audience involved so I plan on asking the class lots of questions about their own personal experiences with sport and make the topic more relatable to them.

Why was specific manner of presenting the blog topic chosen?

            I have a strong love for sports and it is the biggest passion in my life so it was an easy decision to explain to other what some of the reasons are that people in our society value sports.  My major is sports leadership and sport humanities so the topic of sport values is very relevant to my major and could be a path of study that I may take a deeper look into in the future.   Also, I talk in the previous paragraph that I plan to present on sports related topics in my future as a graduate student at Recreational Sports conferences at the state level and nationally so this is a good practice for that goal in the future.  Finally, sport is a field that is often overlooked by well-educated individuals across the country and I wanted my classmates to think deeper about their exercise habits and the reasons why they do play sports or exercise.  People often joke about my major as we just “roll out the balls” so others can pick them up and play with them, but the sports industry is a vast market of all different areas of study.

11

Final Paper- Phantom Pains’ Misleading Story of Amputees

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It is estimated that there are 2 million individuals living with an amputation in the United States alone (Walking Tall Charities). The leading causes of amputation can differ greatly from country to country (Davidson; Laberge). For instance, countries in Africa have a much higher rate of amputations due to conflicts or war then most other countries. The United States leading contributors to amputation of a limb is firstly disease with 70% and followed by trauma with 22% (Davidson; Laberge). The 2008 German movie Phantom Pains has the popular German movie star Til Schweiger, play a man named Marc who undergoes an amputation due to trauma. The movie does hold some truths about amputation like that most amputees due suffer from phantom pains where their limb was before it was removed. Also, the fact that modifications can now easily be made to athletic equipment like Marc’s bike to allow amputees to enjoy hobbies or sports they formally played (MossRehab ResourceNet). For the for mentioned reasons, it makes it more important to distinguish that in Phantom Pains it inaccurately depicts the difficulties of going through rehabilitation and inaccurately shows how fast one can gain back full mobility after one suffers as severe of an injury as the main character Marc did, which in turn pushed along the plot of the movie.

After Marc agrees to the amputation of his left limb that is when the false depictions of the quick and almost non-existent rehabilitation starts. Marc is never shown going to physical therapy before his fitting for his prosthesis and this would have disastrous effects to his leg and stump. It is important for individuals that have recently had an amputation to undergo physical therapy as soon as possible, sometimes just 48 hours after surgery (Davidson; Laberge). Most amputees suffer from decreased blood flow to the part of the body where the stump is located and this along with the lack of physical activity can lead quickly to atrophied muscles around the stump (Phantom Limb Relief). This muscle loss can lead to a harder road to recovery and explains the positive relationship an amputee can have with early rehabilitation and having an effective long-term prosthesis (Davidson; Laberge). Instead of going to physical therapy Marc was often shown in Alex’s house or just sitting in his wheelchair and the movie states that Marc cannot afford physical therapy. This absents of rehabilitation helps to cut time out of the movie and helps to move on the main character changes that Marc undergoes in the story.

Marc could not afford a prosthetic limb for his leg so his friend Alex helps him out and buys one for him. Prosthetic legs can range from the price of $10,000 to $50,000 (Walking Tall Charities). Marc is shown being fitted for the leg and he sees another man walking on a treadmill with a prosthetic leg and there is some hope for optimism until the viewer remembers he cannot afford rehabilitation for his new prosthetic leg. Rehabilitation for above the knee amputees is a long hard process and physical therapy two times a day is not uncommon (Davidson; Laberge). Even without his rehabilitation, Marc is shown trying to walk around with his crutches and his new prosthetic leg. This allows his former girlfriend to come back into his life and help him walk around and use her as the crutch. After this scene the two start to talk seriously again and fall into love with each other.

WebMD states that successful “long-term recovery and rehabilitation (for amputees) will include: exercises to improve muscle strength and control; activities to help restore the ability to carry out daily activities and promote independence; and use of artificial limbs and assistive devices” (Information and Resources: Amputation Overview). Marc does not do any of the listed steps that WebMD stated, but is still shown walking around the city and starting to gain good mobility on his own. These depictions are not true to what a real recovery program would entail, which would suggest it would be very hard for an individual to skip right to walking with limited assistance from crutches. The quick recovery allows Marc to pick back up with his former life and make serious life changes. For example, Marc has more time to start writing and be a better father to his daughter.

Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation says that where an individual chooses to do his/her rehab can make all the difference. By an individual attending Kessler they state that an amputee will gain strength, endurance, coordination, flexibility, learn how to use their new prosthesis, and even decrease their pain (Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation). Without medical guidance from a rehab center like Kessler it seems that a new amputee would have a hard time figuring out how to use their new prosthetic limb on their own like Marc did. Finally, in a medical journal, Rehabilitation after Amputation, made by Alberto Esquenazi, MD and Robert DiGiacomo, PT they made a table that has nine steps to medical rehab for individuals with amputations. Step number six is “prosthetic training” which they describe by “prosthetic management and training to increase wearing time and functional use” (DiGiacomo; Esquenazi). In Phantom Pains Marc skips this key step of rehabilitation and just goes to wearing his prosthetic limb whenever he wants and for what seems like long durations of time. By Marc being able to wear his leg for long periods of time helps the story show how far he has progressed. Marc can now walk and drive independently and has complete control over his life.

