Reid 5

In the book A Diary of a Young Girl (by Anne Frank), there are plenty of people stuffed into an incomodious space called the Secret Annexe. At once, Anne has to share a table with Dr. Dussel who refuses to grant her 2 hours in the evening for 2 days use of the table. Anne quickly consults her father, Otto Frank, who then tells her how to handle the problem. Anne asks again and is again declined by Dr. Dussel, but instead of taking this calmly Dr. Dussel decided to take a word in it and argue. Dr. Dussel claimed Anne was being selfish while he was only concerned on where he would work when she would obtain the desk from him. For this, Dr. Dussel was being a hypocrit and Anne was being polite, but because she was simply a "spoiled child" he would definately refuse her proposal. Thus, because he was an adult and doctor, he mattered much more than Anne. Anne only ended up winning this argument with her father talking to Dr. Dussel later with a fierce argument containing harangue. So, stuck-up adults think that they should put themselves infront of children just like Dr. Dussel did there.

Derrick 4

Connection In this book Anne keeps a diary(hence the tiltle.) This is very common for people durring wars. Many soldiers have written down notes, letters and other things to there loved ones. Similar to thier notes and Anne's notes they never know if they will ever get to the people they were written to or even read at all. Soldiers would also describe what they would see every day in diarys to get it out of there head. This is very similar to what Anne is doing.
I once read the aoutobiography of Chris Rock. Although your probably thinking they have nothing in common they actualy do. An autobiography is a story or book written about your own life. Autobiographys are very similar to diarys because it is a given person writting about there life. although they have some different aspects such as most people never wanting others to see there diary, they also share alot.

Shirley's 4 & 5

On Friday, Feburary 5th of Anne Frank, Anne Frank states that Peter has “the misfortune of adoring foreign words without knowing what they mean.” Peter ran to the bathroom, which he could not flush at the time, and tacked a sign to the door that read “RSVP-gas!” which was supposed to stand for “Danger-gas!” He didn’t have any idea it stood for “Reply-gas!”

This reminds me of my cousins in China. When I go back to China, sometimes I call my friends back in America and talk to them. My cousins would sometimes wander close to me and catch on to some words I say. After they catch on to a word that they liked, they would parade around the house and the streets later on pointing at everything and saying the word! I remember, one word that was used was “bunny”.


“(pg. 12) I finished my poem and it was beautiful! It was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much. Luckily, Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well. Since then I’ve been allowed to talk and haven’t been assigned any extra homework.”
That passage was one of my favorite passages out of the book, because it gave the reader a taste of Anne’s personality and creativity. Anne was a talkative student, and one day the math teacher became incredibly irritated by Anne’s constant talking and made her write a composition about “a chatterbox.” Unconcerned, Anne proved to her teacher that her words could flow just as fluently on paper as they did when she spoke. Her first paper was one of my favorite passages as well. She wrote that talking is a feminine characteristic, and although she might work to keep it under control, she did not think she could be cured. She stated her mother talked as much as she did, and so being a chatterbox was undoubtedly an inherited characteristic. Then, the teacher punished her with another essay after she began talking in class again: “Incurable chatterbox”. And the passage I pulled out from the book was from her third punishment for talking: ‘“Quack, Quack, Quack,” Said Mistress Chatterback.’” Anne’s imaginative mind pulled her out of her possible humiliation! Her essay ideas were all enjoyable to read, thus I chose one of them as my favorite passage.

John 4

My final connection is between Anne and the every day child. Although Anneis such a famous and her name is world renowned, she is just like us. Shewants to be understood and has feelings and fears as well as arguements withher parents. Children today have the exact same worries and troubles as thefamous Anne Frank did. But a major difference between today's children andAnne Frank is that she never had to worry about school work much. Thenagain, we never had to worry about being sent to a concentration camp simplybecause of religion. There are major differences between today's childrenand Anne, but the similarities are very noticeable. She was just a girlwhile she was going through these horrors and we would probably be just likeher if we were going through the same thing.

