The Diary of a Young Girl | Vocabulary Enricher by Boris Bulatovic

Boris Bulatovic

Sonja Pasic

English Language and Literature

Vocabulary Enricher

This week we read 90 pages of The Diary of a Young Girl. For this literature circles meeting I assumed the role of Vocabulary Enricher. Here are some of the words that I found to be interesting, rare and unique from the pages that we read.

Rambunctious

Definition: Noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline

Sentence from novel: I washed my hair yesterday and because I knew he was next door, I was very rambunctious.

Original sentence: The students were rambunctious.

Garbled

Definition #1: Lacking orderly continuity

Definition #2: Make false by mutilation or addition

Sentence from novel: He’s amused us more than once by trying to pass on the news he’s just heard, since the message invariably gets garbled in transmission.

Original sentence: The student garbled his exam paper.

Nib

Definition: The writing point of a pen

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1943 Dearest Kitty, I have a good title for this chapter: Ode to My Sentence from novel: Fountain Pen In Memoriam. My fountain pen was always one of my most prized possessions; I valued it highly, especially because it had a thick nib.

Original sentence: The pen had a silver nib.

Unrequited

Definition: Not returned in kind

Sentence from novel: For a long time we went everywhere together, but aside from that, my love was unrequited until Peter crossed my path.

Original sentence: Helena's love towards Demetrius was unrequited.

Repercussion

Definition: A remote or indirect consequence of some action

Sentence from novel: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1944. The minor run-in with Dussel had several repercussions, for which he had only himself to blame.

Original sentence: The war triggered certain repercussions.

Foist

Definition: To force onto another

Sentence from novel: Does Hanneli really and truly believe in God, or has religion merely been foisted upon her?

Original sentence: Love was foisted onto Hermia.

Mercurial

Definition: Liable to sudden unpredictable change

Sentence from novel: I was suffering then (and still do) from moods that kept my head under water (figuratively speaking) and allowed me to see things only from my own perspective, without calmly considering what the others -- those whom I, with my mercurial temperament.

Original sentence: The economy is volatile and mercurial.

Begrudge

Definition: Be envious of

Sentence from novel: Father doesn’t begrudge us those few hours and thinks it’s nice we get along so well.

Original sentence: John was behaving in a begrudging way.

Impasse

Definition: A situation in which no progress can be made

Sentence from novel: The war is at an impasse, spirits are low.

Original sentence: The project came to an impasse and no progress was made for a long time.

Witticism

Definition: A message whose ingenuity has the power to evoke laughter

Sentence from novel: Peter has amazing presence of mind in the face of these so-called witticism.

Original sentence: His speech was laced with witticism.

Illustrator job

I illustrated Anne writing because throughout the whole book Anne is writing in her diary. Anne is sitting and writing a new entry. I imagined her writing my favorite entry. I can just imagine how hard it is to be stuck in a secret annex and you could not tell anyone. I would write entries just like her if i was there. I tried to not draw how she looked because drawing her would not be my imagination so i decided to draw a girl which gave me an idea of her. I drew her in blue color to represent loneliness she is feeling in the secret annex room. It is also representing her whole diary because it is a exciting but sad and depressive journey she is passing through. Even though she did not survive her story is told.

Anne Frank Summarizer Entries June 15 - November 11

Johan Voskujil gets diagnosed with cancer. Meanwhile,  Anne decides to stop studying because she is becoming nearsighted and has no access to glasses because she cannot exit the annex. The secret group briefly considers sending her out to a doctor, but Mr. Frank has heard that the British have landed in Sicily, and thinks the war will be over. Anne Frank mentions that her favorite day of the week is Saturday because Bep brings books from the library. Anne asks Mr. Dussel if she can use their table to study, but he refuses. They argue, and Mr. Frank interrupts and arranges for Anne to use the table for two afternoons a week. There is another break-in at the office-- time the robbers take cash and sugar ration coupons. Anne writes her future plans for when they leave the annex. She wants to go back to school again.

