Remember the Titans tells the story of the desegregation of a high school in Virginia in 1971 and the integration of the football team. Conflict arises from bringing together the black and white schools as well as appointing the first black head coach. Throughout the film, various personal and racial conflicts develop and are ultimately resolved as the team comes together to form an undefeated, championship-winning season. The movie opens in 1981 at a funeral and flashes back to 1971 to show these events, then returns to the present at the end to reveal whose funeral it was and provide an update on what happened to the characters.

1. Remember the Titans
- Plot and Structure Analysis

2. Like novels, films are about
storytelling. Although there are
many ways a film-maker can
capture and hold an audience’s
attention, the most effective and
TASK:
Complete the ‘Remember is by simply telling a
common way the Titans’ plot summary cloze
good story.
activity. Use the words at the bottom of the page to fill in the
gaps. This is an individual activity.
Read through the plot summary again
once you have finished filling in the gaps.
We will mark it as a class.

3. 1. Is there one plot or more than one plot in RTT?
There is one basic plot (and a few sub-plots)– the 1971 football season and the
integration of the black and white schools and Boone’s desire to create a winning
team. It is centred on two parallel stories: the relationship between Coach Boone
and Coach Yoast, and that between Gerry Bertier and Julius Campbell.
2. If there is more than one plot, what are some of the sub-plots of
the story?
Related plot strands:
 Yoast’s own personal development and the Hall of Fame
 Sheryl Yoast’s relationship with Boone
 Gerry’s relationship with Emma
 Sheryl’s relationship with Nicky
There are other members of the Titans that also have specific story strands.
Who are they?
Louie Lastik, Ronnie ‘Sunshine’, Alan and Petey, Ronnie and Rev

4. Who is the narrator of ‘Remember the Titans’?
Sheryl Yoast is the narrator of the film.
From whose point of view (POV) is the story told? Is that consistent
throughout, or are there other points of view that are shown?
Sheryl Yoast provides that voice over for the film, and we see a lot of the
action through her eyes. Otherwise, we have an ‘eye-of-god’ POV. We see
things from the POV of both coaches and several of the players.

5. Conflicts drive the plot…
Conflict: an active disagreement between people with opposing
opinions or principles.
Desegregation has forced the black school
and the white school to integrate, which
has meant that two football teams of
different races now need to join together as
one.
Coach Yoast, a successful white coach has
been replaced with Coach Boone, a lesser-
known black coach. This is a cause of great
conflict among the white players, the
parents and between the two coaches
themselves. The white community’s
hostility towards African-Americans is also
made clear early on in the film.

6. In your table groups, brainstorm any
other conflicts that you can think of
that occur in ‘Remember the Titans.’
Write down your ideas on your groups
A3 piece of paper.
Some of them are very small, while
others are much bigger.

7. What other conflicts develop in
The ‘race issue’ becomes personal:
‘RTT’?
Julius and Gerry, Blue and Alan, Ray and Rev (Ray will not block for Rev)
Ronnie vs Petey/Gerry – is ‘Sunshine’ gay?
Sheryl vs Nicky – small conflict
Mrs Bertier and Emma vs Gerry – over his relationship with Julius
Coach Yoast must choose between his white supporters and Boone and the team – it
could cost him the Hall of Fame.

8. How are these conflicts resolved
in ‘RTT’?
The ‘race issue’ becomes personal:
Julius and Gerry, Blue and Alan, Ray and Rev (Ray will not block for Rev)
The team becomes ‘one.’ Ray is cut from the team. Gerry and Julius become ‘brothers.’
Ronnie vs Petey/Gerry – is ‘Sunshine’ gay?
Ronnie’s sexuality becomes a non-issue – no one on the team cares.
Sheryl vs Nicky – small conflict
Sheryl and Nicky become ‘friends’, though they still have very different ideas of what is fun!
Mrs Bertier and Emma vs Gerry – over his relationship with Julius
Mrs Bertier accepts Julius as Gerry’s friend. Emma shakes Julius’ hand; Mrs B accepts a hug
from Julius, and later holds Julius’ hand at the funeral.
Coach Yoast must choose between his white supporters and Boone and the team – it
could cost him the Hall of Fame.
Yoast willingly chooses the team over his supporters. He knows he will give up the Hall of
Fame if he fights for the team, but he does this anyway.

9. Structure…
The film’s opens with a funeral, but the audience is not told whose funeral it
is. We see on the screen ‘Alexandria, Virgina 1981.’ Sheryl Yoast then begins
her voice over, and she gives a very brief overview of the situation in
Alexandria, Virginia in 1971.
“In Virginia, high school football is a way of life; it's bigger than Christmas day.
My daddy coached in Alexandria. He worked so hard my momma left him, but
I stayed with coach. He needed me on that field. Up until 1971 in
Alexandria, there was no race mixing. Then the school board forced us to
integrate. They combined the white school and the black school into one called
T. C. Williams High School. That summer, a black teenager was killed by a
white storeowner, and the city was on the verge of exploding.”

10. We then see ‘July, 1971’ come up on the screen. The story has now skipped back
10 years to 1971 and we are watching what is essentially a flashblack. The rest of
the story plays out in order of events, and then at the end of the movie we are
pushed ahead 10 years again, and we learn whose funeral it is. Through another
voice over we learn what has happened in the intervening years.
“The Titans danced their way into history – 13-0 - the perfect season. State champions and
first runner-up for the national championship. Second-best high school team in the
country. Gerry Bertier won a gold medal for the shotput in the wheelchair games. Daddy
coached him. Five years later, Gerry died. And that's what brought us back here today.
Gerry is gone, but this spirit lives on. People say that it can't work, black and white.
Well, here we make it work every day. We have our disagreements, of course. But before
we reach for hate, always, always we remember the Titans.”