The inaccurate depiction of Marc leads one to believe that the challenges of being an above knee amputee are not as server as one may think. Phantom Pains shows Marc quickly adjusting physically and mentally after his accident and lose of his left leg when in most chases rehabilitation is a slow and long process that should not be rushed and be should be given under the guidance of a trained medical physician who specializes with amputee victims. But the lack of rehabilitation allows the movie to show the main plots of the movie. By getting his leg amputated Marc actually get his life together. Marc stops sleeping around and falls in love, he starts writing again, and he finally is the great father to his daughter.

Works Cited
Davidson, Tish; Laberge, Monique. Amputation. Encyclopedia.com, 2004. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
<http://www.encyclopedia.com&gt;.
DiGiacomo, Robert; Esquenazi, Alberto. Rehabilitation After Amputation. Journal of the
American Podiatric Medical Association. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
<http://www.analisedemarcha.com/papers/o_p/Rehabilitation%20After%20Amputation.p
df>.
Information and Resources: Amputation Overview. WebMD, LLC, 2005-2013. Web. 26 Sept.
2013. <www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/definition-amputation.>.
Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation. Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, 2013. Web. 26 Sept.
2013. <www.kessler.rehab.com/programs/amputee-rehab/>.
MossRehab ResourceNet. Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
<mossresourcenet.org/amputa.htm>.
Phantom Limb Relief. Salyris Studios and Achieve Marketing Group, 2013. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
<www.phantomlimbrelief.com>.
Walking Tall Charities. Web Hosting by FatCow. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.
<walkingtallcharities.org/AmputeeFacts.html>.

 

0

Explaining My Awesome Background

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The bike shows two things.  First, how Marc loved to bike and how that is one of the few things one could say he loved. Secondly, the cation sign shows how Marc was struck by a driving car while he was on his scooter. 

The animals show the softer side of Marc after the accident.  Marc stopped sleeping around and finally fell in love.  Also, he started a healthier relationship with his daughter. 

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Summary of “Phantom Pains”

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Marc the main character of the movie is a middle aged man living in a city somewhere in Germany and lives from day to day. Marc goes through several jobs like working at a bike shop and working at a shipyard, but his one passion he finds in life is biking. He has a daughter who around the age of ten years old and her parents (Marc and her mother) are divorced. Marc struggles to pay rent, pay his bills to support his daughter, and even finds himself selling his American muscle car to make the ends meet.
Once Marc sells his car, he is riding his scooter one night on a rural road and is struck from behind by a car and the motorist leaves him to die. The movie cuts to Marc being rushed into the hospital and he is in emergency care. After a few days to a week they wake him to tell him that he is going to have to make the choice to lose his left leg and live or die. His friend Alex and his daughter push him to make the decision to lose his leg and continue his life as a amputee. Marc is taken care of by Alex and his wife/girlfriend until he gets back to his feet. Marc learns to walk again and becomes very functioning, but still has phantom pains of where his leg used to be. Marc starts to write and share stories with his daughter and they find a better connection then ever before. He finds himself in love for the first time with a girl he had been in a relationship prior to his accident. The movie ends with him riding bike up a mountain he had dreamed about doing his whole life and it is assumed that his girlfriend is helping him with his journey.

3

A Family Failure- Review of the beginning.

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After reading the first few chapters the title of this novel sums up the thremining characters very well, A Family Failure.  The boy or narrator of the story Kuno is a overweight boy just trying to please his “uncle” Felix.  The mother does not stand up to the crazed Uncle Felix, her husband, but just trues to please him like her son does. And finally Uncle Felix is a controlling man and has a sick obsession with tring to turn Kuno into a tree? It is confusing for me to think how someone can think that a human can be converted into a tree. Looking at the cover of the book it is shows the roots being compared to the veins in the hand, like that is really possible. It is confusing for me to think how this could be seen as a plauseable idea, but the boy goes along with Felix’s idea without a fight. 

I look forward to seeing the how they go about turning Kuno into a tree and hearing more about the three of them to figure out why they are as weird characters that they are.

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Write process

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My writing process may not be the best but it works for me. I like to think about or study some notes about what I am writing and then sleep on it. I then wake up and the ideas follow much easier to me. For this project I did the same process. Come up with ideas and generating text are they the hard part of the writing process for but rather grammar and spelling.  I enjoy doing creative writing and making something that is my own. Also, do not mind writing paper as long as I like the topic. I just dislike the proof reading and the other little things.