Erin Gruwell takes a teaching job at a diverse high school in Long Beach, California in the aftermath of the 1992 LA riots. Her students come from various racial backgrounds and gang affiliations. They are hostile and refuse to participate at first. Gruwell works to engage them through creative teaching techniques like having them analyze a racist cartoon and write in journals. She introduces them to Anne Frank's diary to help them understand struggles beyond their own communities. Gruwell succeeds in connecting with her students and motivating them to change their lives through education.

2. Characters
Erin Gruwell
Married to Scott
Teacher of Room 203
Energetic
Eva Benitez
Father was arrested in front of her
eyes when she was 5
See's a guy shot in front of her eyes
while waiting to go to her first day of
school.
Most Resistance to Erin
Testifies against her own at court
3rd generation gang member
Miss Campbell
Opposes Erin's teaching tactics
Thinks the kids in room 203 can't be
trusted.
Thinks room 203 kids are lost causes
Jamal
Thinks school is a waste of time
Outspoken
Is the target of the racist picture
Cindy
Boyfriend gets shot by Eva's gang
From Cambodia
Ben
Only white kid in class
Afraid of everyone else in room 203
Scott Casey (Erin's husband)
Married to Erin
Not supportive of Erin's endeavours to
help room 203
Gets a divorce because it is not what
he wanted his life to be like
Scott Gruwell (Erin's father)

3. Two years following the 1992 Los Angeles
Riots, Erin Gruwell decides to leave her
hometown of Newport Beach to go teach in Long
Beach, California at Woodrow Wilson High School.
Gruwell arrives with the expectation that her
students are high-achieving, and is rudely
awakened by the reality that her class is
considered “at-risk”. Erin is faced by diversity in
her class now managing the diverse racial group
from different backgrounds is a greatest
challenge for her. Erin's students include Asians,
African Americans, juvenile delinquents and even
the poor students hoping to make it through the
day.

4. Erin's students completely refuse to
participate in her class but she tries her best to
engage them everyday by using a variety of
techniques.
Things start to turn worse in Erin's class as a
racially forced gang shoot witnessed by a Latina
gang member. Erin comes across an ugly racial
cartoon during her class. That cartoon becomes the
most active teaching aids for Erin and they spark a
transformation in the classroom. Forcing students
to listen to her and at the same time also forcing
her to take in her students survival stories of their
silent street wars.

5. Erin started to connect with her students and
motivated them to change their lives through journal writing.
Erin introduces “The Diary of Anne Frank” as a tool to open
the eyes of her students, to look beyond their own
communities and have the knowledge of people suffering and
struggling throughout the world. Erin knew that each and
every one of her students has some story of their own to tell.
So she motivates them to keep a journal to write their
experiences and thoughts to share with the class for better
understanding of each other. Erin succeeds in her attempt to
manage diversity and her students learned a lot. Gruwell is
praised in the end for preparing so many kids for graduation
and college, which is a first for many of the kids within their
families.

7. “No matter what race we are, what ethnic
background, sexual orientation, or what views we
may have, we are all human. Unfortunately, not
all humans see it that way.”
― Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary
This quotation would think me in the way
that we are all special whatever race we are
and ethnic we have we are still the same as
human. This quotation emphasizes that
Gruwell motivate her students to strive hard in
times of diversity that we all face everyday.

8. This movie inspires me that being a teacher its
not just about the salary that you will have but its
also about sharing knowledge to them and give them
time to be as a leaders of the future generation.
Though Gruwell faces a lot of circumstances in the
times that her principal opposes her teaching
strategies and criticize by her co-workers. Still she
continue to teach despite of the bad ambiance of her
environment. She want to fight for the right of the
students especially to learn ad to give attention to
the society. One of her students says to it Everybody
thinks to be happy just because you’re young . They
dont see the wars that we fight every single day.

9. Erin Gruwell became fiercely determined. She
tapped into her creativity and passion to find a way
to break through to these students. And in the end,
she succeeded in helping them overcome the
prejudice and violence that had pervaded their lives.
Each of us has an opportunity to make a
difference with the people whose lives we touch. We
certainly face our share of adversity, even if it
doesn’t include standing in front of a group of hostile
teenagers.
Whatever your situation, you can draw on your
own creativity and passion to create a positive
experience for the people around you. If you watch
the movie or read the book, I bet you’ll be inspired
to do just that.

11. Things To Ponder
• You can make your dreams come true in spite of all challenges
that you may have.
• Be your own authentic self!
• Nothing can stop you from reaching your goals and making your
dreams come true.
• You are somebody’s “hero” and Greatness does not depend on
the size of the person but the spirit within.
• Doing the right thing takes courage.
• Gangs have existed throughout history. They thrive on hate,
tyranny and blind loyalty. They can be defeated with education
and Truth.
• Family and belonging nourish the human spirit.
• Each person is a teacher whether they choose to be or not.
• Each life is important and worth documenting. Writing is a way
to preserve your legacy.