THE FREEDOM WRITERS EXTENDED RESPONSES

Miss Holroyd | English |Year 9

Below are a series of questions for you to answer. Aim for at least 200 words
for each answer, using examples from the film to support your statements
and opinions.
1. Conduct some research. What caused the increased gang activity in the mid
1990s in Los Angeles? Why do you think the students of Wilson High School are
so heavily involved in gangs and violence? Do the students achieve anything by
participating in gangs?
2. Why do you think Ms. Gruwell set the students the task of writing a journal, and
why do you think she chose those particular books for the students to read?
3. The freedom writers write openly in their diaries about a number of personal
and sensitive issues. How do the diaries, and Ms. Gruwells classroom, become a
safe zone for the students to express their suffering?
4. Describe how writing in journals helps transform the lives of the students. How
does writing free the students from their pain?
5. Miep Gies, the woman who helped to hide Anne Frank, is a hero to Ms. Gruwells
students. What does Miep Gies mean when she tells the class you are heroes
every day?

STUDENT
NAME: