HOPE & AMBITION
Dawn calls hope this — something you climb to reach your goals.
What is a ladder?
This Philadelphia police officer ran the Powell Center and became an early mentor to Dawn.
Who is Muhammad?
The recreation center named after Hank Gathers where Dawn sharpened her game.
What is the Hank Gathers Recreation Center (formerly Moylan Recreation Center)?
In eighth grade, Dawn received this — which she believed was a college letter of interest but was actually a basketball camp mailer.
What is a letter/mailer from Dartmouth College?
In 'Hope is a ladder,' the word 'ladder' is an example of this figure of speech comparing two unlike things without using like or as.
What is a metaphor?
Staley describes her love of sneakers using this word
What is sneakerhead?
This former basketball star at Dobbins Tech, later diagnosed with a heart condition, inspired Dawn as the 'epitome of hard work.'
Who is Hank Gathers?
Dawn grew up in the projects at this intersection in North Philadelphia.
What is Twenty-Fifth and Diamond?
Dawn attended this Philadelphia high school and was named the national high school player of the year.
What is Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School?
Dawn writes that the Dartmouth mailer 'felt like a letter of intent' — this figure of speech uses the word 'like' to compare.
What is a simile?
This metaphor describes how hope offered Dawn a way to rise out of the projects.
What is 'Hope is a ladder'?
Dawn's ABL coach who told her 'Mental is to the physical as four is to one.'
Who is Lisa Boyer?
This two-block stretch of Philadelphia was later named in Dawn's honor, running from her childhood home to the recreation center.
What is Dawn Staley Lane?
After a post-Olympic depression, Dawn packed her bags and traveled here to begin working out with the ABL's Richmond Rage.
What is Richmond (Virginia)?
When Dawn says she was 'a weird little kid hoarding moments between runs,' the word 'hoarding' gives a human-like quality to an action. This is called…
What is personification / vivid diction?
Dawn says even a false hope can serve this purpose — driving you forward.
What is motivation / pushing you to greater heights?
This USC coach sent Dawn flowers after winning their first national championship and was already 'steadfastly' in Dawn's life.
Who is Coach Chaney (John Chaney)?
Being the only girl on the court, Dawn had to earn this from the neighborhood boys before they'd let her play regularly.
What is respect / being invited to play in the first ten?
Dawn founded this after-school program in 2013 in South Carolina to provide academic and athletic success for middle-school girls in underserved communities.
What is INNERSOLE?
Hank Gathers's mother holding a sign with his name on it while saying 'Hope is a ladder' is an example of this — an object or person representing a larger idea.
What is symbolism?
At the end of the chapter, Dawn tells the crowd this empowering instruction about opportunity.
What is 'Everything is out there waiting for you. You just have to start climbing'?
Dawn's mother said these words — later described as giving Dawn 'permission to begin embracing' her career.
What is 'Dawn, never be ashamed of where you come from, because somewhere out there, there's a little girl you'll inspire to achieve something she believes she can do'?
Dawn's family couldn't host college recruiters at home for this reason — it would expose the private details of their life in the projects.
What is they felt uneasy / didn't want strangers seeing their living situation?
At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Dawn received her gold medal from this fellow Team USA player who later became her coaching peer.
Who is Teresa Edwards?
Dawn's statement 'I view my life as a testimony of hope' is an example of this — a direct statement of the author's central message or life lesson.
What is theme / thematic statement?