FINAL QUESTION

I think this play shows us that we need freedom in many ways. First of all, we need freedom as a human. Second, we need our minds to be free also. If our minds and thoughts are blocked out, it won't be a very happy world. When all the people in the annex, Mr. Frank, Mrs. Frank, Margot Frank, Anne Frank, Mr. Van Daan, Mrs. Van Daan, Peter Van Daan, and Mr. Dussel, had to go into hiding there were many conflicts between them. Some problems were just silly things to be troubled by. For example, how evenly people cut food. Mrs. Van Daan was going to divide a chocolate cake that Miep brought for the people in the annex but then Mr. Dussel said that Mrs. Frank should cut it because Mrs. Frank divides food more evenly than Mrs. Van Daan. Situations without freedom can cause many problems and it can influence your relationships with one another.

I think this play reveals that the power of love can be distracted by conflicts and situations. In the play, they had a very powerful love to one another but at times, their love would be ignored because of frightening things and things that bothered them a lot. It was a very hard time for them because each day they could hear the sounds of war and suffering right outside their windows. Even through your hard times, you should still maintain your love towards your family and friends. We shouldnt get distracted and we shouldnt ignore the love that you carry for another person.

In this play, it teaches us that we have to keep our hopes up in any kind of situation. Having courage and hope helps yourself a lot. Especially at times like the Holocaust, when they had to go into hiding, they tried to stay courageous and they tried to keep their hopes up. Mr. Kraler tried to tell them that the war was going well so that they wouldnt worry too much even though the war wasnt going well after all. It is important to have courage and hope because if you dont, you fall into misery and you suffer a lot. For example, "When My Name was Keoko" is a book that has a similar idea of Anne Frank's diary because in this book, there is also a war going on, except that it isnt in their country but they are being controlled by the Japanese. The characters in that book, try to believe that they will be freed once again and they will be able to live but at some points, when they hear that the Japanese had succeeded in attacks, they probably lost some hope.

In this play, it is important to know which side is good and which side is evil. Hitler persuaded the Germans and the Nazis that what they are doing will help them out. He wanted it to seem like they were the good guys. However, they werent doing the right thing at all. The Nazis and Hitler probably thought they were doing good for themselves but they did things that werent right at all. For example, they persecuted Jews because Hitler didnt like them and he made more reasons for the Nazis and the Germans to hate them so that it would be easier to get the Jews and kill them. Anyways, I believe that Hitler just disliked the Jews because he thought they had the best jobs and that they had a higher ranking then themselves. It was a horrible thing to do for revenge.

Books, Movies, Documentories, etc....

I'm not quite sure why there are so many retellings of Anne Frank's diary. But it probably is because Anne Frank's diary tells and expresses so much about what people had to go through during the Holocaust. This event is so famous. Many people dont believe that the Holocaust was true and that everyone is making this up because all the retellings arent exactly the same. They use that as an excuse to say that the Holocaust never happened. I think that people keep retelling this story because they want everyone to know about this historic event and that we all have a lesson to learn through it. It is important to learn about Anne's life to see how people suffered truly. This story is a good way to reveal the truth and explain so much about the Holocaust. They probably think that everyone should read or hear about this and that we should all study about it. Plus, Anne Frank's diary is really interesting. It tells a lot about everything. The war, relationships with Peter, the conflicts between the people living in the annex, and many other things are all in Anne's diary. She managed to write about how they were caught by the soldiers. It was a really sad part because all that time they were safe and they felt some hope but now it was all ruined. When she left her precious diary behind she probably felt really sad. But because she left it behind we can now read it and learn from it. Now anyone in the world can learn about what her life was like and what happened during the Holocaust.

What I Would Like to Ask the Survivors

If I could interview a survivor of the Holocaust I would ask them a lot of questions such as:

1. What did it really feel like to be in hiding and trying not to be caught by the Germans?
2. Can you explain to me how terrible the situation was?
3. Was there a time when you were an inch close to becoming caught?
4. How were you able to hide?