Air-raid sirens sound in Amsterdam. The residents of the annex are scared, but Anne is brave. On the radio they hear that Benito Mussolini  has been deposed. They are forced to turn in the radio. Anne describes the daily schedule of the annex,. Her telling of the story is filled with descriptions of the other people in the annex.

Anne receives new shoes. Italy surrenders, but Anne’s happiness is silenced by the news that Mr. Kleiman will have to have a stomach operation. She also worries that Mr. van Maaren, a man who is not trustworthy, will find out about the secret annex. Anne notes that she has been taking Anti-Depressants daily.

Mr. Frank asks Mr. Kleiman for a children’s Bible so that Anne can learn about the New Testament and Miep tells Anne that she envies the peace and quiet of the annex-- but Anne, who is always afraid of being discovered, disagrees.

Anne writes a memorial speech for her fountain pen, which was accidentally melted in the stove. She says that her only consolation is that the pen was cremated, as she hopes to be when she dies. From this, we can observe Anne’s thoughts of death-- which are evidently results of her depression.

Analysis

By mid-1943, Anne’s mood worsens and becomes bleaker as her levels of frustration and anger increase. In each diary entry her anxiety grows, due to the war that is going on around them and their lack of info from the current world. Her tone is less cheerful, despite occasional injections of satire or sarcasm, which are vividly displayed when she is annoyed with another resident of the secret annex. While Anne tries to act like an adult, she still takes comfort from her father during air raids and takes daily medication for her depression.

Discussion Director

Boris Bulatovic

Sonja Pasic

English Language and Literature

Discussion Director

For this literature circles meeting we read 90 pages of The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank. For this meeting I assumed the role of discussion director. I had to create five thought provoking and interesting questions to ask my group members about the reading we have finished, come up with my answer and interview my group members and record their answers . Unfortunately I was absent the day of the meeting so I was unable to collect their answers, however below I typed up my questions and my answers. Having read the novel before I am able to provide answers based on the whole novel.

How does the diary help Anne, and what role does it play in her life?

Anne begins writing her diary at thirteen-years of age, at that time she feels as if that she is alone and that all of her friends and family misunderstand her. She turns to the diary as a new and understanding friend, knowing that the diary will be understanding and sympathetic and that it will always listen. She is confindant it will be the nonjudgmental listener which she is dire need of. Once Anne goes into hiding into the annex, she feels even more misunderstood. Anne feels that adults consider her a vexation and a nuisance. The diary offers her consolation in a time where she needs companionship. Anne refers to the diary “Kitty” indicating strong importance to Anne, she considers it a close friend. In the diary Anne refers to the diary as if it were a person.

Instead of expressing her feelings outright, Anne writes earnestly in the diary being cautious not to damage the fragile relationships inside the annex. When everyone is feeling tense, Anne turns to Kitty to comfort her, because she does not wish to burden the already stressed adults.

Anne's constant recording of her thoughts in her diary empowers her to discover her voice, both as a writer and her inner voice. The diary is a sort of sanctuary, where Anne is able to explore her increasingly intricate and complex thoughts. Later in life, Anne will be able to look back at the record as see how she matured and developed. The diary is a significant tool for Anne to grow and develop, while maintain both inner and outer peace.

Does Anne consider her family lucky or unfortunate to be living in the annex?

Anne’s feeling about the annex constantly fluctuates throughout the novel. During the most part Anne is aware that she is to have the annex to be able to hid from the Nazis. She deeply values the lavishness and kindness of her father's non-Jewish co workers who are risking their own lives to provide food and supplies to Anne and the other members of the Annex.

However, in the diary Anne often complains about the poor, miserable and stressful emotional and physical conditions inside the annex. The confinement of the annex bothers her, she is unable to see the blue sky or trees and nature. She often wails about not being able to see and explore the world outside of the annex. She is not used to his lifestyle. Before the annex she lived a comfortable middle-class life, now she has to share a small space with eight people under miserable conditions. She has no privacy, lives in constant fear and eats rotten potatoes.

