Million Dollar Baby

Million Dollar Baby

Worksheet 1

Give the names of the two main characters, their roles and say how they are related to each other.

Characters / Role / Relation to each other
Character 1
Maggie / She’s a waitress in a restaurant
Her dream is to become a champion / She wants Frankie to train her while he doesn’t want to train Maggie because she’s a woman
Character 1 / He trains boxers and he owns a gym.

Scrapp: his role/what he does in the story (2 things)

He tells the story he’s the narrator and he writes a letter to Frankie’s daughter in order to explain her who he is and to help her understand him.

Moreover even though he has only one eye he sees better than Frankie: he realizes Maggie has the potential to become a champion and he helps her to train and convinces Frankie to train her.

Compare Maggie and Scrap: find their common point (1 idea)

Maggie / Scrap
Common point
She’s is disabled and she won’t be able to breathe by herself or walk anymore.
She got hurt during a fight. / He’s disabled too has only got one eye.

Divide the film into 3 parts

Frankie and Maggie
Part 1
Frankie/ Maggie
Frankie refuses to train Maggie / Part 2
Frankie/ Maggie
Frankie accepts to train Maggie / Part 3
Frankie/ Maggie
Frankie looks after Maggie as if she was his daughter and finally helps her die/relieves her suffering.

Compare Maggie and Frankie: oppose them (4 ideas) and find their common points (3 ideas)

Maggie / Frankie
Common points
She’s determined to achieve her goal
Her father is dead: she has lost him.
She doesn’t get on well with her family,
she has nothing in common with them
she’s a fighter while they depend on her and on the state to live
They refuse the house she has bought for them / He’s stubborn and refuses to train her.
He’s determined not to train her
He has lost his daughter too even though she’s not dead.
He doesn’t see his daughter anymore: he writes to her but she never answers and always sends back his letters
Oppositions
She’s a woman
She’s young
She wants him only as a trainer
She doesn’t know how to box / He’s a man
He’s old
He refuses to train her
He know how to box

In your opinion why could we say that Maggie (like Bob Dylan, the Hippies or Erasmus students) has chosen to stand out from the crowd? (40 words)

Maggie is determined to achieve her goal and to become a professional boxer even if Frankie tells her she’s too old ,women are no good and she isn’t good enough.

She’s also determined to fight contrary to her family who is dependent on her and on the state benefits.

She fights to be different from them, to leave the beaten track as she wants to be a boxer even though she’s a woman and in her world women don’t fight, they are beaten by their husband.

She also fights to have her own life and at the end she fights to be relieved of the pain she’s in.

Million Dollar Baby

Worksheet 2

Give the names of the two main characters, their roles and say how they are related to each other.

Danger: his role in the story

He plays the part of a young boy whose dream is to become a professional boxer but who is hopeless and weak .There is a strong similarity between Danger and Maggie at the beginning while at the end they

Compare Maggie and Danger: find their common points and differences

Maggie / Danger
Common points
She can’t fight but she’s determined to learn and to improve and finally to achieve her goal
Scrap likes her a lot and defends her
She’s a challenger
She never or seldom talks about her family she’s an orphan
She embarrasses Frankie
Frankie doesn’t want to train her and he doesn’t want her in his gym.
Maggie loses her fight because the other boxer cheats on her and hits her after the gong
She has a nickname / He can’t fight but he’s determined to learn and to improve and finally to achieve his goal
He’s a challenger
Scrap likes him a lot and defends him
He seems to be an orphan (never talks about his family)
He embarrasses Frankie
Frankie doesn’t want to train him and he doesn’t want him in his gym.
He loses his fight because the fight is unfair
His name is like a nickname (quite ironic too!)
Differences
Maggie is good enough to become a professional boxer and a champion
Maggie can defend herself
Nobody can defend or avenge her / Danger isn’t good enough to become a professional boxer even less a Champion.
He can’t defend himself.
Scrap avenges him

Find 5 occasions of the father-daughter relationship between Frankie and Maggie

Frankie and Maggie‘s relationship
He teaches her how to boxe but also also to protect and defend herself when fighting and in real life (against her family for example).
Maggie asks him how much his daughter weighs but he doesn’t know while he knows how much she weighs.
When her nose is broken he’s worried about her and Scrap even tries to reassure him.
Frankie is Irish and he chooses a green robe for her (Green is the colour of Ireland) and he chooses an Irish nickname which means my treasure.
Like Maggie’s father Frankie loves lemon meringue pie and she does too.
At the end he relieves her of her pain like a father would do to his daughter and like her own father did to his dog.

In your opinion why could we say that Maggie (like Bob Dylan, the Hippies or Erasmus students) has chosen to stand out from the crowd? (40 words)

Maggie is determined to achieve her goal and to become a professional boxer even if Frankie tells her she’s too old, women are no good and she isn’t good enough.

She’s also determined to fight contrary to her family who is dependent on her and on the state benefits.

She fights to be different from them, to leave the beaten track as she wants to be a boxer even though she’s a woman and in her world women don’t fight, they are beaten by their husband.

She also fights to have her own life and at the end she fights to be relieved of the pain she’s in.

What story does the film tell us/what is the film about?
What is the difference between the beginning and the end? (characters, situations)
Did you like the film? Why or why not? What would you tell a friend to recommend it or on the contrary to advise him not to see it?
Likes/dislike
Agreement/disagreement
Opinion

In your opinion why could we say that Maggie (like Bob Dylan, the Hippies or Erasmus students) has chosen to stand out from the crowd? (40 words)

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Million Dollar Baby

Worksheet 1

Give the names of the two main characters, their roles and say how they are related to each other.

Characters / Role / Relation to each other
Character 1
Character 1

Scrapp: his role/what he does in the story (2 things)

......

Compare Maggie and Scrap: find their common point (1 idea)

Maggie / Scrap
Common point

Divide the film into 3 parts

Frankie and Maggie
Part 1
Frankie/ Maggie / Part 2
Frankie/ Maggie / Part 3
Frankie/ Maggie

Compare Maggie and Frankie: oppose them (4 ideas) and find their common points (3 ideas)

Maggie / Frankie
Common points
Oppositions

In your opinion why could we say that Maggie (like Bob Dylan, the Hippies or Erasmus students) has chosen to stand out from the crowd? (40 words)

......

Million Dollar Baby

Worksheet 2

Give the names of the two main characters, their roles and say how they are related to each other.

Characters / Role / Relation to each other
Character 1
Character 1

Danger: his role in the story

......

Compare Maggie and Danger: find their common points and differences

Maggie / Danger
Common points
Differences

Find 5 occasions of the father-daughter relationship between Frankie and Maggie

Frankie and Maggie‘s relationship

In your opinion why could we say that Maggie (like Bob Dylan, the Hippies or Erasmus students) has chosen to stand out from the crowd? (40 words)

......