(If the person was in a concentration camp)

1. What did they do to you there?
2. Did they give you enough needs?
3. How did you feel when you were in there?
4. How did you get caught?
5. What did it feel like to be taken to a concentration camp or a death camp?
6. Did you ever talk with anyone even when you were feeling your lowest?
7. What happened to your family?

There is much more that I would like to ask any Holocaust survivor but I think this is good enough for now~ =] Anyways I think the whole event of the Holocaust is very interesting but also a horrible part of history. The things that happened to many people were just too sad. If I had lived at that time, I probably would have struggled more than Anne in that tight, small annex.

Question 5 (#6)

During the Hanukkah celebration, the people in the annex hears a rattling of the door. They turn off the lights and they become silent. They quietly take their shoes off and try to listen to hear who came in. It was a burglar but they were all unsure of who it would be. So Mr. Frank went downstairs carefully but the thief had already fled. But soon when Mr. Frank finally found out about what happened, he saw the front door flung open and so he went towards it but there was a night watch man walking along the street and he caught sight of the door too. Mr. Frank was able to quickly hide behind the door while the watch man looked in to see if anyone was there. It was a really close one for Mr. Frank. The night watch man came out of the house and found two guards and at that moment Mr. Frank quickly ran up the stairs. To make things worse Peter and Anne had followed Mr. Frank but Anne fainted so Peter had to carry her up and all three of them went into the annex again. The guards searched through the work place to see if anyone was there. They came across the book shelf and became very suspicious because they kept hearing noises from the top floor. There was a loud crash and a meow so they just laughed and said it was just a cat and went back down the stairs and out of the work place. The people in the annex were so relieved. Mr. Dussel, however, believed that because of the noises, the guards will catch the thief. The thief will give information about the noises upstairs if the guards will let him go. Mr. Dussel believed that the thief will give a ransom for telling the guards that there are people hiding in the annex. I think that, that wont happen and that everyone is thinking too much and worrying too much about what would happen to them.

Question 5 (#5)

When Anne had a nightmare in the middle of her sleep, Mrs. Frank came rushing into her room and tried to calm her down. Mr. Dussel became annoyed and said rude things about Anne. So Mrs. Frank shooed him away. Mr. Dussel and Anne's relationship wasn't so good. Also another person that brought tension between Anne was Mrs. Frank because when Mrs. Frank was sitting with Anne trying to comfort her and talk to her about the nightmare, Anne just said she didn't need any of it. Mrs. Frank just wanted to help Anne but Anne was pretty disrespectful to her mother. Anne just asked for Mr. Frank to come in. By that remark Mrs. Frank became very hurt and affected so she just left Anne's room and got Mr. Frank. Mr. Frank could see that his wife felt sad and hurt so when he went into Anne's room and talked to her he told her about how her mother was feeling sad because Anne doesn't show any love towards her. Anne felt that her father was the only person that understood her and that was similar to herself. So probably she didn't really like her mother as much as she loved her father. Even though Mrs. Frank tries to interact with Anne, Anne seems to refuse to interact back so it is harder for Mrs. Frank to have a better relationship with Anne. In the end, Anne realized that she was wrong to treat her mother like that and she tried harder to become a better daughter to Mrs. Frank. I predict that in the end, Anne and Mrs. Frank will have a really close bond with each other like Anne has a bond with her father.

Question 5 (#2)

I think the fear of discovery and the need to keep silent for certain hours each day would have been the hardest thing about living in the secret annex. Probably everyone was afraid of being discovered because if they are caught in hiding, they probably would get dragged off into the death camp. If they are not quiet for certain hours in the day, they have a possibility of getting caught and again being dragged off into the death camp. Probably people were worried that the children would make a noise or Peter's cat. If they make one wrong move and make a loud noise, people can hear from outside and under the annex. It would be a terribly frightening thing to do if that happened. They all probably tried to keep the discovery part out of their heads but they always had to remember to take thier shoes off at certain times of the day so that they would make no noise while there were people working downstairs. It was something that they all had to remember to do everyday or else they probably would have gotten caught. Sometimes I wonder how they thought of each detail or rule that they had to follow and the amount of time for being safe and taking your shoes off. It probably required many long hours of thinking. Anyways it would have been really hard for me if I had to do all that.

