Freedom Writers

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Mrs. Gruwell was encouraged to change her teaching and grading techniques. Her colleagues told her that required text such as “The Odyssey” and “The Diary of Anne Frank” would be a waste of time and resources; Books were withheld from her students with fear that they would come back damaged. Her students were deemed “unteachable” and she herself was declared a “babysitter”. These metaphorical images that each character held at first glance gave a “straw-man” effect for each extreme.

Despite all of the obvious racial discrimination, Mrs. Gruwell took her job as an educator seriously and in severe instances acted as a pseudo-mother. Her students, being raised in such a threatening environment, were extremely defensive to her eager attitude. Because of this, Mrs. Gruwell had to take a very profound approach in order to connect with her students. She had to first sink to their level, play a few games, and gain their trust/respect. To force their writing and reading skills to be exercised she required them to keep a daily journal, similar to the (genius) fourteen minute free-style journaling exercise Dr. Wachter assigns us. Here they were directed to write about their day, whenever and wherever was convenient for them. The students shared their stories for her to read, allowing her an insight to the unique “war” each of them face. This enabled her to make emotional connections with her students and soon the differences in ethnicity was inferior to the “family” effect her classroom had created.

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