The Diary of Anne Frank, Act II
The Diary of Anne Frank, Act II
The Diary of Anne Frank, Act II
Playwrights
The Diary of Anne Frank, Act II
Concept Vocabulary
As you conduct your first read of The Diary of Anne Frank, Act II, you will
encounter these words. Before reading, note how familiar you are with
each word. Then, rank the words in order from most familiar (1) to least
familiar (6).
foreboding
apprehension
intuition
Frances Goodrich and
Albert Hackett
mounting
rigid
insistent
After completing the first read, come back to the concept vocabulary and
review your rankings. Mark changes to your original rankings as needed.
Tool Kit
First-Read Guide and
Model Annotation
NOTICE whom the story is ANNOTATE by marking
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about, what happens, where vocabulary and key passages
and when it happens, and you want to revisit.
why those involved react as
they do.
The Diary of
Anne Frank, Act II
Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
BACKGROUND
In Act I, Anne Frank’s father visits the attic where his family and
four others hid from the Nazis during World War II. As he holds his
daughter’s diary, Anne’s offstage voice draws him into the past as
the families begin their new life in hiding. As the months drag on,
fear and lack of privacy in the attic rooms contribute to increasing
tension among the family members.
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Scene 1
NOTES
1 [In the darkness we hear Anne’s Voice, again reading from the CLOSE READ
diary.] ANNOTATE: In paragraph 2,
2 Anne’s Voice. Saturday, the first of January, nineteen forty- mark words that refer to date
and time.
four. Another new year has begun and we find ourselves still
in our hiding place. We have been here now for one year, five QUESTION: Why do the
months and twenty-five days. It seems that our life is at a playwrights include these
details?
standstill.
3 [The curtain rises on the scene. It is late afternoon. Everyone is CONCLUDE: What is the effect
of these details?
bundled up against the cold. In the main room Mrs. Frank is
taking down the laundry which is hung across the back. Mr. Frank
cut the cake] Are you sure you won’t have some?
53 Miep. [Drinking her tea] No, really, I have to go in a minute.
54 [The sound of the band fades out in the distance.]
55 Peter. [To Miep] Maybe Mouschi went back to our house . . .
they say that cats . . . Do you ever get over there . . .? I
mean . . . do you suppose you could . . .?
56 Miep. I’ll try, Peter. The first minute I get I’ll try. But I’m
afraid, with him gone a week . . .
72 [There is a piercing scream from Mrs. Van Daan above. She grabs reaction to her husband’s
at the fur coat as Mr. Van Daan is starting downstairs with it.] decision to sell her coat.
73 Mrs. Van Daan. No! No! No! Don’t you dare take that! You QUESTION: Why do the
hear? It’s mine! [Downstairs Peter turns away, embarrassed, playwrights include these
miserable.] My father gave me that! You didn’t give it to me. details?
You have no right. Let go of it . . . you hear? CONCLUDE: What conflicts do
74 [Mr. Van Daan pulls the coat from her hands and hurries these details reveal?
downstairs. Mrs. Van Daan sinks to the floor, sobbing. As
Mr. Van Daan comes into the main room the others look away,
embarrassed for him.]
75 Mr. Van Daan. [To Mr. Kraler] Just a little—discussion over
the advisability of selling this coat. As I have often reminded
Mrs. Van Daan, it’s very selfish of her to keep it when people
104 Mr. Frank. Is it so much that he’s asking? What are they
paying nowadays?
105 Mr. Kraler. He could get it in a war plant. But this isn’t a war
plant. Mind you. I don’t know if he really knows . . . or if he
doesn’t know.
106 Mr. Frank. Offer him half. Then we’ll soon find out if it’s
blackmail or not.
107 Dussel. And if it is? We’ve got to pay it, haven’t we?
Anything he asks we’ve got to pay!
108 Mr. Frank. Let’s decide that when the time comes.
109 Mr. Kraler. This may be all my imagination. You get to a
point, these days, where you suspect everyone and
123 [As Anne goes on raging at her mother, Mrs. Frank tries to break
in, in an effort to quiet her.]
