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).