Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

How was Anne Frank different from a common teenager?

What makes The Diary of Anne Frank so poignant (touching), is that Anne was not any different from a typical teenager. Her feelings, emotions, and needs are the same as most teenage girls. So, imagine if a teenage girl today was banned from school, made to wear a Star as a mark of her religion and social standing branding her as an outcast, forced to leave all personal items behind except for minimal clothing including her beloved pet cat, leave her home and go into hiding for years in a cramped annex with the constant fear of capture or, even worse, death. Anne has the typical teenage arguments with her mother and sister, wants to spend time with her friends and be independant, and hopes to fall in love, just as most teenage girls. If Anne had not been like most teenagers, this story would not have the relevance or impact it still has today. In this diary, the reader is able to glimpse what happens to a teenage girl who is deprived of her life and goes through her journey with strength and honor until the end.

Anne Frank and her family go into hiding for their safety when she is just 13 years old.  Like most teenage girls, Anne loves to write her secrets in her diary, a gift for her birthday.

What makes Anne Frank different from most teenagers is that she found a sense of fulfillment and joy from her writing.  Not only did she write her thoughts to her imaginary friend, Kitty, but she also spent a great deal of time writing stories to entertain herself.

 "She is sensitive and intelligent, and, surprisingly, she is rarely bored while in hiding. She occupies her mind with self-analysis, writing fiction and nonfiction, and pursuing a wide range of studies."

Most modern teenagers get bored very quickly if they don't have constant changing stimuli around them.  Anne had to content herself with very little. 

What makes Anne different from other teenage girls is that at a very young age, she decided what she wanted to do with her life.  And, even in the worst conditions, she held onto her dream of becoming of Journalist after the war. 

I don't think this has been mentioned, but another thing that makes Anne so different is not only what she went through, but the fact that she is SO mature...mature beyond her years.  She wrote so eloquently and with such maturity of style and diction, in my opinion.  It is amazing how mature she appears through her words, despite being in a horrifying situation.