Anne+Frank's+Diary

 **ANNE FRANK: THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL (adapted extract) ** **//Anne Frank: The Diary Of A Young Girl //**//(published in) depicts the drama of adolescence in face of extreme political and social upheaval. It is the true account of the life of Anne Frank who, with his father Otto, mother Edith and sister Margot, along with Mr. and Mrs Van Daan with their son Peter alongside Alfred Dussel, was forced to go into hiding in an Amsterdam attic, dubbed as the Secret Annexe, at the outset of World War II and at the height of the Holocaust. //  **The following is an extract from 20 June 1942, the first entry in the diary:** Dear Kitty, I haven't written for a few days, because I wanted first of all to think about my diary. It's an odd idea for someone like me to keep a diary; not only because I have never done so before, but because it seems to me that neither I - nor for that matter anyone else - will be interested in the unbosomings of a thirteen year-old school girl. Still, what does that matter? I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart…………………………………. Hence, this diary, in order to enhance in my mind's eye the picture of a friend for whom I have waited so long, I don't want to set down a series of bald facts in a diary like most people do, but I want this diary itself to be my friend, and I shall call my friend Kitty. No one will grasp what I'm talking about if I begin my letters to Kitty just out of the blue, so albeit unwillingly, I will start by sketching in brief the story of my life.  My father was thirty-six when he married my mother, who was then twenty-five. My sister Margot was born in 1926 in Frankfort-on-Main, I followed on June 12, 1929, and, as we are Jewish, we emigrated to Holland in 1933, where my father was appointed Managing Director of Travies N.V. This firm is in close relationship with the firm of Kolen & Co. in the same building, of which my father is a Partner. The rest of our family, however, felt the full impact of Hitler's anti-Jewish laws, so life was filled with anxiety. In 1938 after the pogroms, my two uncles (my mother's brothers) escaped to the U.S.A. My old grandmother came to us, she was then seventy-three. After May 1940 good times rapidly fled: first the war, then the capitulation, followed by the arrival of the Germans, which is when the sufferings of us Jews really began. Anti-Jewish decrees followed each other in quick succession. Jews must wear a yellow star, Jews must hand in their bicycles, Jews are banned from trams and are forbidden to drive. Jews are only allowed to do their shopping between three and five o'clock and then only in shops which bear the placard "Jewish shop." Jews must be indoors by eight o'clock and cannot even sit in their own gardens after that hour. Jews are forbidden to visit theatres, cinemas, and other places of entertainment. Jews may not take part in public sports. Swimming baths, tennis courts, hockey fields, and other sports grounds are all prohibited: to them. Jews may not visit Christians. Jews must go to Jewish schools, and many more restrictions of a similar kind.  So we could not do this and were forbidden to do that. But life went on in spite of it all. Jopie used to say to me, "You're scared to do anything, because it may be forbidden." Our freedom was strictly limited. Yet things were still bearable. Granny died in January 1942; no one will ever know how much she is present in my thoughts and how much I love her still. In 1934, 1 went to school at the Montessori Kindergarten and continued there. It was at the end of the school year, I was in form 6B, when I had to say goodbye to Mrs. K. We both wept, it was very sad. In 194.1 I went, with my sister Margot, to the Jewish Secondary School, she into the fourth form and I into the first. So far everything is all right with the four of us and here I come to the present day.

**The following is an extract from 13 June 1944, the day after Anne Frank’s birthday: ** Is it because I haven’t been outdoors for so long that I’ve become so mad about nature? I remember a time when a magnificent blue sky, chirping birds, moonlight and budding blossoms wouldn’t have captivated me. Things have changed since I came here. One night during Whitsun, for instance, when it was so hot, I struggled to keep my eyes open until 11.30 so I could get a good look at the moon, all on my own for once. Alas, my sacrifice was in vain, since there was too much glare and I couldn’t risk opening a window. Another time, several months ago, I happened to be upstairs one night when the window was open. I didn’t go back down until it had to be closed again. The dark, rainy evening, the wind, the racing clouds, had me spellbound; it was the first time in a year and a half that I’d seen the night face-to-face. After that evening my longing to see it again was even greater than my fear of burglars, a dark rat-infested house or police raids. I went downstairs all by myself and looked out of the windows in the kitchen and private office. Many people think nature is beautiful, many people sleep from time to time under the starry sky, and many people in hospitals and prisons long for the day when they’ll be free to enjoy what nature has to offer. But few are as isolated and cut off as we are from the joys of nature, which can be shared by the rich and poor alike.

It’s not just my imagination – looking at the sky, the clouds, the moon and the stars really do make me feel calm and hopeful. It’s much better medicine than valerian or bromide. Nature makes me feel humble and ready to face every blow with courage. As luck would have it, I’m only able – except for a few rare occasions – to view nature through dusty curtains tacked over dirt-caked windows; it takes the pleasure out of looking. Nature is the one thing for which there is no substitute! One of the many questions that have bothered me is why women have been, and still are, thought to be so inferior to men. It’s easy to say it’s unfair, but that’s not enough for me; I’d really like to know the reason for this great injustice! Men presumably dominated women from the very beginning because of their greater physical strength; it’s men who earn a living, beget children and do as they please… Until recently, women silently went along with this, which was stupid, since the longer it’s kept up, the more deeply entrenched it becomes. Fortunately, education, work and progress have opened women’s eyes. In many countries, they have been granted equal rights; any people, mainly women, but also men, now realize how wrong it was to tolerate this state of affairs for so long. Modern women want the right to be completely independent! But that’s not all. Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn’t women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers? In the book //Men against Death,// I was greatly struck by the fact that in childbirth alone, women commonly suffer more pain, illness and misery than any war hero ever does. And what’s her reward for enduring all that pain? She gets pushed aside when she’s disfigured by birth, her children soon leave, her beauty is gone. Women, who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together! I don’t mean to imply that women should stop having children; on the contrary, nature intended them to, and that’s the way it should be. What I condemn are our system of values and the men who don’t acknowledge how great, difficult, but ultimately beautiful women’s share in society is. I agree completely with Paul de Kruif, the author of this book, when he says that men must learn that birth is no longer thought of as inevitable and unavoidable in those parts of the world we consider civilized. It’s easy for men to talk – they don’t and never will have to bear the woes that women do! I believe that in the course of the next century the notion that it’s a woman’s duty to have children will change and make way for the respect and admiration of all women, who bear their burdens without complaint or a lot of pompous words! ** TASK: ** <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 49.7pt 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 1. Read the above extract individually. In your group discuss what this extract is about. Look up the meaning of unfamiliar words <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 49.7pt 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 2. Together annotate the extract commenting on the ideas presented, the characterization and the choice of words used by the author (use the guiding questions below to develop your analysis) <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 49.7pt 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 3. Plan how you will draw out the setting for this particular extract. ** GUIDING QUESTIONS: ** <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 49.7pt 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 1. How does the author use the setting and vocabulary to reveal the extraordinary and devastating circumstances of her life? <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 49.7pt 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 2. How does this extract portray Anne as a typical teenager? <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 49.7pt 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 3. Consider the implications of the diary format. <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 49.7pt 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 4. Identify and discuss clues within these extracts that suggest that **Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl** is a dystopian novel. <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 49.7pt 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 5. Compare and contrast the ideas in this extract to The Giver.