In the beginning of the film,
The Freedom Writers, you saw Ms. Gruwell's department head suggest that she not to wear her pearls to class. We noticed later that she wore them anyway. Why do you think she ignored the advice? Also, you heard the teacher ask her students if they were aware of the Holocaust after she saw an ugly picture being passed around the class. Why do you think she asked her students if they had ever discussed the Holocaust? Did you think it was important for her to have asked her students that question - if so why?You will make a reflective comment to these questions and then make a comment on at least one other student's comment. Remember to use your First Name and your Last Name!
30 comments:
This is a very good movie i have seen it a couple of times things that are happening in this movie are things that actually happen in peoples daily life this is the reality that alot of people go through when i first moved to westborugh i thought this school was fake as in a dream a movie type of school where i am coming from is a hole lot diffrent i was in a ghetto school where id wake up everyday saying to myself great school today when i first started there i was scared as heck i used to go through metal detectors everyday and get checked by officers so i see the reality of the things happening i. This movie and how people hang out with thier own kind that still happens every where i realize how my enviorment changed this is how i feel about my new school its wonderful but the truth is that alot of people here dont see whats in the real world these movies all have messages thats all i can say for now
I love this movie! This movie really protrays the importance of an individual despite their race.
Hi! I was not in class during this assignment.
Sanjiv Banavali
I think Ms. Gruwell ignored the advice of not wearing her pearls to class because she really didn't know what the student's attidues were. Also, Ms. Gruwell was probably anticipating a better behaved group of kids. I think Ms. Gruwell asked her students if they had ever discussed the Holocaust because she said that the deragatory picture could have caused conflict between the two races of people, African-Americans and Hispanics. Ms. Gruwell referenced the Holocaust to try and subdue all of the conflict. I do think that it was important for her to have asked that question because once the kids found out about the mass killings and they went to the museum they realized that violence isn't the answer. On the first day of Sophmore year the different races of people were integrated. African Americans were hanging out with the Hispanics who were hanging out with te Cambodians.
I agree with Sara in the sense that today you'll see a bunch of kids hanging out with their own race. Anywhere you look you see it even here in Westborough, but to a certain extent.
I also want to say that this movie really made me appreciate the community of Westborough. It's a very safe place to live and I am just so grateful to be living in a great community with a bunch of wonderful people.
I think Mrs. Guewell decided to wear her pearls to class for the same reason that she wanted to give the students challenging, grade-appropriate books. She did not want to fear the students and treat them as if they were a threat, becasue this would exacerbate the isolation they experience, as well as heighten their sense of power in having some affect on the way she acts. She didn't have the intention of joining the school system in order to be tred upon; she was hoping to make some sort of positive impression on the children by treating them as students and giving them unconditional respect. Her question about the Holocaust was pertinent, becasue it realted strongly to the prejudices and judgements and racial targetting in which the kids at the school were participating and experiencing. They had never before seen the effects of gang activity, as Mrs. Guewell called it, on such a massive and sucessful scale. I agree with the point that Sara makes that we can't claim to have experienced such racial separation and gang affiliation at our school, and so we can get no other understanding of what it must be like other than to watch movies such as this one.
I think that she ignored the advice of the department head because the pearls were important to her. She continued to wear the pearls because they were given to her by her father. Her father, she explains, was involved in the civil rights movement. I think that the pearls also help remind her of her goals in teaching these students.
I think that she asked them if they had ever discussed the Holocaust because she was fed up with the way they were treating each other. She wanted to know just how serious their actions could be. I do think it is important that she asked them this because they were ignorant of how far their hateful actions could go. They needed to know what their violence could lead to.
Allison Shea
I agree with Sanjiv that she probably did not know how bad the students would be.
Osman Alnaal
I agree with Sanjiv about her not expecting that kind of animosity out of her students.I think she asked the students about the Holocaust to prove a point, and that being that something so small as a picture can really hurt someone and undemine them.
I think Ms Gruwell wore the pearl necklace because it was special to her and gave her a sense of pride and confidence- she knew that teaching the kids would be difficult, but she wasn't going to let it get to her to the extent that she'd change her own image of herself for them. I really liked how she kept them on; by holding herself in high respect, she demanded it from the students as well.
I think she brought up the Holocaust because it made the students realize what their actions on a larger scale really meant. It was important to introduce them to it in order to expose them to the real life consequences of gang power and violence. I agree with Sara and Sanjiv- after watching this, I realize how especially safe and fortunate we are at WHS.
shes fresh out of school and doesn't know what to expect really and she thinks that shes going to make a difference in her first year
i also agree with Rachel's comment about how the pearls gave her pride
I really like this movie. At first I was a little skeptical but I really do like the story. It is actually quite sad and a little bit of an eye opener, it really makes me appreciate what we have here in Westborough.