John 5

My last connection is the relationship between the book Runner and AnneFrank's Diary of a Young Girl. In the book Runner, a boy who loves to run ispayed money to retreive strange packages from secret areas and return themto a criminal for money. No one is to know about this and he will be hurt ifhe tells anyone, so he suspects he is retrieving drugs. Anne and the boy inRunner share a similar thing: both have a secret that if exposed, could havethem killed. The only difference is that Anne dies in the end, while the boylives. I find this to be similar because they both describe their fear oftheir secret graphically. Both are deathly afraid that someone will findout.

Graham's Connections & Comments

Reid #4 commentI dont think that it was so tragic that he burnt her diaries. So much happened to, and was experienced by, Valdek that when he married Mala (right?) he needed a fresh start. Anja's memory will never be forgotten, along with all the things that took place during the war. But i do think that he should have been able to tell his son more about her, being his mom and everything, he has a right to know about her.

Luke #1i would probably bring my ipod, cellphone, laptop, and a lot of books.the thing is, who would you be talking to on the phone? If someone found out, they could trace the call and you could get captured..your life is over with one text message.

Niki's third connectionOn your third connection..its a lot like school in a way. Everyday you have the same schedule and you have to repeat this schedule almost 200 times a year, for many years.At times it can be very boring and dull, and sometimes something can happen that sparks a temporary jolt in the mood.

FOURTH CONNECTIONAnne gets in all sorts of spats with the other inhabitants of the annex daily. Because this book is written first person, it is easy to see Anne's side in the argument. She shares her raw feelings with you on the situation and you feel like you were there. (Around page 138) When Anne takes one of Margot's books and causes a huge disruptment in the Annex, she says her family claims she left the room "in a huff" while she said her only sour mood was sadness. We all get in fights with our family and 9 times out of 10, when it is all over, you feel like you were in the right. Anne is infamous for being a great exaggerator and i could easily see how she could have blown this up and caused a big dilemma where there was little happening.

FIFTHAlthough her feelings for her family have experienced great degradation, Anne finds herself getting closer and closer with Margot as they both grow and get older. Anne is lucky she has a sister and although she probably didnt realize it, this definitely made her Annex experience a lot easier. At times Margot could give Anne great stress but i think overall, she was a positive aspect of her life. I dont have a sister, only two brothers, and if i had to go into hiding for years with no one else but family, i think that after a while, i would begin to feel greatful that i had siblings at all. I wouldnt have to be all alone and there would always be someone to relate to.

Morgan 5

This is an awkward connection to make, but I am going to connect the members of the Annex to homeless people. Their living conditions are somewhat better than a homeless person (obviously, because a homeless person would not having living quaraters). But as far as food and fun and social activity, they are both kind of on the same level. The food that people eat in the “Secret Annex” has mainly maneuvered into rotten tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, and things such as that. A homeless person might at least get a decent meal from a kind bystander once in a while, but not the people in the Annex. They long for good healthy and filling meals! The attitudes of the residents of the Secret Annex pretty much mimic the attitudes of a homeless. The “woe as me” and the “life might not get any better unless a miracle happens” mindsets are a common trend between these two parties. The one thing that Anne has that only some homeless people have is the desire to live. She admits to Kitty that even though her lifestyle is horrendous, she had still not given up hope and still has a strong passion for her own life. Some people who live without a home to sleep in have this same hope and desire. They believe that even though life might not be as good as it possibly could at the moment, things could get better and result in something much better than they even started it out. This just goes to show that attitude is everything!

Morgan Helmendach

Morgan 4

Anne Frank resembles a grown woman in numerous accounts. For one, Anne has her own opinions on things and (usually) truly cares about other people’s feelings and considers them in all of the decisions that she makes. An average teenage girl at the age of 15 would do whatever her will told her to at the moment, and would tend to be very moody most of the time, but not Anne. She is very independent (yet loves having a companion in which she can rely on) and knows deep down what is appropriate in her circumstances and what is not. She also longs to have an intimate relationship with Peter for a while, until she realizes that all she really wants is a solid friendship. She, like many other girls, have realized a sense of regret and that awful feeling that because what you have done is done and now it can never be taken back. All of the actions Anne makes, she takes full responsibility for, and she (unlike many teenage girls) has realized that attitude is everything and it is pretty much the only thing that you can control in an environment!

