7. What do you think this play reveals about our need for freedom? About the power of love? About courage and hope? About good and evil?

I think that this play reveals that our need for freedom is crucial to our lives and that without it, we sort of lose our identities to others and sometimes even to ourselves. Anne and her family and people she lived with constantly struggle with the need for freedom throughout the play and that is evident in the tension and conflicts that arose between them over time. The play reveals that with love, almost anything is possible. It does this by showing that without Mr. Kraler and Miep's help and love towards Anne and the others, they would have been living under harsh conditions for such long times or even been killed. But because Mr. Kraler and Miep had courage to stand up for what they believed in, they provided hope for the few families that they could and made a difference in the lives of others. The play shows that nothing good comes out of evil and wrong-doing towards other people because Hitler and the other discriminators's actions were full of evil and those people are now remembered with bitter thoughts and hatred. But the play also shows that peace and love come out of good towards others in that when Mr. Kraler and Miep helped the Franks, Van Daans, and the others, they were giving love to them and good things came out of it in the end for them because they are now remembered with warm hearts and heroic thoughts. The megatheme of prejudice in this story relates to a large theme of prejudice in the book "Lost Names". In this story, Jews and other people groups such as those are being persecuted by the Germans who have prejudice against them. And in "Lost Names", the Koreans are being persecuted by the Japanese, who have prejudice against them. The main characters from both of the stories both struggle with the prejudice against them and also struggle to find their identities as a result of being persecuted and made to conform with the persecuting group of people.

6. Why are there so many books, movies, documentaries, etc. about the Holocaust? Why do we keep retelling this story?

I think that there are so many books, movies, documentaries, etc. about the Holocaust because this was an event that impacted history so much and was so incredibly terrible that people want to keep it alive and so that people won't forget about all of the horrible things that happened. Another reason for all of the information availible on the Holocaust is so that young people can learn about the Holocaust and really try to understand what hardships so many people had to endure through during this time. There has been information available for the past generation, information available for my generation, and there will be information on this event for generations to come. We keep retelling this story so that it really will stay alive in people's minds and so that they won't not remember this disasterous thing that happened. I'm so glad that people do continue to retell this story and to provide all of the resources that they do on the Holocaust so that I can know more about the times people went through back then and so that I can be even more thankful for how blessed we are to live in a society like we do today.

5. c) Act 1, Scenes 1-3: Do Anne and Peter seem to have typical teenage attitudes towards their families? (Go back to the text for support)

I think that at times Anne and Peter do have typical teenage attitudes towards their families because of their actions, but that also may be because of their need to let out some of their feelings from being couped up for so long with their families. An example of when Anne acted "teenagely" towards the families was when she annoyed Mr. Van Daan by speaking a little bit rudely towards him and by taking his pipe and hiding it from him. Peter doesn't really act very "teenagely" towards the families during the play, but he does kind of act that way towards Anne. An example of this is when Peter teased Anne repeatedly about being called Mrs. Quack Quack at school. He does this by talking about it a lot and then by saying "Quack! Quack! Quack!" over and over again, whenever Anne says something. I think that the way that Anne and Peter acted was a little bit different than the way that teenagers act towards their families nowadays, but still, they did act with some attitude at times.

5. b) Act 1, Scenes 1-3: What do you think would be the hardest part of life in the Secret Annex? Explain.

The fear of discovery, the need to keep silent for hours at a time, the sharing of cramped quarters with strangers, or some other aspect?

I think that the hardest part of life for me in the Secret Annex would be the need to keep silent for hours at a time because I have a hard time not interacting with other people when I am around them and I also have a difficult time staying still for long periods of time. I think that it would have been so hard for the people in hiding like Anne during the Holocaust because they would have to suppress all of their energy all of the time while being in tight quarters with other people. I think that it might help that they have a fear of being discovered though because that might make it more possible to be quiet and still.

5. a) Act 1: Explain what you think this statement means. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

Statement: "But always remember this, Anneke. There are no walls, there are no bolts, no locks that anyone can put on on your mind." 

I think that this statement means that no matter what anyone does or says to you, they cannot effect your imagination and mind as an individual. Even though they might repress you physically, they cannot control what you think or feel in your head. In Anne's life, she was controlled physically in that she had to live in a small cramped space without much freedom, but she still had opportunities to express herself in her journal and through the few actions that she was allowed to do. I can apply this to my life in ways such as not letting people control what I think about things even when they have the ability to control my actions.

4. a) Foreshadowing: Why does Mr. Frank break down when he sees the glove?

Mr. Frank breaks down when he sees the glove in the secret annex because it reminds him of past times and repressed memories. He thinks about the long hours he spent in the secret annex with Anne and his other family members and friends, and that effects him emotionally. The glove is kind of a symbol of his family, his daughters and wife, because it's a woman's glove and his family members are all women. It serves as a time-machine because it takes him, in his mind, back to the past, during the Holocaust. Therefore, it effects him so much emotionally because of the memories that are tied to the woman's white glove.

3. What do you think the play's theme(s) is/are?

So far, I think the play's theme is prejudice and how Anne, her family, and the others that she is hiding with are effected by the prejudice they received from the Germans. They are effected by the prejudice by being forced to go into hiding and to live the secret lives that they now live. Many people had similar situations to Anne in that they were being effected by prejudice from the Germans and they were forced to go into hiding or live in concentration camps. I think that the theme of the play is prejudice because that idea has reoccurred several times throughout the play so far and the whole reason Anne had to go into hiding was because of prejudice.

