Rebecca Ebersole Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl
Affects and Themes of War:
Young Adult Literature
Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl
Perpetual Themes of War and the Holocaust
Introduction
The forever dreaded question rings in the air. “Why do we need to know this?” The teacher groans inwardly and searches for an answer that would satisfy the questioner.
Relevance. Students want to learn it, teachers want to teach it, but it’s harder to find in some subjects than in others. When teaching students in an English classroom, the texts being used and the themes being discussed often appear outdated and old. It’s hard to believe that Beowulf has any relevance to the lives of 150 seniors in high school. But if a teacher can find relevance, even a thread of it, a unit can take on a whole new life. That’s why, when reading this diary of a girl who lived 70 years ago, current relevance and relatable themes are so imperative to the success of this unit.
When students first see that they will be reading this book, there is a plethora of reactions. Some are excited, some have already read it, some tune out immediately and peg it as boring and unimportant. Often, you’ll see the boys grow wary when they hear they’ll be reading the diary of a young girl. How could they possibly relate to a little girl when they hardly understand them? Others find it intriguing: they’ll finally get to read one of those diaries about which they can only imagine and wonder. However, the actual diary can be quite surprising. Here, students do find the normal, everyday trials of being an adolescent, but they also encounter the story of a girl put in a situation that is difficult for them to imagine. That is where the hard part can come in. How do 21st century students engage in a story about something they have trouble imagining? Imagination is crucial to successful reading, so if a situation is difficult to visualize, you might find students getting frustrated.
Using a number of supplemental resources, of a variety of mediums, I have listed activities, both independent and collaborative, that will connect students to the content personally and will make it relevant for them as students of the present-day classroom. There are two group projects, and two independent projects listed in the chapter. Some of the projects are more guided, and others allow more choice. Generally speaking, I try to give students as much choice as possible, because they feel as though they have more control over their work and also feel more connected to the assignment. I want to make sure students are aware that the issues presented in Anne Frank’s diary are still relevant today. You’ll notice throughout the chapter that I’ve included things such as current event articles and websites that connect the material they are learning about to world issues today. Many times, students who are presented with this text write it off because it happened so long ago. Today, we live in a country that has hardly been scratched by war, in a direct sense. All of our fighting has taken place abroad, and students in today’s classrooms have trouble relating to characters, whether fictional or real, who are experiencing war. The activities listed in this chapter take the experiences of Frank and relate them to experiences your students might face on a day to day basis, so that the events and characters in the diary don’t seem so alien. The book comes off as less foreign, and the students have less trouble getting interested.
You’ll find two major themes throughout the chapter, which honestly developed as I wrote it. The first theme you’ll notice is that of children in war. I find that this theme is very relatable to adolescent students because the children they are learning about are so close to them in age. Also, because there is still a great deal of war going on around the world today, it is a very current issue. Students are impacted by the thought that people their age, and often younger, are experiencing things they never have to think about. Which brings me to the next theme that seemed to keep coming up; perspective. Putting students in the shoes of a character or person other than themselves can be challenging, but is worth the effort. Once they view an issue from the stand point of someone other than themselves, they can grasp it much more easily and are more likely to stay interested in it. Because most of your students have not experiences something akin to surviving a Holocaust, giving them a different perspective can be very beneficial. Focusing on perspective also gives students a chance to view issues with an open mind. When it comes to war and conflict, there often seems to be a right side and a wrong side. However, you can open the eyes of your students to the other side of issues to give them a better idea of what the issue is and how to react to it. Judgment is often passed quickly and swiftly, and a unit that focuses on perspective has the fringe benefit of teaching students to think through their opinions before making them concrete.
Supplemental Texts
Using supplemental texts can be an intimidating thing: there is hardly enough time during the year to fit in the assigned readings, let alone new ones. Also, student motivation to read outside the classroom can be low. The logical choice would be to use as few books as possible so that the instructor can keep the focus on at least one reading. However, bringing in outside sources can make students more interested in the topic. Let’s face it, assigned readings are not always the most interesting. As teachers, we might find the assigned texts fascinating, but for a student in middle school or high school, they can come off as boring or foreign. Bringing in other texts will help; you just have to use them in a way that best fits your classroom. If there seems to be motivation, have the students read the entire book outside of class. Or, read the book together in class. You can even copy excerpts for the class to read. If you choose effective ones, the message can still come across.
The first book is The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen. This story is a bit fantastical, which is why I chose it. The book follows a girl, named Hannah in the concentration campus in Germany during the Holocaust, but it’s different than Anne Frank because it’s completely fictional, and it doesn’t try to hide it. Hannah actually travels back in time and finds herself in a concentration camp with her grandmother. She does not realize it is her grandmother until the end, which is when she realizes why she is there. Prior to her time travel, she dreads going to her family’s Passover Seder and has grown tired of hearing her grandmother’s survival story. The journey gives her a new appreciation of what her grandmother went through. I think it will also give students a new appreciation, because they may find themselves feeling the same way as Hannah does at the beginning.