Question 5 (#1)

"But always remember this, Anneke. There are no walls, there are no bolts, no locks that anyone can put on your mind." This is a good statement because when Mr. Frank said this, he was saying that even though they were locked up and in hiding in the annex, Anne's mind can stay free from all the locks, blots, and walls. I agree with this statement because even though we are locked up physically our minds can be open and free. We don't have to lock up our minds just because we are locked literally. This was a good statement to tell Anne because it probably was really hard for her to hear that she wasn't allowed to go out of the secret door at any time. After all she isn't one of those quiet and calm girls that listen to every rule but she was a curious and loud girl. So she had to be careful in those situations.

Foreshadowing

In the very beginnig of the play, Mr. Frank gave us many examples of foreshadowing. He was very gloomy and sad when he got into their old hiding place again. He just walked straight up the stairs into the annex even when there was Miep and Mr. Kraler. I don't think he even bothered to say hello or look at them. Mr. Frank just kept walking up and into the annex to find scraps of memories that were scattered on the floor. A couple of them that I remember was a glove and a scarf. I know now that the scarf was a present from Anne to Mr. Frank on the Hanukkah. Anne gave out presents to each person that was living with them even though she didn't have much to give. She took what she had and made it into something special. When Mr. Frank found the scarf and the glove, he started to cry. It probably was a very sad time for him because he lost everyone that he truly loved. He lost his whole family and he lost the Van Daan's and Mr. Dussel. When he went into thier old hiding place, probably loads of memories came flowing back to him and he couldn't help but to cry about all their hardships and all his own that they had to go through. But now that the war was over, his loved ones weren't there anymore to celebrate or rejoice with. He had no one to share the happiness with. He probably thought, "If only, we were all able to survive until this day, everything would be okay and everyone would be safe altogether again." I would have sobbed for hours. Anyways this part of the play gave us hints of what was going to become of everyone else after the war.

Theme of Anne Frank Play

I think the theme of this play about Anne Frank's life is that even through the hard times all the people in the annex were going through, they managed to live their lives in their together. Many times, there were quarrels but sooner or later they got over whatever their conflict was. I believe that this play is teaching us that even though we are in any tough situation, we should all have faith and be good to each other and to theirselves. In the Hanukkah there was a burglar that broke into the work rooms. The thief tried to open a safe but kept hearing small noises from the top floor which is where they were all hiding. Soon the thief ran away but Mr. Frank went out of the secret annex to see if there was anybody there anymore. When he was checking the door to the work place, there was a night watch man walking on the street and the door that was flung open caught his eye and he went in with two more guards to make sure about the situation. Mr. Frank, Peter, and Anne quickly went back up the annex and shut the secret door. They were all an inch of being caught by the night guards but eventually the guards thought the noises were just a stray cat and went out of the work place. In the end, they all sang the Hanukkah song together happily and felt safer. But one thing that I caught when Mr. Frank was talking to the other people in the annex was that he said, "have you all lost faith?" This was something that I thought about. They are in a really dangerous and risky situation and they are trying to stay calm but when they get all over the place they lose all their faith. We shouldnt lose faith to ourselves and the people around us in times like those.

Prejudice

I think prejudice is when someone loathes and has a suspicion over another person's religion, race, or group. Its also when someone judges something or some other person without even knowing the real facts. They form a judgement or opinion bases on what they see or hear or think. They dont really think carefully and thoroughly about what they are judgeing.
I have seen and heard about prejudice happening all over the world. Sometimes in schools, people judge someone by their appearance, religion, and where they are from. They bully them in many ways just because of who they are. Many people in the world bully Christians plainly because they are Christians and they believe in God. I know that God knows that Christians are going to be hurt and shattered because of the name that they have, 'Christian.' In many countries, if religious groups try to preach about their religion, then they get tortured or kicked out without listening or trying to hear what they have got to say. I think prejudice is something that we shouldnt do.
The effects of prejudice are that people get hurt and they dont have much freedom to do things they want to do. Especially in Anne Frank's Diary, they had to go into hiding and they werent allowed to do much. They had strict rules to living. The Frank's had to stay inside an annec just doing nothing.
The Holocaust probably wouldnt have been too horrible if there was no prejudice. Tons of people died or suffered because of who they were and what they believed in. I dont think that is the right thing to do to innocent people.