Morgan Helmendach

Alex's photo & questions: Zoom in. (From Flickr)

Jessica 5

Anne writes that viewing nature makes her feel calm and hopeful. She also writes that the joys of nature can be enjoyed by people both rich and poor. I agree with both of these statements. When I look up at the huge expanse of the night sky and see the white, bright moon and the constellations of stars, I feel more relaxed, just like Anne. Nature is often times beautiful, and anyone, young and old, rich and poor, can witness its grandness simply by stepping outside or, in Anne's case, looking through a window. I can't exactly express why nature has such an effect on people. Perhaps it is the beauty of it? Maybe it is its hugeness? Like I said, I'm not sure why nature nature has this sort of effect, but what I am certain about is that it brings out feelings of calmness, awe, and more, in people.

Alex 5

Where was the fun in hiding? What would you do if you had nothing interesting or more time consuming to do while hiding from near execution? Reading sounds like an optional choice, but what if your books had been left behind when forced into hiding at the last second. Or maybe you're just too depressed to read. Anne surprised me though. Instead of becoming more depressed after losing her strong connections with her family, even her dad, she matured considerably in writing diary entries. She wrote more and more detailed accounts of her daily activities and mentioned some practical philosophy with her lifestyle in hiding and isolation from the rest of the world. Anne didn't give-up on herself. She kept writing because she knew that there was nothing else for her to do except spend quality time with Peter van Daan. Which Anne enjoyed, but she kept writing because it had become her passion.

Jessica's Favorite Passage

My Favorite Passage:"I've asked myself again and again whether it wouldn't have been better if we hadn't gone into hiding, if we were dead now and didn't have to go through this misery, especially so that the others could be spared the burden. But we all shrink from this thought. We still love life, we haven't yet forgotten the voice of nature, and we keep hoping, hoping for...everything." (pg 303)

Anne and the others residents of the Secret Annex live in constant fear of being discovered. The conditions of the Annex ,while not being horrible, are not entirely pleasant. Someone has to wonder, "Is this really worth the misery, going into hiding?" Anne shys these thoughts away with the words in the above passage, which radiate hope for the future. She believes that since the members of the Annex still love life, life in hiding is better than death. With hope, the Jews in the Secret Annex continnue to live. I like this hopeful side of the passage. I also like this passage because of the way it was written. The passage sounds so longing and so unlike the writing of most teeage girls. Anne is astounding writer for her age. If she had survived to live out her life, I bet she would have written some very enjoyable books.

Reid 4 & 5

On Thursday, November 11, 1943 (pg.145) Anne writes "I'm left with one consolation, small though it may be: my fountain pen was cremated, just as I would like to be someday!"

What really strikes me about this sentence is the explanation mark at the end of it. Did she really believe this and truly wanted her body disposed of like this? My guess is that at this point in the war, word had gotten out about the death camps/gas chambers and people knew of their existence. Another striking thing about this sentence is Anne's ability to face the truth of what could happen. For me at least I would not be able to write that down, or even think about it long enough to write it. Anne, who at this point as already has gone through some rough times and was still going through difficult times was able to fully comprehend this delicate situation that she was in. Something that amazes me, and something I will never fully grasp.

page 247 Anne writes "I don't want to have lived in vain like most people. I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death." This was written in 1944, her diary was first published in 1947 by her father Otto Frank. More than a million people have read this book, used not only for the literature, but also for the historical content that line the pages of the diary. But what is more interesting is that Anne has lived on after death, and she has inspired many people in many different ways that I believe she never knew she would have an impact on. After her terrible death in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, her life has been kept in beautiful memory's that lines 332 pages.

Shaunish 5

A photograph is an amazing thing. It takes a moment in time, and captures it, and perfectly preserves it. It's like a memory trapped on paper. It helps us to remember and understand who we were when the photo was taken. Likewise, Anne's diary was her camera. But instead of capturing her physical features, it was a picture of her thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Every time she wrote a diary entry, she aimed her mind's camera at herself, and recorded her inner chaos on paper. As her album grew, she was able to look back and observe how she had grown. She never had to Photoshop it because that would only be lying to herself. Now, decades later, we can flip through her diary and learn about her life. But we have to hold it in the right light, or else the photo is ruined.

