1. QUESTIONS PART III-B)
1.1. (6)What does Ms. G do when she finds the picture of Jamal? What historical event does she bring up?
1.1.1. Answer: She tells them that years before, there was a gang that was called The Nazis and they killed all the jewish poeple. Before, they make fun of them by drawing pictures of people with big noses. Just like the drawing of Jamal.
1.2. (7)Why is this event relative to her students?
1.2.1. Answer: Because her students are in a gang who wants territories like the Nazi and they killed people of other gang like the Nazis does with the jewish. They are also intimidate the other gang like the picture of Jamal and the Nazis does the same with Jewish in comparing them to animals.
1.3. (8)Miep Gies, the woman who hid Anne Frank, is a hero to Ms. Gruwell’s students. What does Miep Gies mean when she tells Ms. Gruwell’s students, “You are heroes everyday.”?
1.3.1. Answer: They're heroes because they survive each day with their difficulties and problems, and they deal with it.
1.4. (9) Why is Eva so affected by the ending of Anne Frank’s diary?
1.4.1. Answer: Because she died, and she think that every story should end happy, but Anne Frank's diary didn't end happy so she though , she will have to live the same.
2. QUESTIONS PART III-A)
2.1. (1)What is Eva’s (the Hispanic girl) view of herself and her “people”?
2.1.1. Answer: She think that she have to protect herself and her people. Her people have the "same blood" because they are latino and this gang have to protect each other.
2.2. (2)What does the scene with the Cambodian girl and Eva show? What does it convey? What is the message?
2.2.1. Answer: They seem to hate each other because they're from different gangs and the gang of Eva killed one of The Cambodian girl's gang
2.3. (3)Why does Eva “hate white people”?
2.3.1. Answer: Because the white people had put her dad in jail. I mean that the dad of Eva was innocent and the white people, the police, camed to put her dad in jail just because they were allowed to do it because they were white.
2.4. (4)According to Eva, why was her father arrested?
2.4.1. His father was arrested beacause people of a crime that he didn't made. He wasn'T supposed to be arrested.
2.5. (5) What makes Eva choose to “go against her people” in the courtroom? Do you think this was a good decision? How do her family and friends react?
2.5.1. Answer: Because she couldn't stand any more lies, and the boy that was killed was from a gang of er class, sh tought it was the good thing to do. Because she talked against her people, her gang wanted to killed her.
3. QUESTIONS PART I- A)THE STUDENTS
3.1. (1)Why are the students filled with such anger at the beginning of the movie? Do you think their anger is reasonable?
3.1.1. Answer: These students were bullied when they were young. They grew up without confidence and fights so they would never give their confidence to anyone. And because they would think of others things in class instead of listening, the teachers would get angry and them (the teachers) and others students would make fun of them.
3.2. (2) Why are the students so unwilling to associate with anyone outside their ethnic/racial groups? Where does this intolerance come from?
3.2.1. Answer: Since they were young, they were judge by their color or culture. Since then they have always been separate and aggressive with everyone because they can’t tell if the others will do something bad to them or not.
3.3. (3) Why aren’t Ms. Gruwell’s students motivated to succeed in school? What outside factors affect their ability to learn?
3.3.1. Answer: Because they have others thing to think about, like where are they going to go after school finish without being bullied. They say that learning grammar and other stuff will not help them in their lives.
3.4. (4)Why do some of Ms. Gruwell’s students believe they won’t live past age 18?
3.4.1. Answer: Because they will be in fights and they will be bullied so much that they won’t want to live anymore.
3.5. (5) What would you do to break the ethnic and racial barriers in Mrs. Gruwell’s classroom?
3.5.1. Answer: First of all I would like to be more informing about their lives and I would try helping them as much as I can by opening them to the world and supporting them.
4. QUESTIONS PART II- THE TEACHER
4.1. (1)Why does Ms. Gruwell’s students hate and resent her at first?
4.1.1. Answer: With the reading and the writing, they get to know about other children who were in similar situations. So they’re more informed about the world and what happened before. Ms. Gruwell wants them to explore their world and to not be preoccupied of anything. With the dinners and the outings to museums, they got to know each other more and more.
4.2. (2)Most of the teachers at Wilson High do not dress in formal attire. Why do you think Ms. Gruwell chooses to wear business suits and pearls to class? What impression does this make? How do clothes, accessories, and make-up affect how other’s perceive you?
4.2.1. Answer : For many people, clothes are the way to express their personality or to judge people. Ms. Gruwell wants the students to give her respect, she’s not afraid of them so she “wears” her personality so that the students have a good image of them.
4.3. (3) How does Ms. Gruwell's upbringing, appearance, and attitude contrast with those of her students?
4.3.1. Answer Ms. Gruwell is very positive and wants them to explore and enjoy life. The students are a little arrogant because they never know who to trust. They dress with specific clothes to be unseen. Ms. Gruwell dresses like a formal teacher that goes there to teach.
4.4. (4) Why did Erin Gruwell (Ms. G) decide to teach instead of being a lawyer?
4.4.1. Answer Because when his father was young, he debated for the rights of people and she wanted to do the same. She wanted to teach and students who were in bad situation.
4.5. (5) Describe Ms. G.s husband. What is his attitude towards her teaching career?
4.5.1. Answer He’s very happy for her wife, but he thinks that she is putting too much attention and she cares more for her students than him. She spends more time with them than him, so he is always at home and he does like it.
5. QUESTIONS PART I -B) THE STUDENTS
5.1. (6)Think about your own school or out-of-school activities. Are youth respectful of each other’s differences? Are there problems similar to those in Wilson High? If so, what steps can you take to initiate change?
5.1.1. Answer: The persons in my team are respectful with everyone in the team. Sometimes we laugh at things or movements that are silly but we don't mean to criticize people. They have maybe some problems with their families but we encourage them and we accept them for who they are.
5.2. (7) Ms. Gruwell is the first teacher to show trust and respect for the “at risk” students at Wilson High. How does Erin Gruwell demonstrate this? Why are some students more resistant to trusting each other?
5.2.1. Answer: Erin treats them like real students; she gives them new books and tries to interact with them. Not like the other teachers that think that these students are stupid and just destroy things and fight with each other. These students don’t know who to trust anymore. They grew with their own gangs because of their differences. They have being thought to not give their trust to anyone because everyone will like to hurt them.
5.3. (8) Why is trust such an important component of a teacher-student relationship?
5.3.1. Answer: Because if the teacher wants to help them with their lives. To live better and to not hate each other, he has to know about them and their situation. And for him to know about his students, they have to give him their trust.
5.4. (9)How do the classmates learn to trust one another? How does reading and writing initiate this change?
5.4.1. Answer: With the reading and the writing, they get to know about other children who were in similar situations. So they’re more informed about the world and what happened before. Ms. Gruwell wants them to explore their world and to not be preoccupied of anything. With the dinners and the outings to museums, they got to know each other more and more.
5.5. (10)How are relationships healthier when the individuals involved have mutual respect?
5.5.1. Answer: People can be around without observing or protecting themselves at each moment. They are in security and they forget about their bad situations. They can have fun without being preoccupied.