Saturday, December 20, 2014

How did Anne Frank keep herself busy in hiding?

Anne throws herself into her writing and studies while in hiding. She mentions writing poems and short stories, sometimes as gifts for the other people in hiding with her. And obviously, she writes and edits her diary in her spare time. She also studies short-hand, English, French, history, algebra, religious topics, and other academic topics.
Reading is also a major past-time. From movie magazines to history books, Anne devours whatever she can get her hands on. Anne is a bit frustrated that her parents are very strict about what she is allowed to read, since they are nervous about her perusing material dealing with "adult" topics.
Later on, Anne forms a friendship with Peter van Daan and the two spend large amounts of time talking alone together, though the adults become concerned that their doing so is improper.


When Anne and her family move into hiding, life becomes quite boring for her because she does not have much to do. As a result, she turns to reading and writing as a way of keeping herself busy. In several instances within her diary, Anne indicates that she is keeping herself busy by reading different books that range from novels to poetry. In one such instance, Anne claims to have read The Zaniest Summer at least four times, just to keep away the boredom. To articulate her new habit of reading during her days in hiding, Anne says that every other week Mr. Kleiman brings her a couple of books written for girls her age. Additionally, it is evident that Anne keeps herself busy writing her diary, which she updates from time to time. In addition to her diary, Anne stipulates that she spends time translating chapters from La Belle Nivernaise and other French books. Therefore, it is evident from the diary that Anne keeps herself busy by reading and writing during her period in hiding.

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