What I Know About the Holocaust

I dont really know much about the Holocaust except that Hitler was in control of almost all the countries in Europe, many people died, and that the Nazi's made the Jews wear yellow stars on their clothes to use their religion against them. It was a very cruel and horrific time during the Holocaust. I cant imagine how frightened they all were when there were innocent people being taken away every single day. I would have listened to what was going outside and cried every day. I dont understand why anyone would do all that torturing. Hitler was a very unjust man and he just wanted all the power of Europe and who knows? Maybe the whole world was in his cruel mind.
Anyways I thought the whole event was really ridiculous because it wasnt with the right purpose and it wasnt doing them any good except that Hitler was gaining power all over Europe. It was very unfair and mean to the people who were getting killed and tortured because they were innocent. Making innocent people suffer is very VERY BAD. I just wish that there would be peace and happiness from now on. No more killing and war in the world please!

Theme in "When My Name was Keoko"

"When My Name was Keoko" is a very fun and interesting book especially because it is about Korea and what they went through during the Japanese occupation. I felt really bad for the Koreans that had to suffer through it. Some things made me angry at the Japanese because of what they forced Koreans to do. I guess Koreans have one perspective of them and the Japanese have a different perspective but I dont understand how they could be so cruel at some times. I'm glad I wasnt born at that time. It probably would have felt horrible to be living during that time. Even before I thoroughly read this book, I knew it would be a good book for me to read because I am a Korean. I know I shouldnt judge the people of Japan of right now because of what happened in the past but somehow I'm still not happy about them.
ANYWAYS
I think the theme in "When My Name was Keoko" is all about identification. Sun-hee's family and herself are going through an identity crisis because the Japanese are trying to change everything about Koreans. Uncle joined the resistance group because of what the Japanese are making them do. They are making them speak their language only, change their names, learn their culture, and respect their people. If they dont, they will get tortured severely. Identity is a very important thing in my book. Without identity, the story wouldnt even become a book. The Japanese occupation affected the Koreans a lot and they suffered through it. I wasnt happy about the identity changes that they were forced to take. Sun-hee's family was very angry about it but they couldnt really do anything.

Identity is very important to all of us and I dont think we should change it for any reason. We should all just be ourselves and love the way we are because God has made us in his special way. Sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough for anything and I want to change at some points but in the end I realize that people love me for who I am and not who I want to be. I wish everyone can just realize that we are all made specially and differently from each other. So stop keeping masks on and just be yourself! Even though we feel down and we dont like who we are than always turn to God and ask for guidance. GOD will always be there for us. =]

Character Development in "When My Name Was Keoko"

Tae-yul in "When My Name was Keoko" was the brother of Sun-hee, the son of Abuji and Omoni, and the nephew of Uncle. I thought that he had a major change in his character. Before Uncle had joined the resistance, everything was so calm and formal. Tae-yul and Sun-hee weren't allowed to talk back to or argue with an adult. But once that started happening, there were many complications and danger that could happen to their family.

Tae-yul started to argue with his parents. He began to do whatever he thought was the right thing to do without going and asking Omoni or Abuji first. He joined the Imperial Army just so he could save Uncle. He risked his life for Uncle. Tae-yul also knew that if he joined the army, his family could be provided with better food, clothes, and they would be treated much better.

Tae-yul is a very brave and committed person. He puts other's needs before his own. I think that even though sometimes, he does what he wants to do, he mostly does things for other people's purposes. He has developed from a boy who didn't stand up for his own thoughts to a boy who is risking anything for what he believes is a good thing to do.

