Freedom Writers: movie analysis essay

The Freedom Writers follows Erin Gruwell as she teaches English at Woodrow Wilson High School. But Erin teaches much more to her students than English. The film is an inspirational drama, directed by Richard LaGravenese with Hilary Swank. Mrs. Gruwell fights against her pessimistic, uninterested colleagues as the film moves on. She is trying to get her students to be interested in learning, and also learn about their lives. Despite all the obstacles and consequences that she has to face, Mrs. Gruwell strives to change the mindsets and lives of her English freshman and sophomore classes. This Freedom Writers Summary Essay shows us how the film portrays an educator who is dedicated to her pupils and their future.

Every main character in the movie learns. There are many different examples. The students initially were very apprehensive towards Mrs. Gruwell. Some students began to respect her after Mrs. Gruwell showed more concern for them than usual. Most students were still not interested in Mrs. Gruwell. However, by observing their classmates and learning from them, more students started to show respect and warmth towards her. Freedom Writers used operant learning. When the students received the assignment to send a note to Miep, Mrs. Gruwell was willing to investigate whether the letters could be sent to Miep and if she might visit the school. By offering a reward, Mrs. Gruwell was able to motivate the students into doing their homework. In Mrs. Gruwell’s classroom, the students also learned by classical conditioning. In their minds, they’d been taught that they are inferior and must resort to violence. Eva tells the story of her hatred of white people, which she learned from the fact that they had taken away her father because “they can”. Eva started out being incredibly anti-anyone. She had no trust in anyone else and a great hatred for any other race. Afraid of her own life because of all the challenges she faced, Eva lived a life full fear. Eva began to reveal herself by the time the film ended. She learned to not be afraid or hateful because she was shown that people were not out to harm her. Some people would actually support and help her from the goodness of their heart. She changed from shutting out everyone to openly respecting and trusting her peers. Ms. Campbell was the character on the other end of spectrum who had the least amount of learning. She never had any hope for her students. She actively battled Mrs. Gruwell, trying to keep the students in line. She believed that she was helping a lost cause, and no one else could help her. Ms. Campbell remained convinced that Mrs. Gruwell could not help them and she fought against her to prevent her from educating them during their junior and senior year. She was given many opportunities by Mrs. Gruwell to realize that her students needed help and were more complex than just violence. She tried to convince Ms. Campbell that budget money could be used to teach the students, but she refused. Ms. Campbell still had no confidence in her students despite the fact that their grades reflected how much they’d learned. Ms. Campbell, despite her disgusting negativity, makes a good argument in a scene. She tells Gruwell that she can’t “make someone want to be educated, the only thing you can achieve is getting them to obey.” Although I agree, you are able to make people listen. Although the true motivation to learn comes from within, you can still get someone to do so even if they are not interested. Although you can make someone obey to the point that they learn your lesson, it will not be at the same level.

My father, like Mrs. Gruwell, is a real inspiration for troubled children. Even though he has had many failures in his lifetime, he managed to rise above the rest of us and reach a high point in his personal life. He made many mistakes as he grew up. My mom and he had me as teenagers. My dad barely graduated from high school and didn’t go to college and had to work a “bottom-of-the-barrel” job. After 18 years, he now has a job that pays well, allows him to progress in the company, has a nice apartment, can do whatever he likes, and is also a fantastic father. He is the person who inspires me to achieve my goals. He taught that if I push myself hard enough, I can achieve anything.