Amanda Moniz
Paige Smith
The Freedom Writers Diary
Book Information
Title: The Freedom Writers Diary
Authors: The Freedom Writers with Erin Gruwell
Publishing Info: Crown Publishing Group (Random House) - New York
© 1999, 2009 by the Tolerance Education Foundation
Movie Information
Title: Freedom Writers: their story their words
Director: Richard LaGravenese
Screenplay Writers: Richard LaGravenese, Erin Gruwell, and Freedom Writers
Actors: Hillary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, April Hernandez
Summary
First year teacher, Ms. Gruwell accepts a teaching position in Long Beach, California at Wilson High
School. A new integration program has been put in place, so many of the students do not get along with
one another due to gangs. Given the opportunity to teach the “lower level” freshman English class, Ms.
Gruwell is faced with challenges she never thought were capable. This book is composed of a series of
diary entries that Ms. Gruwell’s students kept throughout their four years in high school. The students
are anonymous, but it is not hard to figure out what ethnicity the students are. As the novel progresses
the students experience meeting prominent figures in society, attending numerous events for the work
they’ve done, and deal with the everyday battles they face when they go home each night. The book
shows the faith and confidence a teacher has in her students, especially when family and faculty doubt
her. The Freedom Writer’s Diary is a true story and Ms. Gruwell’s teaching methods are available today.
Book vs. Film
The film portrays a lot of the diaries that are in the book because the book and film represents a true
story. Throughout the movie, some of the students speak in first person as if they were reading their
journal entry. The book does not consist of chapters, but of entry dates and what year the students are
in. The film does have a main character named Mrs. Gruwell and she has her own sections during the
book that describes her feelings about the students. Eva is another character that is focused on a lot
throughout the movie. In the book, Eva is not distinctly recognized since the entries are anonymous. The
movie focuses more on Eva’s life more than the other students, where the book focuses on every
student evenly. A similarity in the book and the film are the transitions between the school years. In the
movie, when the school year changes, it it shown at the bottom of the screen. In the book the school
years are shown as well. The section of the movie we wanted to show is when a guest speaker from the
Holocaust , Miep, comes to speak to the students. The students had a fun raiser so the woman could
come and speak. The most enlightening part of this scene is when one student tells the guest she is “his
hero.” There is a journal entry in the book that has this specific student’s experience. During Miep’s visit,
the camera angle keeps going back to Eva’s face because she is dealing with a personal problem. You
can see that Miep message is making Eva change her mind about a decision she has to make. There are
also different screen shots of the students during the movie. This gives the view of feel of each student
and the life they are living. The movie also has the students speak in first person as they are shown in
the classroom. Their voices are in the background with music so it makes the scene like a journal entry.
Classroom Applications
This book could be used in sections because it is in journal form. We would not read the book as a whole
because there are some many different views points. Using a journal entry or two would be very helpful
to the students because they talk about life and friendship. The movie would be great to show as well
because it deals with a wonderful teacher and a classroom full of different students. Students could
learn a lot from the movie, even if they did not read the entire book. As a teacher, you could take a
journal entry, for example the Holocaust visitor, and combine it with a history lesson on the Holocaust. It
gives the students another perspective of students experiencing the same event in history.