Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation
by Anne Frank, adapted by Ari Folman
Reviewed by: E. Phillips, S. Renteria, and C. Rivas
Review:
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| Anne Frank - taken from time.com |
The diary chronicles the life of Anne Frank and her family and the time that they spent in hiding from the Nazi's in World War II. It is a timeless story that is constantly being rediscovered and this adaptation does Frank justice. It provides a new generation of readers an even closer look into the life of Frank and into the reality that was the Holocaust. The artwork adds more than just a simple image of the text on the page. It gives the reader a window into what it was like to be Anne, trapped in a home too small for a family, and trapped in a mind that is longing to be set free. Each panel is capable of telling a story completely on its own. They add to the text by providing visual diagrams of life in the annex, of life as a young girl, and of the so many lives that were haunted by starvation and the constant threat of being exposed.
More than this, however, the graphic adaptation brings Anne's complex personality to life in a way that plain text cannot do on its own. It takes Anne's thoughts, fears, insecurities, and doubts puts them on full display for the reader to visualize. Not only is this a story of a Jewish family on the run from the Nazi army, but it is also about the struggle of a young girl wrestling to become a young woman. We see Anne struggle with her feelings towards her family, her day dreams for a brighter future, and her nightmares of being embarassed in front of boys. While we have always had a first-hand look at Anne through her diary, this adpatation depicts Anne in a much more detailed way. Graphic novels have the extraordinary ability to revision stories in a completely new light, and this adaptation certainly does so with grace and style.
Biography:
Annelies Marie “Anne” Frank was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany. Her family moved to Amsterdam in 1933 due to increasing hostility towards Jewish people in Germany. Shortly after their move, Anne began to feel at home again and learned to live a relatively normal life in Amsterdam. She learned the language, went to a Dutch school, and made Dutch friends. After the Netherlands fell in 1940, life changed for Anne and her family. The Nazis put restrictions on the rights of Jewish people in Amsterdam. These restrictions included things like bans from parks, theaters, non-Jewish shops, and other public places. Jews were no longer allowed to run their own businesses, and Jewish children were sent to separate Jewish schools. As a result, Anne’s father lost his business. During this time, there were rumors about Jewish people being sent to labor camps. Instead of finding out for themselves, the Franks went into hiding in what we now know as the “Secret Annex.” While in hiding, Anne kept a diary of her experiences. The Franks were in hiding for more that 2 years, but they were discovered and arrested on August 4, 1944. They were subsequently sent to Auschwitz. Anne and her sister, Margot, were later relocated to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They would both die in February 1945 after contracting typhus.
Anne’s diary would later go on to be published in numerous languages around the world. The Diary of a Young Girl, more commonly known as Anne Frank’s Diary, was published in 1947 by Anne’s father, Otto Frank. Anne dreamed of becoming a writer; and although she died, her legacy lives on through her world-famous diary. To this day, young adults around the world continue to read Anne Frank’s Diary as a reminder of the dangers of discrimination and hatred towards others.
Ari Folman is a 55-year-old director, screenwriter, and film score composer. He was born on December 17, 1962, in Haifa, Israel to Holocaust survivors. Before starting his career as a moviemaker, Folman served as an infantry soldier in Israel’s Defense forces – he served during the 1982 Lebanon War which included the events of the Sabra and Shatila massacre. From September 16 to September 18, 1982 somewhere between 762 and 3,500 civilians were murdered by a right-wing militia closely linked to the Christian Kataeb Party. This massacre would serve as the foundation for the movie, Waltz with Bashir, which Folman produced, directed, and wrote. Waltz with Bashir is his most successful movie to date. This movie was nominated for numerous Israeli and international awards. Its most notable victories are the Los Angeles Film Critics Association award for “Best Animated Film,” the National Society of Film Critics award for “Best Film,” and a Golden Globe for “Best Foreign Language Film.” He’s also directed other films, such as Sha’anan Si, Saint Clara, Made in Israel, and The Congress.
Folman has a deep connection to his Jewish roots, and his work showcases that connection. Most of his works, including Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, have ties to Jewish culture. Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation is not his first time using visuals and images to tell a story. Folman has an affinity for animation. Waltz with Bashir and The Congress are both animated films. Folman’s next big project is an animated film based on Anne Frank which is set to be released in 2020.
Instructional Resources:
This is the official Anne Frank website. It contains links to articles, photos, interviews, and other detailed information about Anne Frank’s life.
Here is a timeline of Anne Frank’s life and the life of her diary. It outlines what happened to her diary after Anne Frank herself passed, and how it came to be such an important piece of history.
This article contains pictures of the Annex where Anne and her family lived in hiding. There are detailed pictures and diagrams of each room of their hidden home, and of the entire building in which the annex was located.
This is a timeline of World War II. It is not specific to events in Anne Frank's life, but it gives a general background of major events of the war.
This is an article about how children were treated during World War II. It outlines how Nazi Germany targeted children and how children were abused in the Ghettos and concentration camps.
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| Otto Frank - taken from web.annfrank.org |
This is an interview with Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father, and the only member of the Frank family that survived the war. This is one of the only television interviews that he did.
This is a pdf version of Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, edited by Otto H. Frank and Mirjam Pressler.
Recently, in 2018, two never-before-seen pages of Anne Frank’s diary were uncovered. This article describes them in detail and provides pictures of the pages themselves.
"Preparing America's Students for Success." Common Core State Standards Initiative,
www.corestandards.org/.
Instructional Activity:
Preview:
This instructional activity will be done through the course of several days. Students will have a discussion among peers and teacher to elaborate on the book everyday before the activities are done. Through the course one full school week students will complete a handout each day and save the packet for the end of the week to be turned in for a grade. This will teach students responsibility and hold them accountable for making sure everything is complete by the end of the week.
Standards:
- Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
- Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
- Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
- Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text
CCSS.LITERACY.RL.8.1
Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text explicitly says as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.LITERACY.RL.8.5
Compare and contrast two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.
CCSS.LITERACY.W.8.1
Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and evidence.
CCSS.LITERACY.W.8.9
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Instructional Plan:
To carry out each activity, it is important to stick to the guidelines of each day's assignment. The instruction part of each handout provides brief instructions to the students. These instructions are simple to understand but the teacher might still need to provide further explanation. Before beginning each activity, the teacher is encouraged to have a brief class discussion to go over the assignment and what is expected of the students. It is also encouraged that the teacher open up a class discussion to talk about the book and refresh the students memory about the novel. At the beginning of the week the teacher must make sure to set the guidelines of the week's assignments. Explain to students that they must complete each page to receive full credit. Partial credit will be given for late assignments and points will be docked if work is not completed to best of their ability.
Instructional Resources:
There is minimal preparation needed for the week and each activity. Provided here are the handouts for each day. It is up to the teacher whether they want to print out each handout individually each day or provide the students with a packet by the first day of instruction.
Bibliography
"Ari Folman." Jewish Virtual Library: A Project of AICE, www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ari-folman.
"Preparing America's Students for Success." Common Core State Standards Initiative,
www.corestandards.org/.
Solomon, Deborah. "The Peacemaker - Waltz with Bashir." The New York Times, The New York Times,
6 Jan. 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/magazine/11wwln-Q4-t.html.
6 Jan. 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/magazine/11wwln-Q4-t.html.
"The Short Life of Anne Frank." Anne Frank Website, 28 Nov. 2018. www.annefrank.org/en/anne-
frank/the-short-life-anne-frank/.
frank/the-short-life-anne-frank/.
