Freedom Writers, directed by Richard LaGravenese, is a true story about the legendary class 203 of Woodrow Wilson High School. With the help of first-time teacher Erin Gruwell, who is portrayed through actress Hilary Swank, the class of misfits and outcasts discover life in a new light, and they learn to join together as one against the world instead of many (“Freedom Writers”). The touching story sends the message that anything is achievable if one has the right mindset and determination for it, no matter one’s race or situation. Erin Gruwell has earned a job teaching English for the first time, and her co-workers opinions on the students she will be teaching are extremely low. The school had applied an integration program a couple years prior, which caused much disdain among the teaching staff. However, despite remaining her positive outlook, she realizes she has a lot more to handle among her students because of their constant violent means and hatred for each other. The majority of the students are affiliated with gangs and have extremely challenging lives at home. When a controversial death threatens to tear the class apart, a simple game with a not so simple message from Ms. Gruwell is able to bring them back together. Discovering that many of the students shared important situations in common was the key to getting along with one another. The class also bonds over their research over the Holocaust, in which they care so much about the topic that they successfully
The movie “Freedom Writers” is based on a true story. Hilary Swank as Erin Gruwell plays an inspirational teacher at Wilson High School. She is ready to take on the teaching world as she steps inside Wilson High School for her first day. Her class, varied with teenagers of different ethnic backgrounds, wants nothing more than to just get through the day. African Americans, Latinos, Asians, gang members, and much more are from poor neighborhoods, that all share a similar hatred for each other. On the first day of teaching she is very scared and unsure, but she knows she has to stop the racism in the class as well as their attitude towards life. Despite her students' persistent refusal to participate
“Freedom Writers” is a powerful film that is based on a true story about a teacher named Erin Gruwell, who struggles to connect with her students to make them believe that they can succeed in life, and to show them that their lives, experiences, and knowledge is valuable, all while attempting to unify them and to overcome racial segregation and gang violence that is part of their daily lives. Gruwell focuses on introducing the concepts of discipline and obedience in her classroom. She gradually begins to earn their trust and buys them composition books to record their diaries, in which they talk about their experiences of being abused, seeing their friends die, and being evicted; Gruwell refers to the composition books as “The Freedom Writers Diary.”
The freedom writers diary is a beautiful piece of writing written by a group of young teenagers struggling with finding themselves. Many argue that the award winning book “The freedom writers diary”written by the freedom writers themselves should be strictly for those of mature audiences.That the book should not be allowed for reading till a certain age limit. The freedom writers diary is based on a group of exciting students who have experienced unfortunate events in their past, present and future. Each student honored and recognized of the achievements. There are entry topics ranging from family members deaths to student concerns such as dyslexia. The book the freedom writers diary should be allowed for kinds of all ages to read at school and home bounds.
Freedom Writers is a movie based on the book The Freedom Writers Diary by teacher Erin Gruwell. The movie was directed by Richard LaGravenese and it was released in 2007. This movie discusses significant themes such as stereotyping and racial discrimination but most important the power of tolerance and understanding. The purpose of this movie is to promote the message that knowledge is power and in a world filled with disparities where hundreds of ethnic groups convey and interact humans are obliged to accept and tolerate the differences that define each person. This film is a perfect example of how these rhetorical components are used to create an effective argument. The director of the movie as well as the characters build their
In the 1920s, when movies were a brand new concept, people went to see the pictures in order to escape from their lives. In these movies, everything worked out in the end and they depicted happy, perfect lives. As the Depression raged on, movies were a distraction from the wear and tear of normal life. With the movie Freedom Writers, however, that is not the case. Freedom Writers tells the impossibly true story of a first-year teacher, Erin Gruwell, and the difficulties she faced in her classroom of supposed hopeless cases. In Long Beach, California, her students dealt with gang violence, drugs, and racism in their everyday lives. They lived in constant fear. The movie emphasizes how Gruwell wrestles with the public school system, motivates her students to learn, and changes their lives in the process. Directed by Richard LaGravenese, it came out in 2007 with stars such as Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, and April Hernandez gracing the screen (IMDb). In contrast to the early movies, Freedom Writers deals with issues that are still a problem today, such as a focus on the majority instead of helping students who need extra assistance or encouragement.
Eva’s soliloquy- “you can’t go against you own people, your own blood.” - Symbolism of conformity.
She thought that it was the right thing to do. yes, because it was the honest thing to do. her friends are mad at her because she could have lied and their buddy wouldn’t have gone to prison. And her dad doesn’t even want to talk to her.
A perfect example of a movie that demonstrates how poverty and feelings of oppression affect school violence is “Freedom Writers.” In this movie a 23 year old teacher named Erin Gruwell (Hilary swank) takes on the challenge of teaching at a school full of students brought up in gangs. These students had been written off by their school as hopeless cases but she tried to change that and get through to them by buying them new books such as Anne Frank and believing in them.