Kathy 6

When Anne sent her father the letter about being an independentperson, he understandably got very upset. In sixth grade, I put a veryunfortunate and bitter letter in someone's locker. Said person gotvery upset and showed the letter to her teacher. Her teacher then toldher to go show the letter to the counselor. The counselor, in turn,showed the letter to the vice principal. After the letter was passedalong, I eventually got called up to the front office "for a message"where I got detention. In the end, we became friends again. SinceAnne's father couldn't give her detention, he just let her go on abouther business, and eventually, like me and that person, they becausefriends again.

Carly 5

Fame After Death In DOAYG Anne talks about how she wants to become a published writer. When she was alone and dieing in her concentration camps we can only assume she must have wondered what would be left of her short life when she was gone. We now know she’s a famed writer, but then Anne had no idea how big of an idol she would become. When I Googled, (that is a verb, its actually in the dictionary: to Google) people who became famous after death, I was surprised to see that Anne made a lot of “famed” lists. She along with people like Van Goethe, Emily Dickinson, and Bach had issues. Some of these people thought their life was worthless and were depressed because they thought they were failures/ had a harsh life. Anne wasn’t depressed, that we know of, but she had a hard life, and that is, what we now know, makes the tragic stories that tortures peoples souls and helps them create masterpieces, just as Anne did.

Kathy 5

in The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne expresses her sexuality in a waythat would seem utterly shocking. I, like any person , i would assume,could understand why Otto Frank wouldn't want that kind of stuffpublished. But of you think about how it is now-a-days, things likethat are expressed very lightly. People talk about sexual orientationlike they talk about the news. Sure, some guys take things a littletoo far and crack perverted jokes, but no one gives it a secondthought. If Anne could come to our time in America, I doubt she wouldbe confused anymore because people talk about it about 15 times in a24 hour day. Back then it just wasn't as acceptable as it is now, andstill some of our parents don't see eye-to-eye with the children onthe subject. Children are learning more and more things about theirbodies every day and some parents strongly appose it.

Shaunish: Hibernation analogy

In Diary of a Young Girl, Anne and her comrades find themselves holed up in the Annex with little outside contact. Basically, their lives are on hold. They just exist until the time comes when they may have all the freedoms they enjoyed before confinement. This is similar to many members of the animal kingdom that perform an amazing feat every winter. They simply shut down their body until their body deems it is right for them to venture out into the outside world. Most people call this hibernation. While the denizens of the Annex are not asleep, they have been "shut down" by the oppression of the Nazi regime. For both parties, the choice is clear; either go into this substandard state of existence, or die.

Kathy

When I was about eight or nine years old, my dad contracted pneumonia. All I remember was that he drank a lot of orange juice and was sickf or a couple of weeks. Luckily, he didn't have the same attitude as Mr. Vokuijl. Mr. Vokuijl thought that since he was going to die anyway, he shouldn't care about his health or his sickness. That mentality put his family back emotionally and wealth-wise. Because Mr.Vokuijl couldn't work, that meant less income fore the Vokuijl family,thus, less food or luxuries. If my dad had done the same thing, i don't think we'd be living in our house of nine years right now. Eventhough my dad didn't work for those couple of weeks, my mom still supported us until my dad got back on his feet. It was very unfortunate that Mrs. Vokuijl couldn't do the same thing as my mother.

On page 158, Anne writes:
"I stuck my tongue out at them, right there on the street. A littleold lady happened to be passing by, and she looked terribly shocked."
Normally, if something like that happened on our society today, people wouldn't even turn heads. They would just go on about their normal routine of the day. This type of thing shows how different we are from Anne culturally. People in East Cobb honestly couldn't care less if they were walking on the street and a child disrespected his or her parents. People here are so spoiled, that many of these parents allowt heir children to do such a thing in public, none the less. To me, I thought it was a little weird that the old lady would look and feel that way because I'm just not used to that kind of behavior. My parents are fairly strict, but I suppose if I did that, my parentswould take it as a joke. But obviously, Anne wasn't intending her gesture as a joke.

