The Freedom Writers Diary: Freshman Year

by Erin Gruwell
When English teacher Erin Gruwell intercepted a racist note in her Long Beach, California classroom, she designed a curriculum to promote tolerance that she hoped would connect her students to each other, to literary characters, and to the larger world.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Freshman Year, Sophomore Year, Junior Year, Senior Year–Epilogue
40 words 2001 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. depiction
    a graphic or vivid verbal description
    Thanks to MTV dubbing Long Beach as the “gangsta-rap capital” with its depiction of guns and graffiti, my friends have a warped perception of the city, or L B C as the rappers refer to it.
  2. confines
    a bounded scope
    Students come in from every corner of the city: Rich kids from the shore sit next to poor kids from the projects...there’s every race, religion, and culture within the confines of the quad.
  3. demographic
    a statistic characterizing human populations
    Due to busing and an outbreak in gang activity, Wilson’s traditional white, upper-class demographics have changed radically. African Americans, Latinos, and Asians now make up the majority of the student body.
  4. naive
    inexperienced
    As a student teacher last year, I was pretty naïve.
  5. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
    A classmate got tired of Sharaud’s antics and drew a racial caricature of him with huge, exaggerated lips.
  6. facade
    a showy misrepresentation to conceal something unpleasant
    When Sharaud saw it, he looked as if he was going to cry. For the first time, his tough façade began to crack.
  7. meticulously
    in a manner marked by extreme care of details
    I immediately decided to throw out my meticulously planned lessons and make tolerance the core of my curriculum.
  8. dub
    give a nickname to
    The famous director wanted to meet the class that I had dubbed “as colorful as a box of Crayola crayons” and their “rookie teacher who was causing waves.”
  9. integral
    existing as an essential constituent or characteristic
    Each teenager played an integral role in developing the diary entries—reading, editing, and encouraging one another.
  10. inhibition
    the conscious exclusion of unacceptable thoughts or desires
    The students have shared their life experiences freely, without inhibition.
  11. credential
    a document attesting to the truth of certain stated facts
    To her, I’m sure we’re the “below average” kids no one told her about when she was getting her credentials.
  12. distinguished
    standing above others in character or attainment
    I’ll lie and insist that there’s been a computer error and that I am supposed to be in the Distinguished Scholars class, even though I suck in English and have a learning disability.
  13. barrio
    a Spanish-speaking quarter in a town or city
    They dress just like us, they act just like us, and they want the territory we own. For that reason, I have no respect for them or the so-called barrio they’re willing to die for.
  14. predominantly
    much greater in number or influence
    It’s a predominantly white sorority, made up of mostly cheerleaders, rich kids, and the occasional Distinguished Scholar.
  15. degrading
    characterized by dishonor
    All of the upper classmen in Kappa Zeta are so elite that when they ask someone to do something, they do it. Even if it means doing something extremely degrading.
  16. novelty
    originality by virtue of being refreshingly new
    At first, pledging was really fun. All of the members were really friendly, and they gave us gifts and sweatshirts with the sorority symbol on it, like they were trying to lure us in. But after the novelty wore off, things started getting hard.
  17. proposition
    a suggested law or policy that citizens can vote for or against
    Someone in Ms. G’s class reminded us that “187” is the police code for murder. If this proposition passes, it may murder the opportunities for immigrants like me to succeed.
  18. alienated
    socially disoriented
    My school papers were filled with red marks. Was I stupid or lazy? I felt stupid and alienated from everyone.
  19. paranoid
    suffering from delusions of persecution or grandeur
    When I got out, I was paranoid. I didn’t want to go out and have fun with my friends. I still felt like a caged animal.
  20. restitution
    a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury
    I also had to pay the restitution of $1,500 to the boy I had beaten up.
  21. fathom
    come to understand
    I couldn’t for the life of me fathom why my friend, this clean-cut guy who seemed to have no problems in the world, wanted to play the part of Rufus.
  22. ordeal
    a severe or trying experience
    This entire semester has been one ordeal after another, from race riots to walkouts.
  23. stigma
    a symbol of disgrace or infamy
    And homework? Please! It’s totally unacceptable to be a “schoolboy.” So to avoid the stigma, one kid even turns in his homework wadded in a ball because he’d get beat up for carrying a folder.
  24. savvy
    marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
    Even though their reading scores don’t indicate that they’re “smart” in the conventional sense, it’s amazing how savvy they are.
  25. verbatim
    using exactly the same words
    They’re a walking encyclopedia when it comes to pop culture, quoting the lines from their favorite movies verbatim or reciting every lyric from the latest rap CD.
  26. dangling modifier
    a word or phrase unclearly or illogically describing a noun
    But when I ask them what a dangling modifier is, they say, “Dangle this.” Actually, even I hate dangling modifiers.
  27. emulate
    strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
    Since Boys 'n the Hood is a realistic portrayal of their environment, I thought making a movie would give them the opportunity to emulate John Singleton.
  28. analogy
    drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity
    Ms. G’s analogy, “Don’t judge a peanut by its shell, judge it by what’s inside of it,” made perfect sense to me.
  29. discrimination
    unfair treatment of a person or group based on prejudice
    I began to analyze and reflect on my life, my many encounters with injustice and discrimination.
  30. irony
    incongruity between what might be expected and what occurs
    It sounds strange, somewhat on the line between irony and absurdity, to think that people would rather label and judge something as significant as each other but completely bypass a peanut.
  31. premise
    a statement that is held to be true
    We won’t allow the color of a man’s heart to be the color of his skin, the premise of his beliefs, and his self-worth.
  32. susceptible
    yielding readily to or capable of undergoing a process
    Writing about it made me realize how susceptible we are to violence. Unfortunately, not all the students at Wilson got this message. Fights still break out at lunch, during passing periods, and in other classes for stupid reasons like somebody walked through a group of people who were different than them.
  33. ignorant
    uneducated in general; lacking knowledge or sophistication
    Fights based on race or the way someone dresses are just ignorant. Fights don’t solve matters, they just make things worse.
  34. derogatory
    expressive of low opinion
    The ticking often begins with a derogatory comment, which can spark an explosion.
  35. tolerance
    willingness to respect the beliefs or practices of others
    I went on a field trip to the Museum of Tolerance, for a private screening of a movie called Higher Learning. The movie was about hypocrisy in our society and people’s prejudice.
  36. adversity
    a state of misfortune or affliction
    After the movie, we listened to a panel of successful people who had overcome adversities.
  37. internment
    confinement during wartime
    His family came to America to follow the American dream, but when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, they were forced into internment camps.
  38. ghetto
    the restricted quarter of European cities where Jews lived
    Eventually her family was forced into a Hungarian ghetto and then off to Auschwitz.
  39. liberate
    grant freedom to; free from confinement
    When Renee was liberated from the camp, she had nowhere to go.
  40. shun
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    Why would he pay attention to me? After all, no one, including my dad, ever has. Since my dad left, I’ve always felt shunned and that it was my fault.
Created on Thu Oct 08 18:09:04 EDT 2015 (updated Thu Jun 29 09:55:49 EDT 2023)

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