The second book is called Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. This story is actually a civil war story surrounding a boy named Jethro. It might seem odd that I’m including a book about the civil war in this chapter, but it is a way to demonstrate to students that a theme of children in war is a common one. Jethro has glorified images of war in his head, until he actually has to live during one. I want students to see that no matter the time period or the place, children who are affected by war are often affected in the same way. They must grow up quickly, take on new responsibilities earlier than they might have during peace time, and have to witness things that they would not have had to if there had not been a war. Because there are wars going on all over the world at this time, I want students to grasp that children are often the unintentional victims, including today. I think they will be able to relate to characters like Anne Frank and Jethro, whether or not they are real or fictional, because they are of similar age and have similar thought processes. This book also presents the concept of perspective. One of Jethro’s brothers goes to fight for the South, instead of the North where they live. The family and his brother must deal with the consequence of this action. It’s important for students to see both sides of a story, especially that of war. We often only hear our side of World War II, but there is always a different side. Just like Jethro’s brother, the Nazis did something many believed to be wrong, but what is the other perspective? Why do people choose to make these decisions? These are all topics and questions that can make for great in class discourse if handled correctly.
Independent Activity #1
Adaptation of a Classic Story
This activity focuses primarily on perspective and why it was important both during Anne Frank’s time, and now.
Students will choose a children’s story and have it approved by the teacher. They will then write that story from a perspective other than the character from whose perspective it has been written.
Procedure
Students will read from the book Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. If the instructor does not feel there is adequate time to read the entire book, he/she should choose passages that discuss Jethro’s brother, Bill’s, choice to fight for the opposite side of the war.
Instructor can use clips from, or the entire movie of, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas to demonstrate a different perspective of the Holocaust. Be sure to get permission from parents when showing movies rated PG-13 or higher. You may also need to get school permission for a rating of PG-13, and you almost definitely will need to if it is higher than that.
Note: These two sources allow students to see a different perspective of what is taken for granted as being right or wrong. It’s important that they realize there are shades of grey.
Using a movie as a media source can be greatly beneficial to a lesson if it is not used as the primary message. If it is followed up with activities and discussion, a movie can grab the attention of students and get them excited about what they are learning in that unit. Be sure to mention that The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was a book first. If you’re nervous about showing this movie to a younger class, you can choose to show them a scene or two, or even read them an excerpt from the book. The point is for students to see that even something as horrible as the Holocaust can have more than one side.
To supplement these materials, the instructor can hold group discussions, or small assignments that help students think from the other side of the line. This can be done with something as simple as Anne Frank’s Diary.
- What other characters in the story might have kept a diary during this time?
- How would the story be different if this character kept a diary instead of Anne?
When discussing Anne Frank, students can read the article by Judith Doneson, The American History of Anne Frank’s Diary, in which she discusses how our view of the Holocaust has been Americanized. As Americans, we’ve accpted this perspective as the truth.
- What does Doneson mean by “Americanized”?
- How might our perspective of the diary be different than those in Germany, or even Britain, or Poland, places that experienced the war directly?
Through these sources and the discussions and activities that go with them, students are learning about perspective and how dynamic it can be, no matter how right or wrong.
Before assigning the narrative, try reading The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka out loud to the class. Almost all students of all ages enjoy being read aloud to. This book is basically what the students will be doing for their assignment. The author chooses to tell the story of the three little pigs from the wolf’s point of view. In all other versions of the story, the wolf definitively comes off as the bad guy, but here, the author makes him out to be not so bad. The students will be doing the same thing.
Here is a list of some classic fairy tales to get you started:
- Cinderella
- Beauty and the Beast
- Snow White
- Rapunzel
- Hansel and Gretel
- Rumplestiltskin
Of course, this list can go on for a long time, and you can extend yours if you want to. Your students will most likely find their own no matter how long your list is. It is up to you as an instructor how long you want their story to be. I would say a good number is about 5 pages, as there is often dialogue. If you have time in your unit, you can also ask students to illustrate. They could even just illustrate the title page. It’s up to you. Encourage students to share their stories, it will be entertaining and will probably show perspectives that you, and your students, hadn’t thought of.
Independent Activity #2
Expressive Poetry
It might be that some students have difficulty connecting to the Holocaust, but this is not the case for all students, or even most, I have found. Anne Frank’s story, and the stories associated with it, is ones that are full of emotion, and you will find students being impacted greatly by the topic. It may be hard for students to understand fully how it felt to be a part of the war in the way she was, but they will still grasp it on some level, and it can be difficult to deal with at times.
This assignment focuses on students expressing their feelings regarding the topic at hand. Students will be asked to write a poem that expresses their feelings about the Holocaust and the materials they are seeing.
Procedure
If possible, get computer lab time and have students visit the site http://www.holocaust-history.org/ or if you can’t get lab time, have them do a little searching on their own at home, or at the nearest library. Give them free reign of the site. It is a reputable source and the information given is school appropriate. Allow them to search for what they want, and read about the topics that most interest them within the unit. There are videos, essays, and articles all relating to the Holocaust. If there is time, you can allow students to go one step further and google search for certain topics that interest them the most. It would be a good side lesson to teach them how to find a reliable source on the internet, as opposed to one that isn’t credible.