Luke 5

In 1994, Rwanda experienced an awful genocide much like the Holocaust. The accused people were a minority, killings were brutal, and it happened in an unstable environment. The Tutsi and Jews both only make up a small part of their populations. In Rwanda, people were beaten to death or shot in the streets and in Europe, concentration camps “exterminated” prisoners by the thousands in gas chambers and other facilities. The Holocaust took place in war-torn Europe, which was definitely an unstable environment. The Rwandan genocide also took place in complete chaos, with people trying to evade pursuers, seek refuge, and hide. History can definitely repeat itself.

Lucas 3 & 4

I’m sure all of us have experienced that true jerk that does everything you don’t want him/her to do. Mr. Dussel is that person in The Diary of a Young Girl. He hogs the bathroom, speaks rudely, and won’t let Anne use his table for a couple hours a week. The latter being a truly pointless argument that lasted a couple of days. Living with a character such as Mr. Dussel would quickly get on my nerves. Just goes to show you that there’s one in every crowd.

“When I get up in the morning, another very disagreeable moment, I leap out of bed, think to myself, ‘You’ll be slipping back under the covers soon,’ walk to the window, take down the blackout screen, sniff at the crack until I feel a bit of fresh air, and I’m awake. I strip the bed as fast as I can so I won’t be tempted to get back in. Do you now what Mother calls this sort of thing? The art of living. Isn’t that a funny expression?”
This passage, one of my favorites, almost exactly describes what I do in the morning in order to keep away from those tempting, warm covers. Although I don’t have to strip my bed or take down a blackout screen, I do say to myself that I will be back in bed soon or something of that sort. This passage shows how although being cooped up in a small hiding place, these little rituals left over from normal life, such as the one mentioned before, are still present.

Sommy's Connections 4 & 5

#4:There are many books written about WWII and the Holocaust including The Diary of a Young Girl and Tamar. Tamar written (by Mal Peet) is a peculiar book mainly about a man involved with the resistance fighters during WWII. As to not spoil what the book is about, I'll try to keep the information as discreet as possible in case you plan on reading it in the future. Coincidentally, this man fought in the Nazi-occupied Holland which is where Anne lived. He goes through much love, tragedy, and jealousy just as Anne's family experienced much of those qualities while cramped into the "Secret Annexe." The Frank family had gone through so much of this. For example, at the begining of the book she would talk about her love/social life with fellow classmates and friends. Of course, in the diary, there is the major tragedy of the Holocaust when many minority groups were attempted to be exterminated.

#5:"Must I keep thinking about those other people, whatever I am doing? And if I want to laugh aboutsomething, should I top myself quickly and feel ashamed that I am cheerful? Ought I then to cry the whole day long? No, that I can't do. Besides, in time this gloom will wear off." --pg. 55

In this passage, Anne is reflecting on all the people being taken to concentration camps and death camps. She is confused on ow she is supposed to feel while hiding from the Nazis. She doesn't know whether or not to have gllom and depression settle over or try to not really think about and focus on caring for herself. Sometimes, I feel the same way. For example, when I must attend a funeral, I may run into a friend and don't know whether to talk about the unfortunate death or just try to get it out of my mind and just have a normal conversation. And my mom just tells me that I am allowed to giggle or smile just not uncontrollably as to not be disrespectful. And just as Anne had even more misery to follow, so did I. Since that funeral, unfortunately, I've attended two other funeral gatherings. The loss of a loved one is always the hardest thing in life.

Rohil's 5th Connection

Rohil--Wow...this is interesting. I've never heard about this. I'd like to learn more about this piece of history...where did you find this information? Perhaps it can be a topic for research next year. --Mrs. Johnson

The Holocaust in Europe was a major part of world history but there is another genocide closer to home that was not very well known. In Canada, from about 1850- 1984, there was a mass genocide of the Native Indian and Aboriginal people. Similar to the Nazi's, the Canadian government was using these Indian's and others as test subjects to many experiments which usually left the people dead. To start off the genocide, the Canadians were putting all children from the groups (indians, aboriginals, and others) into residential schools where they would contract diseases such as tuberculosis. The government intentionally put these children there for them to die. If a child was admitted to a hospital with TB, the doctors were restricted from helping and were forced to leave the children to die. As the years went by, the death rate in residential schools was up to 75%!!!!! To eliminate the rest of the "problem", the medical inspectors/school nurses were removed from schools. The Canadian governments plan was similar to Hitler's because Canada wanted to get rid of the "Indian problem" and Hitler wanted to get ride of the "Jew problem".

