Seabiscuit ---An American Legend

Plot It was the beginning of the 20th Century. Charles Howard, the young owner of a bicycle shop in San Francisco, was startled by a loud rumbling. When he went to investigate the source of the noise, he saw the future - an automobile. And within a few years, Charles Howard owned the most successful Buick dealership in the West.

Plot But the cars that had brought him success and fortune ended up stealing the thing he loved most. After his son was killed in an automobile accident, Howard's life spiraled downward, his marriage dissolved and he was left empty and alone.

Plot Hundreds of miles away, a cowboy named Tom Smith rode horses across a boundless and beautiful region that seemed to stretch out forever in every direction. But the boundlessness gave way to barbed wire and railroad tracks, covering the landscape like spiders' webs. The cowboy became obsolete and Tom Smith was a walking relic in the New World.

plot John Pollard was born into a lively and prosperous family of Irish immigrants, a home filled with books and songs. But the Pollards were hit by hard times; the family lost everything. Johnny was left to make his way in the world doing the one thing he could - ride a horse. Sometimes he had to fought as a amateur boxer to make a living. Beaten down but determined, he learned to look out for himself and to trust no one. People call him "Red" Pollard because of his red hair.

Plot In 1932, newly elected President Franklin Delano Roosevelt inherited the leadership of a country with a jobless rate as high as fifty percent in some cities, where two million people wandered the country without homes or employment. Never before had America faced such great poverty and desperation.

Plot A few years later, Charles Howard remarried a beautiful young woman named Marcela Zabala - the two had met at the track. Together the newlywed couple decided to buy a horse.

Plot Howard met Tom Smith and hired him as his trainer, who spied a spark of promise in a horse named Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit was a small horse, he did not have a particularly attractive appearance, but he had amazing character and intelligence. He used to sleep much of the day - but he was also very fierce, very competitive. He was a horse that comes along once in a century.

plot In 1936, on a beautiful fall day at the track in Saratoga, Tom Smith met John Pollard and saw the same inner spirit in this troubled jockey and introduced him to the Howards. Since then, these three men started to turn the amazing horse Seabiscuit into a national hero.

What can we Learn? Seabiscuit offers insights into American history topics including the Great Depression, sports, folk heroes, the rise of radio and creation of a national media audience, American success stories, regional rivalries, the rise of the automobile and decline of the horse, and the legalization of gambling.

We choose two of the above topics to discuss after we have watched the film: the Great Depression American success stories For each of them, we need 2 students to be prepared for a presentation