GrantNonfiction

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Grant Mei Mrs. Laurençot Nonfiction Essay Assignment

The main idea of my book, The Freedom Writer's Diary, by the Freedom Writer's with Erin Gruwell, was that a diverse group of ethnic kids who grew up in the ghetto full of racism learned to change themselves and the world around them with the help of their English teacher, Erin Gruwell. The diary entries from the Freedom Writers from beginning to end go from how they were all delinquents who never cared for education to straight A students who have gone to meet many famous people such as Miep Gies, the woman who sheltered Anne Frank, and Zlata Filipovic, the modern day Anne Frank. The Freedom Writer's Diary relates to society because there is always a lot of racism and people discriminate one another because of their ethnicity, looks, religion, you name it. This reminds me of when I first moved to Connecticut. A lot of people didn't like me because I was Chinese and many of them didn't think I knew any English at all. There were a lot of racist remarks, but I dealt with it, as did the Freedom Writers. "Two people went to the principal's office, one was African American and the other was Hispanic... Friends of both races now held grudges against each other." (pg. 117). This quote shows that since one thing happened to someone of their race, they go out and hate each other. People were very racist back then and had very little respect for people of other races. That didn't mean that everyone was racist and hated one another because many people were still friends, no matter what race, ethnicity, beliefs, etc. This book relates to history because it shows the relationship between people of different races and how they became together to become one big family. "All of them are divided into separate sections, depending on race." (pg. 10). This quote shows that everyone was differentiated from one another because they didn't like anyone else besides people of their own kind. "I can't seem to wash this feeling of déjà vu as I think of my Freedom Write Family leaving me" (pg. 256).That goes to show that during the students' time there with one another and their teacher, Erin Gruwell, they've learned to love one another and look passed the whole color issue. The Freedom Writers started out as people who couldn't care less for school, books, or education, but then they turned out to be very successful. The Freedom Writer's Diary offers the reader knowledge by letting them learn about the racism that occurs and the outcomes of it. It also shows that no matter how unfortunate you may have been earlier, then you could still grow up to be well educated and successful. All the students in Erin Gruwell's class turned out to have a lot in common, but just couldn't see that because they judged them before they got to get the chance to know them.