124 Anne. We’re young, Margot and Peter and I! You grownups
have had your chance! But look at us . . . If we begin thinking
of all the horror in the world, we’re lost! We’re trying to hold
onto some kind of ideals . . . when everything . . . ideals,
hopes . . . everything, are being destroyed! It isn’t our fault
that the world is in such a mess! We weren’t around when all
this started! So don’t try to take it out on us! [She rushes off to
her room, slamming the door after her. She picks up a brush from
the chest and hurls it to the floor. Then she sits on the settee, trying
to control her anger.]
134
Mr. Van Daan’s is deep and low, like a bass fiddle. Mine is CONCLUDE: What mood do
high, whistling like a flute. As we all sit around waiting for these stage directions create?
supper, it’s like an orchestra tuning up. It only needs
Toscanini3 to raise his baton and we’d be off in the Ride of the
Valkyries.4 Monday, the sixth of March, nineteen forty-four.
Mr. Kraler is in the hospital. It seems he has ulcers. Pim says 3. Toscanini (TOS kuh NEE nee)
we are his ulcers. Miep has to run the business and us too. Arturo Toscanini, a famous
The Americans have landed on the southern tip of Italy. Italian orchestra conductor.
Father looks for a quick finish to the war. Mr. Dussel is
waiting every day for the warehouse man to demand more 4. Ride of the Valkyries (VAL kih
reez) stirring selection from an
money. Have I been skipping too much from one subject to opera by Richard Wagner, a
another? I can’t help it. I feel that spring is coming. I feel it German composer.
in my whole body and soul. I feel utterly confused. I am
longing . . . so longing . . . for everything . . . for friends . . . for
someone to talk to . . . someone who understands . . .
someone young, who feels as I do . . .
159 [As these last lines are being said, the curtain rises on the scene.
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⌘ ⌘ ⌘
Scene 2
unpleasant.
29 Anne. Mrs. Van Daan doesn’t need an opportunity to be
unpleasant!
30 Mrs. Frank. Everyone’s on edge, worried about Mr. Kraler.
This is one more thing . . .
31 Anne. I’m sorry, Mother. I’m going to Peter’s room. I’m not
going to let Petronella Van Daan spoil our friendship.
32 [Mrs. Frank hesitates for a second, then goes out, closing the door
after her. She gets a pack of playing cards and sits at the center
table, playing solitaire. In Anne’s room Margot hands the finished
skirt to Anne. As Anne is putting it on, Margot takes off her
high-heeled shoes and stuffs paper in the toes so that Anne can
wear them.]
ice and I was crying. And the other was Mr. Koophuis, a
friend of Father’s who kissed my hand. You wouldn’t say
those counted, would you?
106 Peter. I wouldn’t say so.
107 Anne. I know almost for certain that Margot would never
kiss anyone unless she was engaged to them. And I’m sure
too that Mother never touched a man before Pim. But I don’t
know . . . things are so different now . . . What do you think?
Do you think a girl shouldn’t kiss anyone except if she’s
engaged or something? It’s so hard to try to think what to do,
when here we are with the whole world falling around our
ears and you think . . . well . . . you don’t know what’s going
to happen tomorrow and . . . What do you think?
⌘ ⌘ ⌘
Scene 3
2 Mrs. Frank. [Screaming.] Otto! Otto! Komme schnell! 6 6. Komme schnell! (KOHM uh
SHNEHL) German for “Come
3 [The rest of the people wake, hurriedly getting up.] quick!”
4 Mr. Frank. Was ist los? Was ist passiert?7 7. Was ist los? Was ist
passiert? (VAHS ihst LOS
5 [Dussel, followed by Anne, comes from his room.] VAHS ihst PAHS eert) German
6 Mrs. Frank. [As she rushes over to Mr. Van Daan] Er stiehlt for “What’s the matter? What
happened?”
das Essen! 8
7 Dussel. [Grabbing Mr. Van Daan] You! You! Give me that. 8. Er stiehlt das Essen! (ehr
SHTEELT dahs EHS uhn)
8 Mrs. Van Daan. [Coming down the stairs] Putti . . . Putti . . . German for “He steals food!”
what is it?
9 Dussel. [His hands on Van Daan’s neck] You dirty thief . . .
stealing food . . . you good-for-nothing . . .
mother’s shoulders.]