From reading the next portion of the play, I think that the play's theme is still mainly prejudice, like I mentioned before, but there is also the theme of fear of being discovered by the Germans. Anne, her family, and the others that she is living with are constantly living in fear of being found by the Germans and being taken to a concentration camp or death camp. This is another minor-theme of the play from my perspective. 

2. What is prejudice? Where in the world have you seen prejudice? What are the effects of prejudice?

Prejudice is basically when a person or a group of people has unfavorable or unreasonable opinions, feelings, or attitudes towards another group of people regarding racial, religious, national, or other reasons. These opinions, feelings, or attitudes are usually formed without knowledge, thought, or reason of the other group and they often end in damage or injury towards the other group. I have seen prejudice in the world throughout past wars where countries will have prejudice towards other countries and go to war with them. Other areas where prejudice has occurred are in the States where there is sometimes prejudice towards African-Americans or people of different races. Prejudice that has occurred in my home country, Canada, is when people have prejudice towards First Nations peoples. The area of prejudice which relates to the novel study that we're doing of Anne Frank is during the Holocaust when the Germans had prejudice towards other groups such as Jews, Jehovah witnesses, gypsies, people with physical/mental disabilities, and others. Some effects of prejudice are violence, discrimination, human-rights violations, influence over other people's opinions, injuries, death, and much more. These effects are seen in many areas such as the situations that I previously mentioned.

1. What do you already know about the Holocaust?

I already know that the Holocaust was a period of time during world war II when the Germans persecuted people like Jews and other people that they didn't like. I know that they put many people into concentration camps and extermination camps where there were extremely harsh conditions and people were tortured and killed in many unimaginable ways. Many people that were being persecuted had to go into hiding and this was very risky because if you were found out, penalties were so severe that you could die. This period of time was horrible for so many and thousands of people were killed. We get knowledge about the Holocaust through the few survivors that were left and through peoples diaries and journals, such as Anne Frank's. I think that it's really great that we are doing a study of the Holocaust and Anne Frank because it will help me to know and understand more of what times back then were really like, though many things, I'm sure, will be hard for me to understand because of the insane hardships that people had to go through back then.

Theme of "Lost Names"

Now that I have finished the book, I think that it is easier to identify the theme of the story than it was before, with only part of the book read. I think that the theme of "Lost Names" is that if you perservere through hard times and you really set your heart on getting out of them, you will be rewarded eventually, although sometimes you are rewarded in ways that you weren't expecting or wanting. All throughout the book, the main character has to go through many struggles and difficulties with the Japanese occupation and other things and he perserveres through them and makes it to the end of the war. He could have given up and said that he didn't want to go through all of that, but he didn't and he stayed strong and he eventually made it out. I think that this is a good example for everyone who reads the book too because it shows them of a real-life situation where someone made it through hard times by being strong-willed and perservering. They might read it and be inspired to be like that in situations in their own lives.

Setting in "Lost Names"

So far, the main character in "Lost Names" has moved around a lot over Korea and Japan. They started out in Korea, then they moved to Manchuria, then back to Korea!! I am going to discuss the setting of where they are in Korea. They are in a small village where the main character, his sister, his younger sister, his brand new sibling, his grandmother, his mother, and his father all live. The main character goes to a school kind of close by to where his house is. He is the class leader of his class and he spends a lot of time at the school, helping out with his various jobs. He lives in kind of a country house and he plays outside a lot. He has to collect wood and pine cones for his classroom fire, so he does that around his village. There are many people in his town and he enjoys spending time with his friends in the village. I wonder if he will have to move to a new setting again...

Characters in "Lost Names"

So far, in "Lost Names", we have been introduced to the main characters: the father, the mother, and the child. We have also been introduced to other minor characters such as: the conductor, the detective, the policeman, and a bunch of others. I am going to focus mainly on the mother in this blog post. The mother showed a lot of courage in this chapter when the father was taken away and when she had to cross the frozen river on foot. Even though she was scared for herself, for her husband, and for the baby, she showed a lot of courage in the scary moments of her journey. Even in the short amount of time that we read about the mother, you can tell that her character grew stronger and more courageous through that frightening moment in her life. The mother is a very brave person and she showed that in her actions.

Secrets

One of the times that I kept a secret in my life was when my best friend and I were having a sleepover and she told me who she liked. She told me not to tell anyone and I promised that I wouldn't. And even though it was really hard for me to not tell my other friends, I kept my promise and didn't tell anyone. Later on, she ended up telling my other friends that she liked that person so I wasn't burdened with keeping the secret any longer. I kept the secret for her because she was my best friend and I had made a promise to her. I think that keeping this secret reveals that I am a trustworthy person because I didn't tell anyone, though it was difficult. I also think that if you keep a secret for someone and don't tell other people, they will know that they can trust you and they might tell you other secrets later on.

Courage

A time in my life when I was courageous was when my family and I were moving to Korea. I had no idea what to expect there, and before they told me about it, I hadn't even heard of Korea! It also meant that I had to leave all of my friends, extended family, house, cat, and a LOT more behind. But I showed a lot of courage through the experience and I got through it, even though it was kind of scary sometimes. The thing is though, is that I couldn't have done it if God hadn't have helped me. I think that God made me so excited and ready to move that it made leaving everything behind a lot easier. I think that this reveals that I can be a courageous person, but only if I have the help of God. It shows that I can make it through even the most life-changing situations if I have the help of God.