Slam- By: Walter Dean Myers

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Theme

A major theme of the book Slam is coming of age. Greg is great at basketball but doesnt think about off-court things much. So when he is faced with several problems, he focuses and the maturity is seen in him as a young adult-not a immature teenager. He focuses on school too and changes his act. He doesn't grow up physically, but he does mentally.

Quote: "Yeah. Okay. Maybe that was the way to work it. Maybe if I could get my game right, all my game, on and off the court, I would get over."-Page 266

Resolution

At the end of Slam, Greg continues working harder on schoolwork and excels in basketball. His grandmother his thankfully released from the hospital now that she's fine. Greg has also solved his problems with Coach Nipper who supports Greg and now calls him by his nickname of Slam. He changed the way he acts which has made a big difference. Finally, he also decides not to talk to Ice because he has nothing to say.

Quotes: "That's the way to work, Slam!" the coach called to me. "That's the way!"-Page 266

"You going to call him?" "No," I said. "I don't think I'd have anything to say."-Page 264

Falling Action

The falling action of the story was what occurred after the big Latimer vs. Carver game. Ice was hosting a party and Greg went with Mtisha. Realizing Ice was missing later on, Greg goes looking for him and finds him on the roof with someone and giving her drugs. This confirmed Greg's suspicion of Ice dealing drugs for money and they got into a big argument and fight. It ended with Greg feeling betrayed by Ice.

Quote: "Ice held out his hand to her and opened it, palm up. I saw two plastic vials, the kind I had seen a hundred times in the gutter, in the park, in the bathrooms in school, everywhere in my life."-Page 256

Climax

The climax of the story is when Mtisha finds Greg's lost video camera and he gets it back. His Latimer High School team plays Carver High School which was the school he used to go to. It was a very intense game and everyone had been waiting for it because the winner goes to the championship. Carver came out to a big lead and were winning at halftime. However, in the second half, Latimer stages an amazing comeback and win the game on Greg's game winning shot.

Quote: "My fingers touched Ice's fingers in midair as the ball floated over him. The next thin I knew I was on the floor and Nick was on top of me screaming and pounding me with his fists. We had won!"-Page 247

Rising Action

The Rising Action in Slam is when Greg begins to take school seriously. First, he works hard on a video project about his neighborhood by doing a lot of filming. Second, since he does poorly on a math test, he gets help from his girlfriend, Mtisha, who starts to tutor him in math. Finally, Greg leaves the video camera with his brother Derek who eventually leaves it somewhere and loses it.

Quotes: "Things down in the street were small so it did look like a real movie. Nice."-Page 125

"Why don't you come to my house everyday and we can do the homework together?"-Page 131

Slam- By: Walter Dean Myers

Conflict(s)

One of the main conflicts is a Character vs. Character conflict-Coach Nipper vs. Greg. Coach doesn't like his attitude and refuses to play him in games even though he's the best on the team. Coach Nipper wants him to coexist better with everyone on the team. Realizing this, Greg decides to slowly change his act and cooperate. Another main conflict in Slam is a Character vs. Self. Greg is torn because he has to improve his grades in school or he may have to quit basketball. The decision he makes will shape the rest of his future and he's not sure what to do. This problem nags Greg for most of the story until he finally changes himself.

Quote: "I question whether or not he's the best player we have," the coach said. He picked up his clipboard again. " And we don't want to have this game breaking down into a two man jitterbug contest."-Page 221-222

Antagonist

Protagonist

The Antagonist in the book Slam is Greg's basketball coach, Coach Nipper. When Greg arrives late to the first tryout, he gives the coach an attitude and then defeats him one-on-one. Coach Nipper respects that Greg is a great player but doesn't like his attitude, the way he acts, his selfishness, and that he doesn't play like a team player. He starts to get into Greg's head later on and that causes him to change himself to better fit Coach Nipper's standards.

Quotes: "The coach said you have an attitude problem," he said."-Page 88

"He probably can't play anyway." He said that loud enough to make sure I heard him."-Page 12

The Protagonist in the book Slam is Greg "Slam" Harris. He is the main character of the novel which is centered around his life and the problems he must face and the decisions he has to make. As a great basketball player, he faces the problems he must deal with in the outside world and off the court. Greg makes many difficult and smart decisions in this novel to help him become a better person.

Quote: "So when Mr. Tate, the principal at my new school, started talking about me laying low for the season until I got my grades together I was like seriously turned out.-Page 2

Presentation By: Sanil Parkhi

Plot

Greg "Slam" Harris is a fantastic 17 year-old basketball player who dreams of making it to the NBA. However, during the school year, he is struck with the fact that he isn't doing well academically and may have to quit the basketball team to focus more on studying. He also faces other problems along the way to making a final decision such as facing his basketball coach who doesn't like or play him, his sick grandmother, fights with his best friends, and more. He eventually realizes that grades will shape his future and he changes himself and his attitude to focus on school while also playing the sport he loves.

Quotes: "He mentioned you giving up the art club and basketball and using the time for studying."-Page 7

"Grandma's sick," he said."-Page 15

Exposition

The novel Slam takes place in December and January. This book is set in New York as the main character Greg Harris attends Latimer High School in the South Bronx and lives in Harlem.

Quotes: "But the South Bronx dancers, violinists, painters, and flute players will probably have the highest college enrollment in the city."-Page 16-17

"It was warm out for the first of December and a lot of people were out on their stoops when I reached the neighbor hood."-Page 19