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Jocelyn Ramirez
Professor Altman
English 113A
8 December 2014

Freedom Writers
It is incredible how all people have a story to tell about their lives. Our
experiences shape who we are and who we become either in a positive or negative
outlook. Sometimes sharing life stories lets people realize the hardships one single person
can encounter. Based on a true story, Freedom Writers, is a film that shadows the book
The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell. The film demonstrates the gripping story of
teenage kids raised on drive-by shootings and gang violence. Their teacher, Erin Gruwell
battles an uncaring system in a fight that would make education matter in her students
lives. Ms. Gruwell helps these troubled teenage kids by listening to their stories but also
helping them reclaim their shattered lives, building confidence and goals to accomplish.
The film used ethos, logos, and pathos to demonstrate how Mrs. Gruwells teaching of
the Holocaust helped changed the negative life of her students. Through writing in
journals like Anne Frank, comparing the Holocaust tragedies to similar events her
students lived through, and the filmmaking itself, which created a credible feel for the
audience, altogether demonstrated a change in the students behavior.
In the beginning of the film, a new teacher, Mrs. Gruwell enters in a classroom
with un-teachable students who are rude and disrespectful to her. Her response towards
these students is somewhat positive. She begins to teach them about the Holocaust and it

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creates an interest in the students to learn more about it. A change in the students lives
emerges when they begin to write in journals. Writing was not part of their time in school
but the journals gave them a chance to write about themselves and what they lived
through. Mrs. Gruwell allowed her students to write freely like Anne Frank, a Jewish girl
living in the time of the Holocaust in order to help them achieve new skills. Mrs.
Gruwells character in this film really demonstrates the capacity she has to teach these
troubled students by using compassion and respect of what these kids had to say through
their writing. She becomes a credible authority to the students when they show her
respect for her perseverance and understanding of their troubles, which was something
they werent used to. In Reading Educational Philosophies in Freedom Writers by
Jung-Ah Choi, is an article based on Mrs. Gruwells teaching curriculum and educational
routes within the film, and how she was able to teach the un-teachable. Most school
teacher films feature, Teacher-heroes who act as saviors but fail to address the root
problems their students face, this movie forcefully depicts a teacher's battle with her
school's structural flaws(Choi, 1). A humble person realizes that all people take on
challenging moments, some more terrifying than others but everyone has a challenging
experience. Mrs. Gruwell was able to be humble to help these students with all the
resources she had such as writing into journals. The ethos point of view resembles Mrs.
Gruwells credible enthusiasm to continue to teach these students in order to make a
change in their lives. Even when most of her students had no interest in learning
anything, she found an impacting event in the entire world, the Holocaust. Eventually the
journals, which were influenced by the Holocaust, were a new change that helped her
students find their voice and themselves.

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Stories can be told a million times and each time it could bring a certain emotion
to the one listening. In Freedom Writers some scenes are shown of the students past life
and their present challenges they faced. In the classroom some students segregated
themselves into groups of Black, Hispanic, Cambodian, and White races. Most of these
students had terrifying pasts such as witnessing a family member being murdered, being
shot by other gang members, and living in a poor or violent home. With such damaging
problems it drew them to believe that they didnt have time to study for school but
instead to worry if they would be able to survive that day. Life threatening circumstances
that led these kids to live with fear, much like the Jewish people living during the
Holocaust. Mrs. Gruwells teaching of the Holocaust help her students know that other
people had the same feelings they did. They then began to open their mind to endless
possibilities of learning and feeling like they werent alone. Through writing their stories
down on journals, they begin to develop a voice that speaks out how they felt in the
moment of their challenge and the consequences of their negative actions. In an article
named, Activity problems in everyday life written by Elise Bromann, the analysis of
the challenges effecting people brings a much more interesting turn when people try to
their overcome problems. People who have had a troubled life should employ
different strategies attempting to overcome the challenges of their everyday lives in order
to keep actively performing valued activities (Bromann 1). It is through connecting their
tragic life to the Holocaust that keeps them from thinking negatively or feeling alone.
Through developing actively performing valued activities, these students are changing
to make a better life for themselves. Pathos point of view takes place when the emotional
feelings of the students compare their lives to those of the Jewish people. They begin to