Ali's Connection #5

Connection 5: My final connection is from the final pages of Diary of a Young Girl. The last words she wrote were "if only there were no other people in the world". This quote is far from happy by itself; but take into consideration that some of those "other people" came and dragged her off to her death three days later, and it's downright chilling.The connection is not from the diary, though, but from the afterword. Out of all 7/8 who died, each of them died within a few months of the camps' liberations. Peter's death was a mere three days to early. The concept of coming so close is a common one, so this can be connected to so many things. A runner in first place who trips two feet before the finish line, a pianist who hits the wrong chord in the finale of the piece, or contestant on Jeapordy who forgets to answer in the form of a question.Those examples seem trivial in comparison to the life or death struggles of the Franks. But the main difference between these things and Anne's story is that those 7/8 people from the Annex never knew how close they were.

Ali's Connection #4

Connection 4: I don't know the slightest thing about the stock market, but I think it might be a little bit similar to the Frank family going into hiding. What I'm seeing is that people's money "lived" in the stock market, like the Frank family lived in the Netherlands. Had people seen the economic downturn coming, I'm guessing they would have moved their money out of the stock market. The Franks, if they thought the get as bad is it did, might have moved out of Europe while they had the chance. Because people did not have enough foresight, they lost a lot. The Franks (and all of those people-groups persecuted by Nazis) lost either their lives at death camps, or at least several years of their lives while in hiding. And, though it pales in comparison, people with money in the stock market may have lost a good amount of it.

Matt's Connection #5

One way I can relate Anne's diary to the world today is one of Amazon.com's recent "plans". Now, to be clear, this connection is more so related to Hitler's anti-Semitism program than to Anne's current living situation. Anyway, on Monday, April 12, 2009, all books on homosexuality, including biographies by famous homosexual celebrities, have been labeled as "adult" and therefore the sales are dropping. One way this baffles me is the fact that this occurred only a few days after Ellen DeGeneres's recent promotion of COVERGIRL, a highly selling brand! Only to affect the younger population as well, children's books on homosexuality such as Heather Has Two Mommies have been removed as well! Adding on to the propaganda, one book that hasn't been removed is A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality! In conclusion, I can see some relation to Amazon's "Removal Act" and Hitler's removal of all Jews, Gypsies, and (most surprisingly) homosexuals!

Matt's Connection #4

Another way I can relate The Diary of a Young Girl to another famous piece of literature is the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Now, this being said, I am not saying that her style is similar to that of Mitch Albom's (author), but to say that her last entry in her diary reminds me of a famous quote in the book. The quote goes as follows, "How do people know what to say before they die? Is it the gravity of their imminent death that allows them to perfectly pick their last words?" I find this to be quite fitting for her last entry due to the fact that she gives a recap of her previous entries that outline her insecurities. However, this, of course is not her last words even though the date is remarkably close to the day the Secret Annex was discovered, but, in my opinion, it seemed as if fate made her write sort of a last will and testament. In closing, Anne's last entry almost seemed like a way of saying goodbye, similar to Mr. Albom's famous quote.

Monica's Connection #6 & #7

Anne Frank was a simple and basic young girl, in a far less complicated time, who was thrust into an extraordinary situation. Sometimes when basic and simple things are put together or mixed whether by accident or intentionally, the result is far greater than the sum of the parts. Take for example, the basic ingredients of Nestle Toll House Cookies. The cookie, which is arguably one of the greatest ever invented, consists of flour, butter, sugar, chocolate chips and a little water. These ingredients alone don't amount to much, but when thrust together, and placed under heat the result is something bigger than the sum of the individual parts. If you consider "The Diary of Anne Frank" as a bunch of pages with words written by a young, simple girl from the mid 1940's you may not "taste" the real result. But those words written by a basic, young simple girl who was thrust into an unbelievable situation fostered the recipe for a literary work that has been chewed on for over 60 years.


