TASK SHEET: Introducing diaries – Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl
Instruction:
Read the information about Anne Frank, and then read the extract from her diary, Anne
Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl, before you answer the questions below.
Background information:
Anne Frank was thirteen when she wrote the words below. She was not famous or
important at the time of writing, and never suspected her diary would be published and
read by millions. Her diary was discovered after her death and published in Dutch in
1947. It became the most famous diary of the twentieth century, precisely because it
presents a young girl’s personal perspective on the turbulent years of the Second World
War and the Holocaust, from 1942 to 1944, when Anne was transported to a
concentration camp and died.
Extract from Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl
12 June 1942
I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide
in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.
Sunday 14 June 1942
I’ll begin from the moment I got you, the moment I saw you lying on the table among
my other birthday presents. (I went along when you were bought, but that doesn’t
count.)
On Friday, 12 June, I was awake at six o’ clock, which isn’t surprising, since it
was my birthday. But I’m not allowed to get up at that hour, so I had to control my
curiosity until quarter to seven. When I couldn’t wait any longer, I went to the diningroom, where Moortje (the cat) welcomed me by rubbing against my legs.
A little after seven I went to Daddy and Mummy and then to the living-room to
open my presents, and you were the first thing I saw, maybe one of my nicest presents.
Questions:
Work in groups and discuss these questions:
1
How do you know this is a diary? Identify three or more characteristics.
2
Explain why Anne decides to keep a diary.
3
Identify and explain the personification Anne uses in the extract.
4
Describe the relationship between the narrator and her diary.
5
In what ways is a diary different to an autobiography? What insights does a diary
give us?
© Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd 2013. From Oxford Practical Teaching English Literature: How to teach Grades 8–12.
You may modify, print and photocopy this document solely for use in your classes.
Extract from Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl : The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank, edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler,
translated by Susan Massotty (Viking 1997) copyright © The Anne Frank-Fonds, Basle, Switzerland, 1991. English translation copyright ©
Doubleday a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group 1995.
6
Why do you think this diary became so famous that it is still read by millions all over the world?
© Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd 2013. From Oxford Practical Teaching English Literature: How to teach Grades 8–12.
You may modify, print and photocopy this document solely for use in your classes.
Extract from Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl : The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank, edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler,
translated by Susan Massotty (Viking 1997) copyright © The Anne Frank-Fonds, Basle, Switzerland, 1991. English translation copyright ©
Doubleday a division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group 1995.