Making Meanings     Act Two 

The Diary of Anne Frank 


First Thoughts

1. Do you agree with Anne that "people are really good at heart"? Does the play offer any evidence to support this statement?

2. In your opinion, is Mrs. Frank justified in demanding that the Van Daans leave the Secret Annex? (Why or why not?) What do you think would have happened if Miep hadn't come in with news of the invasion?

3. The climax of a play is its moment of greatest tension. What is this play's climax?

4. In Act One, Scene 4, Mr. Frank tells Anne, "You must build your own character". Do you think she has succeeded in doing this by the end of the play? Explain.

5. Anne says, "I want to go on living even after my death." Do you think her wish has come true? Explain.

6. What do you think is the main conflict in the play? Is it the conflict between the occupants of the Secret Annex and the Nazis, or is it something else?

7. Now that you have finished the play, think about the resources that accompany it - for example, Anne's diary entries, the historical photographs, the time line. Which resources did you find most helpful? Are there other resources you wish had been included? Explain your answers.

8. Before The Diary of Anne Frank was first performed, Otto Frank wrote in a letter to the actor who would portray him, "Please don't play me as a 'hero.' .... Nothing happened to me that did not happen to thousands upon thousands of other people." Do you see anyone in the play as a hero? What qualities or actions make someone a hero?

9. There is no evidence in Anne's diary that Mr. Van Daan stole food; the playwrights may have invented this incident for dramatic effect. What do you think of such changes in fiction or drama that is based on real events?

Click here to navigate through Act 2: Scene 1 , Scene 2 , Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5

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