28 Mrs. Frank. [Paying no attention, going on to Mrs. Van Daan]
Don’t think I haven’t seen you! Always saving the choicest
bits for him! I’ve watched you day after day and I’ve held my
tongue. But not any longer! Not after this! Now I want him to
go! I want him to get out of here!
Mr. Frank. Edith!
29
[Together] Mr. Van Daan. Get out of here?
Mrs. Van Daan. What do you mean?
with it.]
44 Mrs. Van Daan. Mr. Frank, you told Putti you’d never forget
what he’d done for you when you came to Amsterdam. You
said you could never repay him, that you . . .
45 Mrs. Frank. [Counting out money.] If my husband had any
obligation to you, he’s paid it, over and over.
46 Mr. Frank. Edith, I’ve never seen you like this before. I don’t
know you.
47 Mrs. Frank. I should have spoken out long ago.
48 Dussel. You can’t be nice to some people.
I’ll be back in school by fall. Ha, ha! The joke is on us! The
warehouse man doesn’t know a thing and we are paying him
all that money! . . . Wednesday, the second of July, nineteen
forty-four. The invasion seems temporarily to be bogged
down. Mr. Kraler has to have an operation, which looks bad.
The Gestapo have found the radio that was stolen. Mr. Dussel
says they’ll trace it back and back to the thief, and then, it’s
just a matter of time till they get to us. Everyone is low. Even
poor Pim can’t raise their spirits. I have often been downcast
myself . . . but never in despair. I can shake off everything if I
write. But . . . and that is the great question . . . will I ever be
able to write well? I want to so much. I want to go on living
even after my death. Another birthday has gone by, so now I
⌘ ⌘ ⌘
Scene 4
29 Mr. Van Daan. Whose fault is it we’re here? [Mrs. Van Daan
starts for her room. He follows, talking at her.] We could’ve been
safe somewhere . . . in America or Switzerland. But no! No!
You wouldn’t leave when I wanted to. You couldn’t leave
your things. You couldn’t leave your precious furniture.
30 Mrs. Van Daan. Don’t touch me!
31 [She hurries up the stairs, followed by Mr. Van Daan. Peter,
unable to bear it, goes to his room. Anne looks after him, deeply
concerned. Dussel returns to his post at the window. Mr. Frank
comes back into the main room and takes a book, trying to read.
Mrs. Frank sits near the sink, starting to peel some potatoes. Anne
quietly goes to Peter’s room closing the door after her. Peter is
lying face down on the cot. Anne leans over him, holding him in
her arms, trying to bring him out of his despair.]
⌘ ⌘ ⌘
Scene 5
was sent to Auschwitz.15 They went to Belsen.16 In January we 15. Auschwitz (OWSH vihts) Nazi
were freed, the few of us who were left. The war wasn’t yet concentration camp in Poland
at which approximately 1.1
over, so it took us a long time to get home. We’d be sent here million Jews were murdered.
and there behind the lines where we’d be safe. Each time our
16. Belsen (BEL zuhn) village
train would stop . . . at a siding, or a crossing . . . we’d all get in Germany that, with the
out and go from group to group . . . Where were you? Were village of Bergen, was the
you at Belsen? At Buchenwald?17 At Mauthausen? Is it site of Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi
concentration camp; another
possible that you knew my wife? Did you ever see my name for this camp.
husband? My son? My daughter? That’s how I found out 17. Buchenwald (BOO kuhn
about my wife’s death . . . of Margot, the Van Daans . . . wawld) Nazi concentration
Dussel. But Anne . . . I still hoped . . . Yesterday I went to camp in central Germany.
Rotterdam. I’d heard of a woman there . . . She’d been in
Belsen with Anne . . . I know now.
9 [He picks up the diary again, and turns the pages back to find a
certain passage. As he finds it we hear Anne’s Voice.]
10 Anne’s Voice. In spite of everything, I still believe that people
are really good at heart. [Mr. Frank slowly closes the diary.]
11 Mr. Frank. She puts me to shame.
12 [They are silent.] ❧
Comprehension Check
Complete the following items after you finish your first read.
1. How long have the characters been in hiding at the beginning of Act II?
2. What happens to Mr. Kraler that prevents him from coming to the attic?
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RESEARCH
Research to Clarify Choose at least one unfamiliar detail from the text. Briefly
research that detail. In what way does the information you learned shed light on an
aspect of the play?