It took 26 months for Anne to write her diary just like it takes 26 miles to complete a marathon. Clearly, the race is not a sprint but rather a long test of endurance. Anne's diary and later the novel which bears her name is really a test of history and endurance. The book is a period in time remembered with ups and downs, turns and straightaways like a long distance race through the streets of a large city. But this city is a city in time and history. This city in time and history has endured because the lessons learned from it are the kind that must never be forgotten. The race that Anne ran, was one of endurance and survival and like a 26 mile marathon her 26 month chronology gives us hope and strength.

Monica's Connection #5

Anne often portrays two personalities as the plot of Diary of a Young Girl continues. A more upbeat, kind Anne is projected toward others, while a more biased, judgmental Anne speaks in her diary. This is true with all teens today, and sometimes we find ourselves acting more politically correct toward adults than toward our peers, or people of our age. An example of this "false attitude" is when we receive a gift we don't admire or already have and instead of being truly honest, we say we love it to please the giver. This, commonly known as a "white lie," is a debatable topic, and is a common tactic used by Anne and many teens and adults alike today.

Monica's Connection #4

Throughout Diary of a Young Girl, Anne often mentions the steadfast fear plaguing the members of the annex, more so the children, forced into hiding. This compares to many criminals and citizens in trouble with the government, which is occurring more frequently because of the recession and hard economic times today. It also compares with the angst Kino and Juana felt during their flee from the white men, in John Steinbecks' The Pearl. I'm sure the adults of the annex felt more anxious in both stories, for they were fearing for not only their lives but the lives of their children. Unfortunately, in both books a child (or more) is lost, leaving one or more adults devastated by that loss. It seems that every book we have read this year, portrays someone in hiding or in the run.

Carly's Connection #4

Pg. 278 Father’s unhappy about me. After our walk on Sunday he thought I’d stop going upstairs every evening. He won’t have any “Knutscherei- necking” going on. I can’t stand that word. Talking about it is bad enough- why does he have to make me feel bad to!

I found this passage somewhat comical. Anne’s family has a war raging outside their home, but her father’s main concern is keeping his daughter in line. Anne, just like most teenagers, is mad at her father for not trusting her and thinking she would engage in such behavior. Anne’s father reminds me of many fathers who have teenage kids. The ones who grill the boyfriend and reload their gun when they hear about their daughters Knutscherei(ing)a boy. Still, all jokes aside, we know Anne’s dad is just looking for his daughter safety as all good parents do.

Reid's Connection #4: Diary & MAUS

(Reid, I'm taking the liberty to edit this a bit for accuracy.)
In the book Maus, people are portrayed as animals. [Jews are persecuted by] the Germans. The [Jews] are [portrayed] as mice and the cats are German[s]. [This dynamic] plays a common role in our cartoons today of the cats chacing the mice. [Vladek] married a woman named Anja who was smart and he truly loved. Just like Anne Frank, Anja retained a diary during the Holocaust [Though destroyed, this account is rewritten] and is kept in a bookshelf in 1970. Anja is smart and keeps her diary, but after the Holocaust she commits suicide from reasons unknown until we get farther in the book. Anja was a lot like Anne Frank in ways such as keeping a diary, being smart women, and both died from he Holocaust just in different ways. I wish i knew more about the book to make a FULL connection!!

Message from Mrs. Johnson

Y'all have made some great connections. At this point you should be over three quarters of the way through the diary. I'm copying and pasting the assignment again so you don't have to scroll through the entire blog for the reminder.

• make a series of 7 connections with the author, text, situation, history, experience and/or the world. Write a minimum of one paragraph and please be thoughtful and respectful in your connections. (Most of you need 4 more.)
• respond to at least 7 of your peer's paragraph connections. (By the end of the book.)
• find and define at least 5 interesting words and provide the passage where you found the word. (No repeaters...first come, first served!) This can be done on paper or the blog.
• record a favorite passage in the book and explain why it appeals to you.