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connect their life to those people who suffered during the Holocaust and understood that
they have a chance to change their life.
Having an education is one of the most rewarding things that anyone could ever
obtain. It is the knowledge that these students gain in Mrs. Gruwells classroom that they
were able know that education is the key to changing their bad habits. A scene in the film
shows how the kids pass around a drawing of a student in that class who has big lips
and a bad haircut. When the kid who was being made fun of gets the paper, he feels
embarrassed and bullied. When Mrs. Gruwell notices that paper she begins to lecture and
compare the bullies action to the propaganda the German Nazis created of Jewish
people. In an American Program Bureaus speaker presentation by Erin Gruwell, herself,
talks about her story when teaching these students. In a brief part of her talk she says, I
started comparing these great works of literature to what my students already
knewmaybe instead of being a savvy teacher I needed to become a savvy student I
began to listen to their stories and I started to understand what it was like to live in their
lives. I started connecting their stories with literature and the first book I thought of was
the diary of Anne Frank (Gruwell). These students could not just immediately focus on
writing essays without having a connection with the education they were receiving. When
the drawing of the student came along, Mrs. Gruwell found the connection she needed in
order to help her students learn something new. She found that connection through
comparing gangs and racism with the Nazis and the tragic Holocaust, eventually that
event helped connect her students with education. Through Logos point of view, facts
and a real life event, helped create a new topic to discuss. Her students enjoyed learning,
reading, and writing and began to make a positive change in their education.

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While creating the film Freedom Writers, the audience is exposed to the moral of
the story, the events of the scenes happening and the detail of the filming itself. Pathos
takes place when convincing the audiences point of view of the credibility of the film.
Such small details in the filmmaking of Freedom Writers appeal to the audience.
Throughout the film there was a lot of panning of the cameras used. Some were close up
shots and a larger scale of the set, which helped the audience understand the film better.
An example was when the students were standing on a line, a close shot was taken to
demonstrate how many students were on that line, making that scene much more tense.
Another feature was the music in the background of each scene. When the scene was of
dangerous situation a much more dramatic sound that led to feeling of suspense. When
the scene was much more heartfelt the music brought more acoustic guitar and piano.
Finally, the change of clothing throughout the film made very scene feel differently. At
the beginning of the movie the students wore dark color clothes, more bagging pants, or
careless style, which brought a feeling of sadness and anger. Towards the scenes after the
students learn about the Holocaust and visiting the Museum of Tolerance, the audience
notices much more respectful students. After they Mrs. Gruwells uses the Holocaust to
teach them about change the students use much brighter cleaner clothing and the feeling
of change felt happier. The filmmaking brought a pathos point of view to the audience by
making sure the audience felt a positive change in the lives of the students after they
learned about the Holocaust and how it changes the perspective of the students.
In conclusion, the film Freedom Writers is a based on a true story that
demonstrated the change the students had for themselves. Viewing Mrs. Gruwells
enthusiasm of creating a change in their lives was an ethic appeal, which only enhanced

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credibility for the audience. Another credible action was the emotional appeal of the
students stories, which made the audience understand their lives. The real life facts of
the holocaust helped the students know that they werent alone in feeling denied and
scared. The Holocaust helped connect them to studying, learning, and realizing how
important their education was. The filmmaking of the Freedom Writers created an
emotional feeling for the audience creating a credible story. Every person in this world
has his or her own story. When we share that story we share a piece of ourselves that can
make a change in our own life. We all have a challenge to overcome but it is how we
decided to react to those challenges that will help us succeed or fail.

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Works Cited
Choi, Jung-Ah. "Reading Educational Philosophies in Freedom Writers." The Clearing
House 82.5 (2009): 244-8. ProQuest. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.

Bukhave, Elise Bromann, and Lotte Huniche. "Activity Problems In Everyday Life Patients' Perspectives Of Hand Osteoarthritis: 'Try Imagining What It Would Be
Like Having No Hands'." Disability & Rehabilitation 36.19 (2014): 1636-1643.
Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Oct. 2014

Gruwell, Erin. "Erin Gruwell." YouTube. YouTube. Web. Oct. 24 2014.

"Freedom Writers Film Techniques." Freedom. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.