anne frank study guide

7/28/2019 Anne Frank Study Guide

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A SYNOPSIS OF THE PLAY

The Diary ofAnne Frank

A Study

Guide

Courtesy ofPaper Mill Playhouse

Millburn, NJ


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The play opens with an image of the Frank family as they go into hiding enteringthe Secret Annex through a door hidden behind a bookshelf. We see them beginto set up house and Mr. and Mrs. van Daan and their son Peter arrive soon after.Mr. Frank along with the refugee families two helpers, Miep and Mr. Kraler, whowork in the offices below, explain the rules for living in the annex stressing the

importance of being quiet, moving around as little as possible during the day, andnot using the toilet until all the workers below have left for the day. Miep explainshow she will bring the families food, books and other supplies when she visits. Asthe families begin to settle into a routine, Anne writes in her diary about takinglessons from her father, the arguments between the van Daans, teasing Peter,and being upset by her mothers urging her to behave in a more adult manner.Miep and Mr. Kraler come bearing supplies and news of the outside world. Theyalso tell the families of Mr. Dussel, a friend who is in need of a place to hide, andmake plans for him to join them in the annex. Mr. Dussel arrives safely, but withmore truthful news of the situation outside than the families had received fromMiep and Mr. Kraler. The families are terrified by how bad things have gotten and

worry about friends not in hiding. They listen to BBC newscasts and hope for aBritish invasion. Anne begins to wake screaming in the night from nightmares.Time passes and we see the families celebrate Hanukkah. Anne has gone tomuch trouble to make special presents for everyone in the annex, but theircelebration is interrupted by sounds from the offices below. Mr. Frank risksmaking a trip downstairs and concludes that a thief has been in the offices. Thepossibility of the thief reporting what he heard from the annex leaves theoccupants in fear. At the beginning of Act Two a year has passed, food hasbecome scarce, and it is clear everyone is suffering. Miep brings a holiday caketo celebrate the new year, but the happy event is spoiled when Mr. van Daanforces his wife to give up her precious fur coat for the money it will bring. Anneand Peter begin to have long conversations and confide in each other. Annewrites in her diary that she is beginning to feel her body changing into that of awoman. Mr. Kraler brings the distressing news that one of the employeesdownstairs has hinted that he remembers the existence of a door to an attic leveland demands more pay. Mr. Frank encourages Mr. Kraler to give him a raise inthe hopes of keeping him from talking. As tensions run even higher in the annex,Mrs. Frank catches Mr. van Daan stealing bread in the night and demands heleave the annex. Mr. Frank persuades her to let him stay. The families rejoice asthey listen to the BBC newscast announcing the Allied invasion and their hopesare high for an end to the war. As the families share a happy moment enjoyingfresh strawberries we see Schutzstaffel (SS) officers enter the office buildingbelow the annex and find the door behind the bookshelf. The families arearrested and we hear of their fates in a voice over from Mr. Frank.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT


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It is important that The Diary of Anne Frank be placed in proper historical context.Annes awareness of the gassing of J ews in Poland and fear for J ews not luckyenough to be in hiding is clear in the play, but the reasons her situation is sodesperate is not explicitly explained. This is due, in part, to the Frank parentsattempt to shield their children from the persecution around them before they

went into hiding. As a personal account, Annes diary does not explain things shetook for granted and the occupants only had BBC radio broadcasts and reportsfrom Miep and Mr. Kraler to inform them of outside events. Please refer to our

Additional Resources section for additional reading recommendations.

In the play, we hear a radio broadcast in which the exiled Princess of theNetherlands appeals to the people about the importance of everyday writingsfrom people who are being oppressed. Anne began revising her diary afterhearing the broadcast. The Nazis Final Solution aimed not only to eliminate allJ ews, but also to eliminate all traces that they ever existed including all recordsof the Solution itself. Annes writing in her diary, with the idea others might some

day read it, was an act in direct opposition to the Nazi regime. J ust by continuingto write, Anne Frank fought the Nazis.

THE POWER OF WRITING

For Anne, her diary was a way for her to pass the long hours of necessarysilence, a way to escape, and a much needed friend and confidant when she hadnone because of her imprisonment, but there is much to be learned from Annesaccount of life in the secret annex.

ACTIVITY #1

Keep a journal for at least a week then go back and examine it as thoughyou were examining a historical document. How much can be learnedfrom the journal entries about current affairs and what the culture we livein is like?

DISCUSSION

Imagine trying to form an idea of what it was like to be a youngperson in your situation and time. What ideas might an historian getthat would be right from their journal entries? Might a historian getthe wrong idea about some things?

How did it feel to keep the journal? Did you struggle to find things towrite about? Did you feel it was a place you could express ideasyou might not be able to work out in conversation?

Annes journal has much to tell us about the historical era in whichshe lived, but more importantly, it is a very personal account of hercoming of age. Anne uses the diary to work out questions she hasabout her personal identity.


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How does Anne define herself in the diary or the play?

ACTIVITY #2

Make a list of some of the identities we see Anne struggle with includingher identity as a daughter and her religious identity as a J ew. How didAnne use her diary to work out her personal struggles? How did you seethese issues manifest themselves in her behavior?

ACTIVITY #3

Read excerpts fromZlatas Diary, a journal of a young girl living in war-torn Sarajevo, Yugoslavia between September 1991 and October 1993.(published by Penguin Classics, February 1, 1995).

DISCUSSION How does it compare to Annes diary?

If you had to live in hiding, and could not make a sound from 9:00a.m. to 6:00 p.m. everyday (except Sunday), and had no television,computers or electronic toys to entertain yourself, what would youdo?

WHY SEE THE PLAY?

If you have already studied or will study Annes diary, why it is useful toexperience the same story in different mediums? If you have seen the movie,read the diary or even read the play, how was watching the story on stagedifferent? What is it about a live theater experience that makes it different fromother forms in which you may have been exposed to The Diary of Anne Frank?Were the emotions triggered by the play the same as ones experienced whilewatching the movie or reading the diary itself? Did different events or ideas standout in the different versions of the story?

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS


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What was Annes initial reaction to the familys arrival at the secret annex?How was it different from Margot and her mothers reaction?

How did Annes outlook on living in the annex change during the course ofthe play? What do you think brought about those changes?

For what reasons do you think Anne kept a diary while she was in hiding?How do you think her diary helped Anne through this difficult time?

How is what Anne writes about herself in her diary different from the wayshe acts around the other occupants of the annex? Why do you thinkAnne hides some of her true feelings from the others? Can you think of atime when you have had to keep the way you were feeling to yourself?How did it make you feel?

What visual image do you remember most from the play? Why do you

think that image was so powerful? How did it make you feel?

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The Anne Frank Internet Guide: www.annefrank.com

The Nizkor Project: www.nizkor.org

The Holocaust Chronicle: www.holocaustchronicle.org

On propaganda: www.propagandacritic.com

Anne Franks Tales from The Secret Annex by Anne Frank tr. by Michael Mokand Ralph Manheim, Doubleday, 1983

The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank by Willy Lindwer, tr. by AlisonMeersschaert, Pantheon, 1999

Anne Frank: A Hidden Life by Mirjam Pressler, Puffin, 2000

Teaching the Representation of the Holocaust Ed. by: Marianne Hirsch and Irene

Kacandes, Modern

A Scholarly Look at The Diary of Anne Frank Ed. by Harold Bloom, ChelseaHouse Publishers, 1999

Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend by Alison Gold,Scholastic, 1999

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