Discuss your involvement with the Diary. Are you feeling as though you “know” Anne? Are you pondering what happened to the millions of Holocaust victims? Do you feel indifferent? Do you feel as though the Diary reads like a fictional story?
*Please support your answer by including at least one passage
*Remember that each group must not only respond to the question, but to other’s answers as well
November 4, 2008 at 9:38 am
On Page 36 Anne says “The days were becoming very quiet here… We are as quiet as mice. ( Anne Frank 36). This makes me feel as though I am in hiding with her and a chill runs down my spine every time I read that passage. As I read this book I feel more and more attached to Anne. I believe this is happening because I can sort of relate to her. I cant relate to her in the way that she is hiding or the way she is in such hard times, but I do feel I know her.
November 4, 2008 at 11:26 am
I think that it is hard to get to know Anne through the diary. Anne only talks to the diary with secrets and things that she wouldn’t normally say to people. This is one of the reasons why I think this book is overpraised, but back on topic. If you were to meet a person, you wouldn’t talk about your secrets, how you feel about certain people and other unneccesary information. You would ask about what they like and what you like. As for the historical aspect of reading it for the view on Holocaust victims, it is a decent read. I think that if you truly wanted to learn about the Holocaust, I would rather read a non-fic book. Finally, I think that it doesn’t compare to any other book because it is a diary from a girl who didn’t know this was published.
November 4, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I think that it is really hard to get to know Anne Frank because we weren’t living during that time and it is hard to imagine what i was really like to live in such scary times. She kind of describes what is happening but all she can talk about are boys, friends and what she is going through. It is hard because she doesn’t really know what is going on at a time like this so she is puzzled half the time. I think the story doesn’t really read like a fictional story that much because we know what has happened during that time so we know its real. It is hard to believe that all those inecient people have died.
November 4, 2008 at 6:10 pm
At some times, I read the Diary like it is fictional. A lot of people would like to believe that something so frightening and horrible actually happened. I know a lot of times, I read my own diary like the things I wrote never happened. Then nostalgia hits. Being a girl, I can relate to Anne in the relationship of her family. Now, I don’t have any siblings, but there are some days where I just hate my mother. I think that’s a typical teenage girl reaction. When you read Anne’s feelings and interesting stories, you forget that it actually happened, until she bring sup some news about the war. Then you remember that WWII did happen, and that the holocaust did happen, and that after the diary entires are over, Anne got killed in a concentration camp. She was just our age, and that’s the thing that scares me the most. How lucky we are to never experience that sort of pain today.
November 4, 2008 at 6:12 pm
I feel that we get to understand her emotions and perspective, however we have a limited understanding of her as a person.The diarary is told throgh the first prearson and is only obsevtions. Therfore it constantly reminds you of the fact that this is only honesty. That is what makes the book so great. it does not follow what people consider good writting. it does’nt have effort into it it is just a girl writting.
November 4, 2008 at 6:35 pm
In some cases I belive I know Anne as if she was me or one of my friends, but she has some odd enteries in her diary such as the entry Wednesday January 5, 1944 at the bottom of page 130 going on to 131, that lead me to belive that she is a different than most teenage girls my age. I think it would be hard to really know Anne just from reading her diary entries because she could be a totally different person out side her entries and she be totally different from my perception of her entries,so its hard to know Anne without really knowing her in person. I really do wonder about what happend to the people in the concentration camps and I’m really am curious how there are even survivers from this horriable tragedy in history. I do feel indifferent as in nobody treats me differently than anybody else. I think Anne’s diary feels very realistic and honest some things teenage girls don’t have to deal with but some problems are things teenage girls deal with day to day and her life in the secret annexe sounds very true and realistic.
November 4, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I like how Rachel S. stated her comment. She stated what she thought and not what other people said. All of the comments say the same thing but they can relate or not. THe way you state your opinon is how other people might relate too.
November 4, 2008 at 10:10 pm
I don’t think that you can just “know” someone by reading a book even if it is a diary. because diaries for some people are self esteem boosters but Anne’s diary is not just a self esteem booster but there might be a few things that she might have written down to keep her self up in those troubled times. I do ponder the happenings in the holocaust and this book is probably mostly true and as well educated students our 8th grade class would probably say close to the same.
November 4, 2008 at 10:13 pm
To Rachel’s comment i do sometimes wonder in to the fictional mindset because sometimes it just feels like it could not have been true but you have to get in to the mind set of, it did happen and even though it was terrible and cruel and inhumane to human kind it did happen.
November 5, 2008 at 10:35 am
I agree with Sean because it is hard to get to know Anne in the diary. All she talks about is that she loves Peter and that she thinks her social life is perfect.
November 5, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Kinda i know that she’s going through tough times and i can sot of relate to that, but i dont feel i know her… I sometimes wonder where most of them are today and if their lives are better otherwise i know that most of the victims are dead. I dont believe the dairy reads of a fictional story because she’s talking about her self not of some fictional holocaust happening-”I know excatly what you’ll say kitty:But, Anne, Do these words really come from your lips?”(Frank 140)
November 5, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Alec post i totally agree on
November 5, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I sort of agree with Sean. I do think it’s hard to get to know Anne through the information she presents to the diary. I don’t agree that the book is overpraised though. Anne never intended it to be read by anyone, so she made no effort to convey any of the more trivial information needed to get to know someone. Anne was merely using the diary as an outlet for things she didn’t want to tell others. The reason I find it difficult to “know” Anne is that the information in the diary is the only information she wouldn’t have told someone. Why write something down if you can tell it to someone? The thing that interests me about the diary is that it is a real account of someone who experienced tragic events. I find it remarkable and beneficial that people could have lived through such a horrific experience.