Caroline's Connection 1

heres the 1st connection! I guess something happened when I sent you my connections, because it was with the second one....
#1
"...I'm very afraid that we shall be discovered and be shot....We have to whisper and tread lightly during the day, otherwise the people in the warehouse might hear us."(Saturday, 11 July, 1942) Anne, her family, Alburt Dussel, and the Van Daans lived every day in fear, hoping the Nazi’s wouldn’t discover their hiding place. On regular days, they couldn't even talk much above a whisper. This reminded me of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, where Guy Montag stole books from fires and had to hide them. Everyday, he was worried sick that other firemen or the mechanical hound would learn that he had possession of many books. In the end, Montag's wife, Mildred, tells the fire department(I think...?)about the books and gets Montag in trouble. Similarly, though not in the book, the Frank family is betrayed and end up getting captured. Though these sad stories have different endings, they both went through the same feelings of anxiety.

Luke’s Connection - 1
I'm sure some, if not all, of us, while reading The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank [duh], have engendered a list of desired goodies that we would bring along with us if we were put into her situation. Anne's first items that she stuffs into her bag are her diary, curlers, hankercheifs, schoolbooks, a comb, and some old letters. Living in the 21st century, we would all pack our cell phones, computers, and clothes. Girls would pack their outifts and guys would probably pack our Xbox's and PS3's and whatnot. Times have changed, and that is conveyed through this difference.

Luke’s Connection - 2
Tying in with Caroline’s connection to China’s Cultural Revolution, the book Red Scarf Girl tells the true story of Ji-Li Jiang, a girl about Anne’s age, living in her adolescence during a major historical segregation event. Ji-Li and Anne are very similar: they both are about the same age, they are being accused in some way, and they both hear about and see terrible things done to innocent people. Their differences also speak out too. Unlike Anne, Ji-Li is not living in complete hiding; she has partial freedom to do whatever she wants. Anne, on the other hand, does not have total freedom; for example, she has to maintain a safe and quiet environment. These two girls have been through two of the most historical uprisings of the 1900s.

Taylor's First Three Connections

#1 Connection Throughout the book The Diary of A Young Girl, Anne Frank is moved into a "secret annex". With living space at a minimum, fights erupt from the people living within the walls of the "secret annex". I understand why the Frank family fought, as my family has often fought when we are in hotels as we discuss who moved whose clothes. But on the other hand, sometimes I feel that when a person is in hard times, they grow closer to people, as shown in the book with Anne and her father. Anne and her mother never really got along together, and with the many subjects to fight about while in hiding, things turned for the worse for both of them. With these "rivalries", living together must have been terrible. Something I believe is hard for us to understand because if we get in a fight in the morning we have the whole day (at work or at home) to calm down. The Franks did not have this luxury, as we often take for granted.

#2 Connection In the book Running out of Time and The Diary of a Young Girl there is one major similarity. During the Holocaust many parts of the world turn their backs on the actions Germany took against Jewish people. Allowing many to suffer and die throughout WWII. In Running out of Time a community of people living in the 1840's, suffer a village wide sickness of diphtheria. One of the teenagers in the village find out from her mother that it is actually 1996, and the village that they were living in was actually a tourist attraction. The owner of the village wanted to create a super gene pool of people that could withstand all diseases. To accomplish this he slowly gave citizens of the village diseases which allowed the weak citizens to die, letting the strong ones live. Because it was a tourist attraction many people saw this happening, but did nothing about it.

#3 Connection In the book The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne is forced to go into hiding by the Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler during WWII, who lead Germany out of the rumbles of humiliation that Germany was in after WWI. Another similar figure in the 20th century is Fidel Castro, who was a revolutionist in Cuba that set up communism in the country. Both of them overthrew the government, promising citizens of new and better things for their citizens. Castro with communism and Hitler with the gaining back off German land that was taken away from them. Throughout their terms of government they formed strong ties with other countries, allowing them to get supplies and fight on the same side of the battlefield. Hitler sent Jewish people into hiding and to death camps, on the other hand Castro's plan of communism sent many people looking to find a new way off life in America. Also many assassination plots where set up to kill them, none were successful. These two people in history changed many things in the world due to their actions throughout their tenure in office. Many people will remember these actions through books, stories, and movies.