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   akannan Teacher
   Middle School

   eNotes Editor

   I think that you will have to make a critical choice here.  A case can be made that each entry moves one's heart because we are hearing a voice, an emerging, insightful voice, which was silenced through human cruelty.  Each page, each word, each syllable was representative of a mind who perceived things uniquely and powerfully.  We can only surmise as to what great things she could have done, if she had only been given the chance.  For so many that are the victims of human cruelty, this is the predicament that makes theirs so heart rendering and moving.

   I think you have many great entries from which to choose to identify what you think is the most moving and powerful.  Given the way this diary is written, no answer would be incorrect.

   Having said this, I think that there were many entries that expressed Anne's moving hope, but also Anne's moving despair.  For my bet, the ones that have the most poignancy for me would be the ones in the last year.  I think if you examine these, you can see that there are moments when Anne speaks of her belief that she can make a difference, and then the moments where she articulates that individuals stand little chance of changing anything when instutitional forces possess so much resistance.  You could select from many entries in this part of the diary to see how these ideas are evoked.  I think the most moving entry would have to be the last one.  The closing line of seeking to create one's own destiny and sense of self if "there were no other people in this world" is powerful enough, but acquires a greater meaning when understanding the historic context within which she is writing.

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   Posted by akannan on Thursday August 13, 2009 at 5:42 AM