←Linda Sue Park

Setting in "When My Name Was Keoko"

My literature circle book is "When My Name Was Keoko". The story starts when it is the year, 1940. In "When My Name Was Keoko", the setting is taken place in Korea during the Japanese occupation. The Japanese have been making new laws that has insulted the Korean's identity. Japan treated Koreans with disrespect and Koreans got angrier every time. This story is mainly about two korean children named Sun-hee and Tae-yul. They are the ones telling the story. At this time of history, Korea was one country and not split because it was before the Korean War.





I think that Korea is a very important place for me because my whole family is Korean and I live in Korea right now. I feel like I am really proud of my country and that I cannot be ashamed of it. It is so great that I have Korean blood and that it is a really tiny country but it has grown so much economically. When I read this book, I somehow feel the anger that Uncle has because of the way the Japanese treated Koreans. It is so sad and surprising how we were humiliated and shamed by the Japanese when they had no right. They had been very cruel and they didnt care about how Koreans would feel.





Even though not all of the Japanese did this to Koreans, sometimes I just assume that they dont think they did anything wrong to Korea. I bet that I might get mad at a Japanese if they insulted Korea again! Anyway I think this book is very interesting and I think that it is my type of book~ =]

MY SECRET~ =]

One time my best friend told me that she was going out with another friend that I knew. She hadnt even told her parents because she probably was afraid that her parents wouldnt let her go out. I thought it was so sweet because she was my best friend and the guy that she was going out with was a nice guy and they really matched. I was really happy for her. But she told me not to tell anyone because she didnt want everyone to know and tease them. So I promised that I wouldnt tell anyone. I kept my promise, of course, but somehow people started figuring it out. Even her mom, eventually, found out about it but thankfully she didnt stop my friend or punish her. It is really weird how so many people figure it out. But when people start knowing the secret, the person who told you might start being suspicious and not trust you anymore. At those times I told her that I never told her secret to anyone and that I have completely no idea of how people knew. Since we are best friends she trusted me. In the end, people did try to make them spend more time together and try to set up dates for them. But it wasnt in a mean way, so that was a good thing. They had a good relationship without any fights or conflicts between them.
I think that this secret showed that I can keep secrets. Although it was tempting to tell someone I resisted. I didnt want to let my best friend down so I promised myself that I wouldnt spill her secret out. Honestly I have told a secret at least once to someone else but when I am dedicated, I can be really stern about it. It is hard to keep a secret sometimes because people keep on trying to get some information about the secret and somehow persuade you to tell them. So I think that we should be more careful about who we tell because there is a possibility that they will tell everyone your secret without caring and ruin our relationship between the person you got the secret from.

COURAGE =D

A time in my life that I had courage was when I had to get stitches. I was playing around with my sisters in summer vacation and suddenly fell, head first, towards the edge/corner of my parent's bed. When I got up from that fall, I was a bit dizzy and I didnt know what exactly happened. But soon a drop of warm blood came from my head, above my eye. I became so scared that I couldnt say anything. I tried to scream for my mom (she was in the kitchen), but nothing but a silent, choked whisper came out. So I tried again and again and finally I called for her. She found a small white kitchen towel and folded it in a roll and put it on the cut and we ran to the doctor! By the time we got there, the towel was soaked with my blood from my head. The doctor put some ointments on it and told us that we would have to go to a hospital to get stitches. I was obviously really frightened to get stitches on my head. When I went into the emergency room, I noticed a lot of sick people and thought to myself that I should be more brave then them because they got it worse off then me but they seemed not that scared. I went into a empty, big room with one bookshelf and a place where I had to lay down on. The thought of getting stitches were scary enough, but to be in a room that was completely empty was worse. But still, the doctors and nurse treated me well and they soon were done. They had put about 15 - 20 shots around my cut and sewed 15-20 stiches, but I didnt feel anything. I think this was an example of courage for me because being in an emergency room with a big, deep cut right on top of your eye is not a very pleasant situation to be in.
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