4T - Freedom Writers

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vmbo t
• Leerjaar 4

Freedom Writers 

Today's goals

- Reflect on the movie

- Discuss deeper themes

- Preparation VWO 5 to VWO 6

   History in English? Why? (societal issues. race inequality. etc) -> why we are doing this? Importance of historical context

Lesson 1

- Your opinions about the film (so far)

- Quotes in the film.

First reactions?

A few facts...

All 150 "Freedom Writers" Graduated. Many of them attended college.

The Holocaust survivors in the movie, who eat dinner with the students at the Marriot, are the actual survivors who dined with the real Freedom Writers. These individuals include Renee Firestone, Eddie Ilam, Elisabeth Mann, and Gloria Ungar.

Erin Gruwell and her husband did divorce for reasons similar to those presented in the film

Want to know which events happened in real life? Check this website.

What is meant by this?

Wat did Marcus mean?

What does she mean?

Part 2

- African-American history

- Segregation in the US

- Rosa Parks

Slavery

 

Slavery existed in the Southern states for a long time

Even after 1865 the inequality never went away

Jim Crow laws

In the southern states, laws were passed to separate white and black populations. (segregation)

A poster announcing a show of a white artist performing as a black person in 1900. The act usually consisted of funny dances.

Many fled to the Northern states. A lot of 'achterstandswijken' came to be as result.

The Jim Crow persona is a theater character developed by entertainer Thomas D. Rice (1808–1860) and popularized through his minstrel shows. The character is a stereotypical depiction of African-Americans and of their culture.

Perpetuation of stereotypes

Do you know any of these activists?:

- Martin Luther King

- Malcolm X

- Muhammad Ali

- Rosa Parks

start: 1954

The three Allied leaders at the Yalta Conference. From left to right: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. 9th February 1945.

Segregatie

"Separated but equal"

The three Allied leaders at the Yalta Conference. From left to right: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. 9th February 1945.

pro- and anti segregation protests, 1954.

Segregation in the bus: white people in the front , black people in the back.

If the front of the bus was crowded, black people had to give up their seats for white passengers

During the Bus Boycott, black people refused to take the bus, to force the bus company to lift the racist rules.

This was successful. The bus company almost went bankrupt and eventually changed the rules, allowing free choice of seats for everybody.

Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat to a white passenger in the bus.

So why in English class?

African American literature tells the story of these struggles and celebrates black culture. 

History vs Literature -> Empathy, understanding how human emotions, how does history continue to impact our language and relationships. Not only facts but also recording of human experiences.

Freedom Riders

Who were the Freedom Riders? 

That's up to you to find out!

- All those small resistances that

accumulated into something much

bigger

- The march of 1963 for equal rights

What's the link between the poem and the film? Try to explain or use key words.

What's the link between the poem and the film? Try to explain or use key words.

What is the biggest lesson you've learned from this movie?

Next class

- Read 'Lamb to the Slaughter' by next Monday