English essay
I fully agree that in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne’s writing throughout her
diary reflects emotional growth. Emotional Growth is to mature and understand your
personality better than you did before. Anne develops herself as the diary continues.
Initially Anne faces regular teenage struggles. Thereafter she struggles to express
herself whilst living in the annexe. Finally, she gains a better understanding of what kind
of person she wants to be.
In the beginning Anne is a typical teenager. She is complaining about her classmates.
Anne is particularly jealous of one girl because she, ‘has a wardrobe full of the most
adorable dresses.’ Emphasising how Annes biggest problems are trivial things such as
not having the latest clothing, Anne explains that she has a great life with a loving family,
‘[she] [seems] to have everything, except one true friend.’ Anne struggles with isolation,
she feels she cannot trust people, so she created her own friend – her diary. Trying to fit
in and being yourself are common teenage struggles.
Thereafter, Anne battles with being her true self in the Annexe. She finds that when she
gives her opinion, it is seen as rude however the adults can say what they like, she
cannot understand this inequality although, ‘[Anne] [knows] [she has her] faults and
shortcomings, they blow them all out of proportion!’ Anne does not express this to the
others in the annexe, for fear of being scolded. Anne finds a new method of creating
peace in the annexe so that she can be accepted, she found that ‘hypocrisy gets [her] a
lot further than [her] old method of saying exactly what [she thought]’ however she was
always lying and curbing her anger and true thoughts, although others in the annexe
were more pleased by this new Anne, she wasn’t being herself and was not happy.
Finally, Anne can see others point of views and has learnt from her mistakes. Anne is
reflecting upon her life before the annexe, she remembers how she was admired by
many of her classmates and loved by her teachers, she was the centre of attention,
however when ‘[Anne] [looks] back at that Anne Frank as a pleasant, amusing, but
superficial girl, who has nothing to do with [her]’ This suggests that Anne herself is now
able to acknowledge her huge amount of self-growth and character development, she
is proud of this. Anne struggles between her inner versus outer self, she often finds that,
‘what [she] [says] is not what [she] [feels].’ This emphasises how she has a filter, how she
has built up a wall because she doesn’t trust people. She wants to be her true self and
show people the kind and sweet Anne beneath her tough exterior. She understands that
it is partially her fault for not having a great relationship with people since she never
allows herself to show her true emotions, she realises her school relationships weren’t
real because none of those people knew the real Anne.
Ultimately Anne was like many others, a misunderstood teenager, so the people around
her misjudged her and criticized her, when they should have helped Anne through her
struggles. However, by the end of the diary we see Anne is very mature, she
acknowledges her flaws and makes an effort to work on them whereas previously she
would have gotten upset and not done anything about the problem. Anne understands
that not everyone will always agree with her but what is most important is that she stays
true to herself and that she is able to build relationships and connect with people that
are closest to her.
Word count: 605
By Ella Solomon
I fully agree that in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne’s writing throughout her
diary reflects emotional growth. Emotional Growth is to mature and understand your
personality better than you did before. Anne develops herself as the diary continues.
Initially Anne faces regular teenage struggles. Thereafter she struggles to express
herself whilst living in the annexe. Finally, she gains a better understanding of what kind
of person she wants to be.
In the beginning Anne is a typical teenager. She is complaining about her classmates.
Anne is particularly jealous of one girl because she, ‘has a wardrobe full of the most
adorable dresses.’ Emphasising how Annes biggest problems are trivial things such as
not having the latest clothing, Anne explains that she has a great life with a loving family,
‘[she] [seems] to have everything, except one true friend.’ Anne struggles with isolation,
she feels she cannot trust people, so she created her own friend – her diary. Trying to fit
in and being yourself are common teenage struggles.
Thereafter, Anne battles with being her true self in the Annexe. She finds that when she
gives her opinion, it is seen as rude however the adults can say what they like, she
cannot understand this inequality although, ‘[Anne] [knows] [she has her] faults and
shortcomings, they blow them all out of proportion!’ Anne does not express this to the
others in the annexe, for fear of being scolded. Anne finds a new method of creating
peace in the annexe so that she can be accepted, she found that ‘hypocrisy gets [her] a
lot further than [her] old method of saying exactly what [she thought]’ however she was
always lying and curbing her anger and true thoughts, although others in the annexe
were more pleased by this new Anne, she wasn’t being herself and was not happy.
Finally, Anne can see others point of views and has learnt from her mistakes. Anne is
reflecting upon her life before the annexe, she remembers how she was admired by
many of her classmates and loved by her teachers, she was the centre of attention,
however when ‘[Anne] [looks] back at that Anne Frank as a pleasant, amusing, but
superficial girl, who has nothing to do with [her]’ This suggests that Anne herself is now
able to acknowledge her huge amount of self-growth and character development, she
is proud of this. Anne struggles between her inner versus outer self, she often finds that,
‘what [she] [says] is not what [she] [feels].’ This emphasises how she has a filter, how she
has built up a wall because she doesn’t trust people. She wants to be her true self and
show people the kind and sweet Anne beneath her tough exterior. She understands that
it is partially her fault for not having a great relationship with people since she never
allows herself to show her true emotions, she realises her school relationships weren’t
real because none of those people knew the real Anne.
Ultimately Anne was like many others, a misunderstood teenager, so the people around
her misjudged her and criticized her, when they should have helped Anne through her
struggles. However, by the end of the diary we see Anne is very mature, she
acknowledges her flaws and makes an effort to work on them whereas previously she
would have gotten upset and not done anything about the problem. Anne understands
that not everyone will always agree with her but what is most important is that she stays
true to herself and that she is able to build relationships and connect with people that
are closest to her.
Word count: 605
By Ella Solomon