The Freedom Writers was a drama/teen filmed in 2007, starring Hilary Swank. It was directed by Richard LaGravenese. He’s an American screenwriter and film director, best known as the writer of The Fisher King. The movie was based on the story of a dedicated teacher named Erin Gruwell (Hillary Swank), who inspires and teaches her class of aggressive students that there is hope in this world for a life outside gang violence. This film will keep you curious about what’s going to happen next. Unlike most dramas, they are cliché and very predictable. In fact, Freedom Writers is realistic, and a lot of people can relate if they watch it. Does the Freedom Writers movie succeed in helping teachers engage, enlighten, and empower at-risk students to reach their full potential?
Erin Gruwell is just starting her first teaching job, as an English teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School. She does not prepare at all for the students in her classroom. These students all believe in the same thing “Protecting their own people” whatever the cost. Most of these students are in gangs, because they want to protect themselves. Each group does not accept each other because of skin colour and their ethnic backgrounds. They all have different types of characteristics. If one is seen in another’s territory it causes a battle and tension. In the beginning no one gives out any emotions to Erin due to the fact that she is white and she lives a perfect life. Halfway into the film, the students started to like Erin because she mentioned about the Holocaust which touched them. The students realised that what they were doing was not something new to the world, it had already occurred before. Towards the end of the film, Erin introduces an activity which she calls “The Line Game”. During the game Erin asks questions so she could get to know
Freedom Writers kicks off with its opening scene depicting the depths of ethnic stereotypes. It films a young Hispanic female, Eva, looking at a white barbie who has “grace and beauty” and then sees a doll of an Hispanic (Aztec) girl who “is not equal in beauty and blessings.”(Freedom Writers) But the blatant demonstration of prejudice doesn’t stop there…when Gruwell is talking with the department chair, Margaret Campbell, she compliments her pearl necklace and says “I wouldn’t wear that to class.”(Campbell) This comment is an example of prejudice against the minorities and reinforces the stereotype of people of color as “thieves.” Another example where stereotypes and discrimination are addressed is when Mrs. Gruwell wants to introduce Romeo and Juliet to her class but Mrs. Campbell declines her request to rent books for her students because she believes they don’t have the necessary skills to read and comprehend it—believing that these students are incapable of learning is
The thorough presentation of a well researched context in the film provided the environment for priming the viewers on the concept of belonging which was highlighted in the film. This grounded the film and prepared the viewers on the film’s main focus. Through the brief but meaningful snippets of what happened during the trial of Rodney King, the viewers were introduced to the conflict used in the film that surfaced and distinctly placed attention on the concept of belonging.
“ Nobody ever listens to a teenager. Everybody thinks you should be happy just because you're young. They don't see the wars that we fight every single day. And one day, my war will end. And I won't die. And I will not tolerate abuse from anyone. I am strong.” These are the words of one of Erin Gruwell’s Long Beach, California high school students. The actors and actresses of Freedom Writers are Hilary Swank, April Lee Hernandez, and Patrick Dempsey. They represent Erin Gruwell, Maria Reyes, and Scott Casey (“Freedom Writers True Story”). The movie Freedom Writers is “based on a true story,” it is easy to question how much of the plot is factual when seeing these words. However, almost every situation contained in the film portrays what actually occurred. In the movie, when the students read from their diaries, these are the real diaries from the students. Scenes including a “Toast for Change”, Holocaust survivor visits, a trip to the Holocaust museum, specific in-class activities, and many more indeed occurred in Miss Gruwell’s class (“Freedom Writers True Story”). A significant component of the film Freedom Writers is gang-life and the effects of it on children; there are many lessons to be taught regarding this issue.
The Freedom Writers was an extraordinary book with holdings of the students from Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach that were in Erin Gruwell’s class. In January 5, 2007, the film about the Freedom Writers had came out and was a quick rave for everyone. Even though it was a great movie there was many differences between both of them. Not everything had changed and the plot is still there even though it wasn’t exactly the same.
Mrs. Gruwell, a first time teacher, was in charge of teaching a group of misbehaved students, who had no motivation to learn. Most of the students in her class are involved in gangs. All of the students have lost friends due to gang violence and they never know if they will survive the day. They have to deal with poverty and homelessness. Most of them have a friend or loved one in prison. They look up to these people, because they were protecting their own. They learn at a young age that the gang comes first. They do everything they can to protect it, even die if they have to. If they die, they are heroes, and they finally get respect. This is the biggest problem that Mrs. Gruwell facs. She has to find a way to show the kids that there is more to life than what they have right now. She thinks that the way to do this is to inspire them to learn. She finally had her breakthrough when she relates the gangs that they are members of, to the Holocaust. The kids