In her diary Anne reflects about her other Jewish friends who have been sent to concentration camps or have been arrested. She loves life too much to die or be arrested and she decides that she is happy and lucky to be in the annex.

Why do you think some diary entries were omitted from the diary by Anne’s father?

Anne’s diary served as a place where she could express her thoughts and document and record her growth, development and maturing. Anne in the diary wrote down almost any thought she had not matter whether it was good or bad. It was her journal, she did not expect anyone to find it, read it, let alone publish it so that the whole world could read it. At the time Anne was stuck in the secret annex and had no one to talk to about her development and the chances she was experiencing. She thought no one understood her and that everyone was against her. Thus she turned to the diary. In some diary entries Anne express emotions about her parents who at the time she thought were against her and about exploring her body and inner thoughts. At the time and currently there is still a large social taboo about those subjects. The father not wanting to admit that his daughter did things omitted the entries and ignored them. He also thought the it was unfair that Anne talked about her mother like she did. However, Anne’s father later realized that these thoughts were normal for tenagers he than later in newer versions put the entries back into the published novel.

If you find the diary interesting, what makes Anne Frank's diary interesting?

I find The Diary of a Young Girl extremely interesting. Anne Frank’s diary is both an important and influential reminder of the horrors of war and a showcase of the prevailing human spirit. The novel is heart wrenching and heartwarming, it reveals the truth about World War II, how it was to live during it, and the people who experienced it. The diary is a window into the personal world of a adolescent girl who experienced war. Anne's personal style of writing allows the reader to feel what Anne felt and experience the events that she did. The diary has significance as a piece of writing and as a historical document. Anne documented her experiences during war and the vivid realities of it. Amusing, inspiring and thoughtful the novel provides a captivating narration on human bravery and frailty and serves as a self-portrait of a optimistic, spirited and sensitive young woman.

Do you think that Anne actually is in love with Peter?

I personally do not believe that Anne is in love with Peter. While hiding in the annex Anne has no one who she can confide in only her diary. She is in desperate need of a human being to talk to who will not judge her and instead understand her. This person is Peter, Anne is able to confide in Peter and thus she creates an image that she likes him. Anne manifest great self-awareness when she come to the conclusion that she only loves Peter Van Daan because she is lonely and in need of human companionship. “I created an image of him in my mind, pictured him as a quiet, sweet, sensitive boy badly in need of friendship and love! I needed to pour out my heart to a living person.” (Frank 243).

Discussion Director

Discussion Director

Questions:

1.       At the beginning of the book, Anne gives a name to her diary. What is the name?

Matija’s answer:

“She gives her diary the name Kitty”

Alex’s answer

“The name she gives her diary is Kitty”

Correct answer: Anne gives her diary the name Kitty.

2.       In which country did Anne and her family live during the war?

Matija’s answer

“Holland”

Alex’s answer

“Holland”

Correct answer: Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt Germany. During the war she lived in Holland.

3.       How many people are hiding in the same place with Anne?

Matija’s answer

“12 and some other numbers”

Alex’s answer

“12 and some other numbers”

Correct answer: There are eight people hiding in the place that Anne is hiding.

4.       At October 1^st, when Anne heard the knock on the door. Why was Anne scared? Who did she think it was?

Matija’s answer

“She was scared because she thought that it was that Nazis came and they caught them”

Alex’s answer

“She was scared because she was sure that the Nazis came and they caught them”

Correct answer: Anne heard that someone knocked on the door and she was very scared. She thought that the Nazis came and that is the end, they are going to find her and kill her.

5.       A man joins the place where Anne is hiding. Who is he?

Matija’s answer

“A dentist”

Alex’s answer

“A Jewish dentist”

Correct answer: He was a Jewish dentist named Alfred Dussel , he was hiding from the Nazis and he needed a place to stay at.

