Freedom Writers

1. Why are the students so unwilling to associate with anyone outside their ethnic/racial groups? Where does this intolerance come from?

Because it’s not one of them. Every racial group have their own gang, and if they hang out with an other gang is like backstabbing his/hers own friends. It’s because of their older generations, they didn’t hang out with other racial people. So they can’t break the trend. 

2. Ms. Gruwell is the first teacher to show trust and respect for the “at risk” students at Wilson High. How does Erin Gruwell demonstrate this? Why are some students more resistant to trusting each other?

She really tries to make these kids better as a class and persons, that no teachers before have had faith to do. And there were these two girls in class named Eva and Sindy. Eva’s boyfriend killed Sindy’s friend. So they had a really hard time being friends. 

3. Why is trust such an important component of a teacher-student relationship?

Because the book the students have to write stories about themselves in, they don’t want anybody else except Ms. Gruwell to see. And the teacher is the one to learn and help the kids into the future. They really need to have a good relationship between them so that they like each other. Also that if you don’t like the teacher, you don’t like their lessons and you don’t learn anything. 

1. Why does Ms. Gruwell’s students hate and resent her at first?

Because they thought that Ms. Gruwell just thought that she could come in to her class and change everything. She don’t know how they have it back home and on the streets. 

1. How do the classmates learn to trust one another? How does reading and writing initiate this change? 

They write down their stories. And they realize that it’s not just themselves that have a hard time. Ms. Gruwell made this game ’‘Step on the line’’, and everyone realize that everyone has lost a friend in gangfights.