Anne Frank Essay Assignment

Anne Frank Essay Assignment We have just finished studying Anne Frank. For this assignment, I want you to really think deeply about how reading about reading The Diary of Anne Frank has impacted the way you think. For this assignment, you will have two options. Option One: Reaction Essay Write a reaction essay about The Diary of Anne Frank. How did reading the play affect you? Write about what you have learned as a result of reading this text. Is intolerance still going on today? Are there lessons to be learned from having read this book? Has it in any way changed your thinking? For instance: will you think twice before you judge someone because of his or her appearance or beliefs? Ask yourself: How has learning about Anne s life changed your life? (If you think of that as the main question, your answer becomes your thesis ) You reaction essay should include your opinion of this text and how it has or will impact your life further as well as include your personal thoughts and emotions on the subject you choose to focus on. Paragraph One: Introduction and Thesis (Main Idea) What has reading this play done for you? Paragraph Two: Support your opinion with at least two examples from the play! Give examples of what you learned from this play. Defend your opinion and tell me why you think what you think! Paragraph Three: Relate it to your life! What is your big take away from the play? Tell me how it has or will change the person you are. Paragraph Four: Conclusion What is most important about what you just wrote? Summarize your thoughts and ideas. Word Choice Idea! Find better words for happy, sad, mad/angry, bored, and stupid/dumb

Option Two: Reflective Essay Anne used her diary as a way to reflect on things that were happening in her life which she couldn t control. By writing in her diary, she was able to work through her various emotions in a useful way. You are going to write a reflective essay about a time when things didn t go your way. Your reflective essay should include the various results and effects of this time as well as include your personal thoughts on this matter. Paragraph One- Introduction and Backward Question First, hook your audience by describing the event/situation/experience in vivid detail. Then, answer the Backward Question somewhere in the description. What were your expectations? Paragraph Two- Inward Question What was the affect on you? Include some emotions! Paragraph Three- Outward Question What was the affect on others? Include some emotions! Paragraph Four- Forward Question What can you take away from the experience and apply to your future? What is the lesson learned? Detail Idea! What connections can you draw between your experience and that of Anne Frank and the others in hiding? Word Choice Idea! Find better words for happy, sad, mad/angry, bored, and stupid/dumb

Anne Frank Essay Writing Rubric 1 2 3 4 5 Organization No introduction or conclusion Missing 1 or more paragraphs A great deal of information is in the wrong paragraph No connection to the play 9 11 No feeling or emotions No personality Didn t contain author opinion or details about their life Has an introduction OR conclusion Some of the essay is formatted the wrong way Some information is in the wrong paragraph 1-2 Connections to the play 13 14 Has feeling or emotions from the subject, but they are weak or unclear Contained some author opinion or details about their life Has an introduction and conclusion Follows proper essay format Information is in the proper paragraph 3 or more connections to the play 15 Has a strong feeling or emotion of the subject of the biography Had a lot of author opinion or details about their life Voice 9 11 Boring No personality No feelings or emotion Didn t use purple words 13 14 Entertaining, but gets boring Some personality Some feelings and emotions Could use more purple words 15 Keeps the reader interested Expresses personality Has strong feelings and emotions Uses a lot of great purple words Word Choice 6 7 Little to no punctuation marks More than 5 capitalization errors 4 or more spelling errors Grammar Confuses the reader 4 or more I s aren t capitalized 8 9 Decent punctuation 2-3 capitalization errors Some grammar errors 2-3 spelling errors 2-3 I s aren t capitalized 10 Correction punctuation Capitalization is done correctly Grammar is nearly perfect 0-1 spelling errors All I s are capitalized Conventions 6 7 8 9 10

First and Last Name: Jessica Yencer Period _5 Reaction Essay February 20, 2014 Just Like A Blue Sky Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart. -Anne Frank. This quote could save a ton of lives if we thought about everyone the way Anne did. She looked past the injustices, the cruelty, everything just because she believed people are truly good at heart. I lived this play just by the words, but I couldn't help but think How can Anne be infinitely joyful? Despite everything that was going on she hardly ever got extremely hostile. She mainly kept her cool and had a positive view of everything going on around her. I mean everything Peter, the Van Daans, her mother, Mr. Dussel, the war, her faith, and her religion. Anne also always seemed to be smiling, well at least not infuriated. Anne never wanted to let go of her religion even though she was being persecuted for being Jewish. Would you be that proud of your religion that you wouldn t let someone take it away from you? Could you even be that proud of who you are? Is that possible? Anne was so jubilant, that she hardly ever let anyone ruin her mood. She looked for the silver lining. She was smiling even with knowing she had been in the Annex for two years. During the play in Act II, Peter was upset about being in hiding and his parents, but Anne didn t let Peter ruin her mood and she was determined to improve his mood. She told Peter about dreaming and having faith. All of these ideas came to Anne just by examining the sky. During Hanukkah when everyone thought praising wasn t acceptable because of their situation, Anne pleaded to sing. She was ecstatic about the song even if was forced to sing at a moderate level. She didn t lose