I agree with pretty much everyone who said they really liked this movie. The movie shows a great story about these kids who were basically written off by the world. Right when you think as an audience member that theres nothing the teacher can do, the students really start to open up to her. It makes me feel good to see how well there doing now. However, it also upsets me to realize how much of an advantage I have over kids like this and i really feel badly about that. I almost wish I could relate to the situation but I really cannot.
I think the teacher ignored the advice of the dept head because by wearing the pearls she was showing the students she trusted them and she wasn’t hiding who she was. I also agree with Kelly that she didn’t wear them because she knew they would pick up on it and if she teaches like she’s afraid of them they won’t want to learn. I believe she brought up the holocaust because it shows the students what discrimination can turn into and that what they were doing on the streets wasn’t as big as they thought. Also I think she brought it up to see if they were even aware what discrimination could do and to show them that what they’re doing in the gangs isn’t right or productive.
Freedom Writers really opened my eyes to how people can judge others souly based on their race. I cant wait to watch the rest of the movie so i can see them all connect based of their personalitys instead of what they look like. Overall i think it was a really good movie about racial problems during the current time.
Sara,
I also though the movie compares others to the reality of their life. I also though that the school was fake as in a dream type of school and can be really worse in other conditions. I do beleive that people are very sheltered in westborough and this movie really opens my eyes.
I have seen this movie before my freshman year. The first time I saw this movie, it really stood out to me in ways other movies haven't been able to. It depicts a clear message of a rural pecking order. But as the movie continues, the pecking order starts to crumble from with in and everybody begins to see that their not much different from one another in both their social and academic lives. The part that really stood out to me the most was when Ms. G. asked her students to step on the red line if any of them had ever been shot at.
I agree, with Allison Shea with her comment about the pearls. The pearls represented symbolism. The symbol being her goals in teaching her students from a point of degeneration to caring about their education.
I agree with most of you that this is a great movie and its very hard to relate to the students of the film. I believe that the teacher wears her pearls to show how much the students can have and that she is not afraid of them or threatened by them. watching this movie i was chocked up by how much these students had to endure and how hard and bad everything is for them. I wish I could end their wars and make them have the lives they deserve.
this movie was a interesting expierance for me to see a few things such as differnt races comming together and being cool with eachother even knowing their bredrin are waring in the streets. she ignores the advice because i beleive that she had hope for those kids. To show the school board that they where wrong and to prove herself as a teacher. In other words this movie is bomb.
I think that Ms. Gruwell ignored the advice of not wearing her pearls to her first class because she simply did not know what to expect. As Sanjiv said, she may have been anticipating a more well behaved group of kids. Her question about the Holocaust was very relevant because it directly related to what was going on in her student's lives at the time. Once her students saw the mass genocide of the Holocaust, they realized that violence was the wrong path to follow. The first day of sophomore year, we see each different racial group in Ms. Gruwell class interacting with students of each other racial group for the first time.
I agree with Madison in that it is very difficult for us being Westborough High School students to relate with students going to school in this different environment.
I agree with Allison and Sanjiv that she probably didn’t know what she was in for and that really just makes her story all the more amazing. I think that she wore the pearls as a sign that she was not scared and would not back down from her original goals. I think that she asked the students about the Holocaust because it was an extreme yet relevant example to their lives. They assumed that she did not understand them and their situation. She used the Holocaust to show that their situation was not unique and that she did indeed understand it. Also, I think that she was truly appalled by the parallels that she saw between the ignorance of the students and their seeming innocence and the Holocaust in Germany. I do think it was important because the Holocaust is a major event in world history, which has to be taught so it can be prevented from ever being repeated again. It also showed the students that she did indeed understand and have compassion for their situation.
The movie was a total shock for me, after the period was over I could barely think of anything else, Mrs. G was such an example to everyone. Everyone says about he difficulties and expectations. But I believe that if everyone were a little bit more passionate in their lives and acts the world would be a lot better. And as Sara said I believed this movie was important to the kids from westborough to realize that there is more than this world that they live, where everything is easy, and perfect, and live outside from here is not like that, and not everything is about weekend parties and cars, the world outside from here is a whole lot more.
I enjoyed the movie so much! The department head told Mrs. G not to wear the pearls to class because she thinks all of the kids are delinquents and will most likely try to steal her pearls. I think Mrs. G wears them anyways as a way to show she isn't going to judge these kids just being they are living in poverty and she think they are better than what everyone else writes them up as, she had hope in them. Mrs. G probably asked the students if they have ever heard of the Holocaust because she wanted to prove a point. She was amazed that know one had heard of it since it was such a big part of world history. It was very important for her to ask this question because it lead to the students learning all about it and taking important lessons in which helped them in there everyday lives.
Kelly,
I agree that Mrs. G didnt wanna fear the students and see them as a threat because then if she did the students would start acting that way
I think the department head told her not to wear the pearls to class because she was afraid that one of the students might steal them. She also asked them about the holocaust because she felt that it was important to let them now what affects discrimination can have on someone.
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