Download Million Dollar Baby Name: Eng. IV Background on FX Toole

Million Dollar Baby
Eng. IV
Name:__________________________
Background on F.X. Toole:
F.X. Toole is the pen name of boxing trainer Jerry Boyd.
Toole was born in the 1930’s and died on September 2, 2002.
He is best known for his collections of short stories that appear in the book Rope Burns: Stories
from the Corner. This collection of stories is dedicated to Dub Huntley. Huntley introduced
Toole to boxing, and many of Toole’s characters are based off of Huntley and his experiences.
Before Toole’s death in 2002 he worked as a cutman and an assistant trainer for female
professional boxer Juli Crockett. Huntley stated in a Sports Illustrated interview that he believes
Million Dollar Baby’s main character Maggie Fitzgerald is based off of the real-life Juli Crockett
whom Toole trained.
In 2004 Million Dollar Baby was made into an Oscar-winning movie. Toole also received rave
reviews for his book Pound for Pound which came out after his death (2006). Additionally, there
is a one-hour long series on AMC called Cutman that is based on Toole’s short stories about
boxing.
Pre-reading Writing: Respond to the 3 questions below in complete sentences.
1. Who is the most successful person that you know?
2. What makes this person so successful?
3. What is your life goal?
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Million Dollar Baby
Page 60-71
Vocabulary 1:
1. Spar (v):
John and Jake were given a detention when they started to spar in the classroom over who was
right.
Mohammad Ali practiced sparring daily in order to prepare for his matches.
2. Chicano (n):
The Chicano’s showed their Mexican pride by having a parade.
3. Kayos (n):
Archie Moore (a boxer) had the most kayos during his career.
4. Amateur (adj/noun):
The amateur boxer was knocked out in 5 seconds by the expert boxer.
6. Putrid (adj):
The putrid smell seemed to be coming from the overflowing garbage cans.
7. Dilapidated (adj):
The building was so old and dilapidated that the landlord couldn’t find anyone to rent it.
8. Bigot (n):
Due to Marie’s close-mindedness, many people consider her to be a bigot.
My neighbor is an old bigot who disagrees with everyone about everything.
9. Abhor (v):
You should work at a job that you love, not one that you abhor.
Having to do homework over the weekend is something that I abhor.
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10. Abrasive (adj):
Due to her unfriendly and abrasive personality it was hard for her to keep friends.
11. Knotty (adj):
The boys found themselves in a knotty situation when they got lost in the woods with no idea
how to get out.
I spent almost an hour trying to solve this knotty math equation.
12. Renowned (n):
Dr. Seuss is a renowned children’s writer.
Eminem is a renowned artist in the music industry.
Spelling Words
1. Acceptable
2. Experience
3. Independent
4. License
5. Receive
Page 61-70 Questions
1. What sport is Million Dollar Baby based on?
2. Who is Frankie Dunn- describe him.
3. How do the people at the gym feel about Frankie?
4. Describe in detail the Hit Pit gym.
5. What does Maggie want from Frankie?
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6. Why does Frankie refuse to train female boxers?
7. What do we know about Maggie’s life based on what we have read so far?|
Section 1 Activity
SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
Write a “S” on the line if you think the person being described is successful and write an “F” if
you think they are a failure.
____ Politician: Ran for political office seven times and was defeated each time.
____ Cartoonist: All he wanted to do was to sketch cartoons. He applied with a Kansas City
newspaper. The editor said, "It’s easy to see from these sketches that you have no talent." No
studio would give him a job. He ended up doing publicity work for a church in an old,
dilapidated garage.
____ Writer: His first children’s book was rejected by 23 publishers.
____ Inventor: In the first year of marketing his new soft drink, he sold only 400 bottles.
____ Actor: He went to Hollywood as an 18 year old, and after a couple of parts was
unemployed for two years. As he ran out of money, he sold off his sectional couch, one section
at a time, and lived on macaroni. He had no phone. His office was a phone booth at Pioneer
Chicken.
____ Athlete: As a baseball player, he struck out more than any player in the history of baseball:
1,330 times.
____ Politician: Flunked the sixth grade. As a sixteen-year-old in Paris, a teacher had written on
his report card, "Shows a conspicuous lack of success." He wished to become a military leader,
or a great statesman. As a student, he failed three times in his exams to enter the British Military
Academy.
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____ Athlete: As a high school student, he felt so unpopular with the girls that he thought he
might never be able to find a wife. That's why he took a cooking class. He thought he might
never have anyone to cook for him.
