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Part VIII: Diary 123
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Freedom Writers Diary, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race, Ethnicity, and Tolerance
Education and Healing
Family and Home
Violence, War, and Death
Summary
Analysis
This student describes being kicked out of the basketball team, to which she has passionately devoted all her high school years. She explains that while she brought a lot of strength and motivation to the team, she is also guilty of being sarcastic and talking back. Her coach thought that she was always making fun of her and decided to kick her out.
While this student laments what is happening to her, she is also honest enough to recognize her own role in being kicked off the team. This demonstrates her knowledge that she is accountable for her actions.
Themes
Despite this student’s repeated efforts to join the team again, her coach has refused to give her a second chance. Basketball was her most important activity, capable of relieving stress and bringing her joy, and she feels that it was her entire life. Nevertheless, she has decided to attend every game and support her team from the sidelines, watching her team win the championship and, paradoxically, hearing her coach motivate the players by telling them they should work as hard as she used to.
This student does not use what happened to her as an excuse to give up on a group of people that means so much to her. She demonstrates her commitment to her teammates and their goals by remaining a stable figure in their lives, capable of bringing them love and support. This serves as proof of her seriousness and reliability, as well as her refusal to reject an entire group based on their leader’s actions.
Themes
Despite this huge disappointment, which lowered this student’s self-esteem, she has been able to invest more time in the Freedom Writers and attend the New York event, in addition to ABC’s Prime Time Live show. She trusts that negative events in life can lead to positive ones, and has also been working hard to have less of an attitude.
The student proves capable of transforming adversity into an opportunity for change and growth, taking advantage of new events as they arise. At the same time, her negative experience with basketball has forced her to reconsider her behavior and make an effort to avoid repeating her past mistakes.
Themes