faith or religion in these two cases. As injustice filled the air, Anne was still reluctant to give up her Star of David. Margot thought the candles were still necessary, and they should burn themselves out, just like the Franks always have. Anne and Margot didn t allow their faith and religion to slip out of their hands just because of being persecuted for what they believe. Nothing could take the girls away from being themselves. Not even a brainless war. From reading this life changing play I realized I should look deeper into the person before making a judgement. I know as a human being we all judge too quickly and make a judgement before knowing the whole story, but Anne even when she had a reason to judge she kept a positive view on everyone. Anne is one of the people that go against society, unlike most of us. We all thought Anne was foolish. We, as the class, judged way to quickly. We did exactly what Anne ended up teaching us not to do. As my class finished this play, I realized what the main idea is. I intend to take my thoughts from this play and put them into practice. The main idea I learned from this play is to not lose faith, never judge too quickly, and always find a reason to smile even if you are looking at the same old scenery. I m glad Anne never lost faith. What if she would ve lost all hope, then this would be just a senseless little play. The play would be exactly what we expected it to be like. This play would ve been just like what I would ve done. I would ve lost faith. I would ve lost hope. I would ve lived every day in fear. I would ve gave up on my religion. Now think about the play for a second as what if Anne lost hope and lived in fear. The Diary of Anne Frank would have been boring and unexciting. The play would ve be like the blue sky in the summer. We see the blue sky almost everyday and we think its boring. Then, when a thunderstorm trudges past we are happy for a change in scenery, but then we miss the blue sky. What I m trying to say is this sky wasn t boring, we were happy to see it. We were happy to live the play just like we are happy to see that same old blue sky after a thunderstorm. We experienced Annes life and her blue sky after a

thunderstorm. Her blue sky was still finding a reason to smile while in the Annex. The most important thing here is to never lose faith and NEVER judge too quickly, because everyone is good at heart. Always find a blue sky. There is always a reason to smile at your own blue sky.

First and Last Name Period 3 Reaction Essay February 20, 2014 Injustice This whole play infuriates me basically just because I don't think anyone should ever have to be treated the way the Nazis treated the Jews. I m completely disgusted by the fact that the Nazi s made things so hard for the Jews that they had to go into hiding. I understand that the Franks, Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel made friendships and bonds in the secret annex, but I also understand they that never should have been driven into hiding just because they were different. In the play, Anne is constantly writing about the difficulties of being cooped up with the same people in a small space. They are constantly at each other s throats. If Hitler would not have treated them as if they weren t human, they never would have had to go into hiding with one another. The way that the Jews were persecuted if they were found is just repulsive. The Franks, Van Daans, and Dussel were always living in fear. Fear of being caught. They knew that if they were found, the Nazis would send them away to work or to be killed. They knew their fate if they were discovered. No one should have to live in a constant fear of being tortured, torn from loved ones, or killed just for the fact that they are not like the others. I think the Jews should have somehow been given a voice during World War II. If only someone would have listened to one Jew, they would have realized that they were the same people, just with different beliefs. They are both made of flesh and blood, so why rally up against them just because one man says so? The whole time we were learning about WWII, all I could think about was, We, as Americans treated Native Americans the exact same way as the Nazis are treating the Jews. I related the two because they are very similar. When our people first came to America, it was

already occupied by Native Americans. But did we let that stop us? No. In the Battle of Wounded Knee, Native Americans were told by settlers that they were signing a treaty. The settlers made the Natives surrender their weapons and then took them to Wounded Knee to sign the treaty. When they arrived, they were murdered. Innocent men, women, and children were slaughtered just for being in the way and being different. This is just like the treatment of the Jews. Both were persecuted without having a voice. My belief is that everyone should have a voice. Everyone should get the chance to be who they are without people judging them, torturing them, and looking down on them. This play has taught me that people are still people no matter what they believe. It has taught me that everyone deserves a chance to be who they want to be even if they think differently than you. I mean, if we killed everyone for being different or thinking differently, there would no longer be human life on this planet. To summarize, I was completely enraged at the way the Jews were treated. I do not believe that anyone should ever have to go through what they did. They were tortured, torn away from loved ones, forced into hiding, forced to work, and killed. All of them were innocent. They all deserved a chance to express themselves and explain their way of life before they were persecuted. Anne wanted to live, wanted to be a journalist, and wanted just to be outside again. She never had the chance to do those things just because she had a different belief. To me, this is wrong. It s just utterly and completely wrong.