Research to Explore Choose something that interested you from the text, and formulate
a research question you might use to learn more about it.
Tool Kit 2. For more practice, go back into the text, and complete the close-read
Close‑Read Guide and notes.
Model Annotation 3. Revisit a section of the text you found important during your first read.
Read this section closely, and annotate what you notice. Ask yourself
questions such as “Why did the author make this choice?” What can
you conclude?
Notebook Analyze the characters’ motivations in Act II. Use the chart
to gather your observations. Then, respond to the questions.
ACtION MOTIVATION INTERNAL OR EXTERNAL?
1. (a) What is Anne’s motivation for keeping a diary? (b) Cite at least two details
from the play that support your inference.
2. What can you infer from details in Act II about why an informer might be
motivated to tell authorities about a family in hiding?
3. Identify at least three ways in which the setting contributes the characters’
motivations. For each item, cite specific details from the text that support your
thinking.
Concept Vocabulary
foreboding intuition rigid
apprehension mounting insistent
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, Act II
Why These Words? These concept words are used to reveal feelings
about the future—hopes, fears, and a sense of anticipation. For example,
when Mr. Kraler comes to tell Mr. Frank about Carl, Margot can sense
his apprehension about telling the group. As a result, she experiences
a sense of foreboding. Notice that both of these words relate to the
characters’ feelings of fear and anxiety about the future.
1. How does the concept vocabulary help the reader understand the
characters’ experiences?
Practice
Notebook The first word in each pair is a concept vocabulary word.
WORD NETWORK For each pair, write a sentence in which you correctly use both words.
Add words related to the 1. apprehension, unknown 4. foreboding, tension
Holocaust from the text to 2. mounting, future 5. intuition, guess
your Word Network.
3. insistent, voice 6. rigid, movement
Conventions
Simple Tenses of Verbs The tense of a verb shows the time of an
action or a condition. Writers need verb tenses to tell when the events
they write about took place. There are three simple tenses of verbs:
past, present, and future.
The chart below shows how to form these tenses. Note that the past and
future forms are the same for all persons.
Use the base form; add -s or For regular verbs, add -d or Use will before base form.
-es for the third person. -ed to base form.
For irregular verbs, there is no
predictable pattern, so you
need to memorize their forms.
Read It
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1. Label the underlined verb in each sentence from the selection past,
present, or future.
a. We came to bring you New Year’s greetings.
b. If we wait patiently, quietly, I believe that help will come.
c. Mr. Van Daan always gets a little bit more.
2. Rewrite the underlined verb in each sentence using the correct tense.
a. They ate dinner together tomorrow night.
b. The war happens decades ago, but for some, it could have been
yesterday.
Write It
Reread the stage directions at the end of Scene 1. Rewrite the stage
directions so that they are in the simple past tense.
Writing to Sources
A drama review is an evaluation of a dramatic performance. In a
review, a writer describes a performance and evaluates its quality. The
writer states an opinion and then supports it with specific details. For
example, it is not enough to say that an actor did a good job portraying a
character. The reviewer must explain what, specifically, made the actor’s
portrayal successful.
Assignment
During the Speaking and Listening activity, classmates delivered
dramatic readings of scenes from the play, and you evaluated
those performances. Now, write a drama review of one of the
performances. Prepare to write your review by considering these
questions:
• How did watching the performance differ from reading the text?
EVIDENCE LOG
• Did the actors make effective choices that captured the emotions, Before moving on to a
personalities, and motivations of the characters? new selection, go to your
• Was the performance faithful to the text? Evidence Log and record
what you learned from The
• Did the performance reveal something about the text that was Diary of Anne Frank.
new or surprising?
STANDARDS
Reading Literature
Analyze the extent to which a filmed
or live production of a story or drama
stays faithful to or departs from the
text or script, evaluating the choices
made by the director or actors.
Writing
Write informative/explanatory texts
to examine a topic and convey ideas,
concepts, and information through
the selection, organization, and
analysis of relevant content.
b. Develop the topic with relevant,
well-chosen facts, definitions,
concrete details, quotations, or
other information and examples.
f. Provide a concluding statement
or section that follows from
and supports the information or
explanation presented.