Anne Frank Illustrator

My job today, was to be an Illustrator. I drew the secret entrance to Anne Frank's annex because it is very crucial in the story in the manner that it protects the main characters from their fate if they were discovered by the Nazis. This shows the protagonist's exclusion from the world because they are technically illegal refugees, they are supposed to be kept in secrecy. This annex is located in Amsterdam, which is in the Netherlands, This is the scene when her family first moves into the annex and they view the door's mechanism. This at the beginning of story's rising action.

Discussion Director of Milkweed - by Jerry Spinelli

Q: What does Milkweed, the plant, symbolize in the novel Milkweed?

Boris, my only groupmate's answer: It symbolizes the fragility of Misha's identity because Milkweed is fragile.

Answer: Hope and survival

Q: What is the greatest threat to survival, outside of the Nazis, to the jews living in the ghetto?
Boris's Answer: The Nazis (Obviously listening to the question) and lack of resources.
A: The Jewish populace living in ghettos had very little ways to acquire food, thus starvation was the biggest problem.

Q: What does Misha teach to the Milgroms about survival?
Boris's Answer: Martial arts (?)
A: That being invisible is the best form of protection.

Q: How do Misha's views of the Jackboots (Nazis), their parades and the war, change as the story progresses?
Boris's Answer: Misha starts viewing the Nazis as evil mass-murderers.
A: At the beginning, Misha, wants to be a Jackboot, which we know from the many statements he made. Later, he views them as needlessly cruel.

Q: What did you think of Janina and Uncle Shep after they ate the rats? Was it justified?
Boris's Answer: It was disgusting but justified because they were starving.
A: I saw how desperate and starved they were, and I found it justified.


Boris summarized the story to me, the only audience.

Milkweed Blog #1

Alex Nedera
Milkweed: Travel Tracer
Chapter 14, pg 66

       The action begins in the Warsaw city center, where the protagonist is stealing bread. After running away, he is confronted by another orphan named Uri, who had in mind stealing the very bread that the main character was consuming. After (for some reason?) becoming instant friends, Uri takes the main character to a stable where other homeless children gather and stockpile their stolen food. The stables owner comes, and the orphans are forced to scatter. The protagonist runs after Uri. Uri takes the main character to a house with running water where the ripe-smelling protagonist takes a shower. Then, Uri takes the protagonist to a barbershop and gives him a haircut. 
      Uri also gives the protagonist a codename, Misha, because the protagonist did not have any other name. Some time passes, and Jackboots (Nazis) occupy Warsaw. Misha then sees tanks in the city square. Misha wishes to be a Jackboot because he sees their organization, discipline, tanks and other complex machines. One day Misha finds himself in a garden, where a girl lives. He steals her tomatoes. Later, he comes back and is invited to a birthday party at their house, where he steals the cake because he was surprised at the candles that they put in the cake. He steals another one and gives it back.

                During our discussion, Tomer summarized the story, which gaves us a refresher of the events. Matija then showed us the different or important words that we found after which we had to guess the definition (not really). Boris then asked us questions which we had to answer with our analytical skills.

Milkweed chapter 1-8 summery

Milkweed chapter 1-8 summery

The narrator’s name is unknown. He does not know anything about his identity. Uri is another character that takes the narrator to the orphanage that he is living at, since the narrator is also an orphan. There are a lot of kids in the orphanage. At the beginning they were trying to figure out the identity of the narrator with no success. At the end Uri says that he thinks the narrator is a gipsy, and this is all they know. The life in the Second World War is hard, especially of orphans who have to steal food to survive. Uri and the narrator are talking and Uri figures out that the narrator has a younger brother. The narrator says that he wants to be one of the Jackboots one day (Jackboots are the Nazis). In chapter 7, the narrator is given a name (Misha Pilsudski) by Uri. Uri tells Misha the story of how their family was separated and Misha is sad with him. Misha is happy he is not a Jew because he saw what the Nazis are doing and how they abuse the Jews.