Hoop Dreams

4 Pages 1079 Words

Hoop Dreams

“ He whose face gives no light shall never become a star.” Three filmmakers spent seven years in inner city Chicago to construct a documentary based on the lives and dreams of two boys, Arthur Agee and William Gates. The social institutions of education, sports, economics, and family influenced the growth and development of these two young men.
Education played a major role in influencing both Arthur and William. Arthur gets accepted to Saint Joseph’s as a freshmen in High school. He will get a better education, and have a better chance at college at this school. In his first year, Arthur starts out at a fourth grade level. He does not advance much by the end of the first term, and he does not look to be very promising. Arthur ends up being thrown out of Saint Josephs, and has to return to the inner city school, Marshall High School. William is also accepted to Saint Joe’s as a freshman, and he does extremely well his first year. William starts out at a fourth grade level just as Arthur had, but he advances. William went from the fourth grade level to eighth grade in just one school year, which was a significant change. He did so well that Patricia Wier, a wealthy white woman, decided to pay for all the rest of his school, and any other expenses. So, Arthur did not achieve the success he had hoped for in his education, but William did.
The sport of basketball was the one main social institution that had a big influence on Arthur and William. Arthur had big dreams of playing in the NBA, and he followed those dreams to the last. Arthur went to Saint Joes’ and he did not play as good as they had hoped, so they dropped him. Then he went on to Marshall high school, where he took them to State. This was a huge accomplishment for Arthur, and it go him into a junior college, despite his academic deficiency. Sports was the main thing that kept Arthur together and kept him focused, without it, h...