Response:
Respond to the following quote in a few sentences.
“You can become either "bitter" or "better" from tragedies. And the only difference
between these two words is the letter "i". I have the choice as to whether to grow
or wither from my tragedies.”
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Pages 71-81
1. What nickname does Frankie give to Maggie?
2. What does this name mean?
3. Why does Maggie write a letter to Frankie?
4. What is Maggie’s job?
5. Explain Frankie’s comment regarding Maggie: “she’s getting so slick she can fight in the rain
and not get wet.”
6. Find another quote in these pages that indicates that Frankie is gaining confidence in Maggie
as a fighter.
7. Why do other trainers not want their fighters going against Maggie for small money boxing
matches?
8. Who are Maggie’s biggest fans?
9. At this point in the story, how many years has Frankie been training Maggie?
10. Who is Maggie scheduled to fight at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas?
11. Describe Billy “the Blue Bear” Astrakhov with evidence from the text.
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Page 81-91
Do Now: Summarize what we have read from Million Dollar Baby so far. Be specific- include
details.
1. What does Frankie advise Maggie to do during her fight with Billy on page 81?
2. What happened on page 82 that gave Maggie a disadvantage against Billy?
3. Explain in detail what happened to Maggie on page 84.
4. Find quotes in the text that explain how Maggie looks when she wakes up in the ICU.
5. What does I.C.U. stand for?
6. Maggie states “I’m a C-1 and C-2 complete boss.” What does this mean?
7. How long had Maggie been in a coma for?
8. Analyze the following quote: “I didn’t tell you, but a couple of times I liked to have a heart
attack in the night. Awful as it is when your heart’s fixin to explode, it made me happy, boss,
‘cause I thought I’d be free of this mess. Almost made it once. But then I was brought back to
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bein this same old snowman in January, same old twisted-up snowman sittin here wishin to
God it was July.” Infer what Maggie means by this.
9. Why does Maggie choose to go to rehab in L.A.?
10. What is Maggie’s mental state right now? Find a quote that supports your answer.
11. Why has Maggie’s family come to visit her?
12. Based on what Maggie tells us, how was her relationship with her father?
Vocabulary Unit #7
1. Admonish:
Cops are allowed to admonish people for going over the speed limit.
My drama teacher would admonish students for continuously forgetting their lines.
2. Immobile:
The car was immobile after the battery died.
After getting knee surgery Jamie was immobile for two weeks.
3. Gaunt:
After being sick for months my sister appeared gaunt.
The prisoners of war were gaunt in appearance due to the lack of food they received while
captured.
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4. Unprecedented:
Rhonda Rousey being knocked out by Holly Holms was an unprecedented event that many did
not expect to happen.
Even the police department was surprised by the unprecedented amount of crime that was
occurring in our small town.
5. Sallow:
Since Jane spent the entire winter inside her skin was unnaturally sallow.
People who suffer from the medical condition jaundice appear sallow in color.
6. Quadriplegic:
After the car accident that broke Kevin’s neck, he was a quadriplegic.
7. Ailment:
The stomach ailment that Mary had caused her to vomit and feel faint.
After a handful of tests, the doctor still could not pinpoint Lee’s ailment.
8. Scrawl:
The boy’s scrawled answers on the test were nearly impossible for the teacher to read.
9. Incognito:
Celebrities try to go incognito in public to avoid the paparazzi.
10. Aspire:
Matt aspired to be an award-winning writing so he worked day and night on his book.
John practiced shooting baskets daily since he aspired to be a professional basketball player.
11. Cower:
When the puppy was being yelled at for chewing the couch, he cowered in fear.
Though I was terrified in the haunted house, I refused to cower in front of the person I had a
crush on.
12. Exult:
The scientist felt the need to exult when he made a new discovery.
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The boy jumped up and down in exult when he received a 100% on his final exam.
Spelling:
Receive
License
Schedule
Separate
Calendar
Page 91-101
1. Summarize the story Maggie tells to Frankie about her daddy.
2. Who is Axel?
3. What did Maggie’s father do to Axel and why did he do this?
4. Identify what Maggie wants Frankie to do for her. Support your answer with evidence from
the text.
5. Why was Maggie transferred back to ICU?
6. What emotions is Frankie feelings in regards to training Maggie and her breaking her neck?
7. Where does Frankie go to seek solace from this stressful situation?
8. What sin does Frankie confess to Father O’Gorman?
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9. Explain in detail the ending of Million Dollar Baby.
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