TOW #19: IRB: Diary of Anne Frank: Part I

         The Diary of Anne Frank begins on her 13th birthday, beginning with a normal teenage life. Descriptions of boys and crushes, her girl friends, and her school, which happened to be an all Jewish school due to anti-Semitic laws. Anne had an older sister Margot as well. The Frank family had moved to the Netherlands in result of World War II beginning in Germany. But, unfortunately, Germany invaded the Netherlands forcing the Frank family into hiding. Anne's diary helps historians and other philosophers to understand the harsh living the Frank's had to experience. Beginning her diary, Anne writes about her 13th birthday party describing her loving classmates, friends, and family. She continues to describe a boy named Hello, who she believes she loved. Throughout the beginning of the book, Anne uses vivid imagery and first person to achieve her purpose of delivering the real harshness of life in that time. Her details of each event help a reader develop an emotional appeal to what Anne and her family had to go through. Because Anne uses first person, it also appeals to the reader. It feels as though they are experiencing everything themselves, as if they wrote the diary. The audience could be historians, philosophers, or any teenage reader who is curious about The Diary of Anne Frank and the context it entails. I easily flipped through the first part of the book because of the details provided by Anne Frank. The most intense part so far, was when Margot, Anne's older sister, informed Anne what was happening when Germany was invading the Netherlands. The girls started packing thingsup and knew that their lives were going to change. After being put in hiding, it even took Anne a little time to take in what had happened and how she would be living her life for who knows how long. Anne Frank succeeds in appealing to the reader's emotions, once again with first person. So, as a reader, I believed Anne has achieved her purpose of providing a detailed description of her life during World War II and what it was like to be in hiding, and what it was like to be Jewish during this time as well.