Words to Help us Talk About "The Diary of Anne Frank"

Mr. Costello
20 words 46 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. cathartic
    emotionally purging
    It was cathartic for Anne Frank to write in her diary. It was a way for her to process through her experience.
    A cathartic experience is an emotional release. Talking about your problems with someone who cares about you can be cathartic. Processing through your ideas in a diary can be cathartic.
  2. precocious
    characterized by exceptionally early development
    Anne Frank was a precocious child; she was very smart and seemed to understand human emotion at a young age.
    A child who is precocious is very smart for his age. Precocious children make smart observations and think about things more intellengently than one would expect at a young age. Precocious children like to go to museums and think about what they see there.
  3. altruistic
    showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others
    Meip Geis was altruistic. She sheltered the Franks because it was the right thing to do--she could have been arrested herself.
    Altruistic do good because it's just an instinct inside them. They naturally want to help people.
  4. humane
    marked by concern with the alleviation of suffering
    Humane means to act in a good and just way.
  5. inhumane
    reflecting a lack of pity or compassion
    Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime was inhumane. They arrested and put to death nearly 6 million people in a very gruesome way.
    An inhumane act goes against all that is civil and just. It is cruel treatment.
  6. candor
    the quality of being honest and straightforward
    Anne Frank writes with candor about her feelings regarding her mother. She did not feel close to her mother.
    Candor means to be frank and straightforward with your feelings and ideas. Candor is an honesty.
  7. petty
    preoccupied with unimportant matters in a spiteful way
    The families who were hiding began to snap at each other over petty issues.
    People who are petty are affected by small things in other people. Petty actions are small-minded and childish. If your parent took your iPod and broke it to punish you for being late, that would be a petty action.
  8. come of age
    reach a certain age that marks a transition to maturity
    "The Diary of Anne Frank" is a coming-of-age story about a young girl growing up in hiding.
    "Coming-of-age" is a type of story or experience where someone grows and matures in a noticable way. When a young character experiences the death of a parent and we see how that makes them become the person that they are, it is a "coming-of-age story."
  9. reverential
    feeling or manifesting profound respect or awe
    We should be reverential about Anne Frank's story. It is a tragic and true story of a dark chapter in world history.
    A reverential attitude toward things means that you show the highest respect for something. When I go to a funeral I act reverential toward the casket and the family of the loved ones. I show reverence for the ritual.
  10. innocence
    the state of being unsullied by sin or moral wrong
    Anne Frank's innocence was shattered when her family was forced to go into hiding. She had to grow up quickly.
    Innocence does not just mean "not guilty"--it can describe the state of not having experienced the "adult" world. We lose our innocence as we grow older and become aware of the pettiness and sinfulness of the adult world.
  11. genocide
    systematic killing of a racial or cultural group
    The Nazi officers committed genocide--they tried to kill all Jews living in German controlled countries.
  12. Holocaust
    the mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime
    Anne Frank's story is just one of 6 million from the Holocaust.
    The Holocaust came to mean the mass killing of especially Jews during World War II. Jewish people call it the Shoah.
  13. seclusion
    the quality of being removed from the presence of others
    Anne Frank and her family were living in seclusion.
    Living in seclusion means to be in hiding.
  14. inferior
    of low quality
    Adolf Hitler considered Jewish people to be inferior to his "master race."
    Something or someone that is considered inferior is conidered to be of low quality. German Nazis believed Jewish people were an inferior race.
  15. diarist
    someone who keeps a diary or journal
    Anne Frank was a diarist.
  16. dignity
    the quality of being worthy of esteem or respect
    Anne Frank displayed extreme dignity in the face of her tragedies.
  17. inconspicuous
    not prominent or readily noticeable
    The Frank family attempted to be inconspicuous. They did not want their hiding place to be found out.
    Something that is obvious and out in the opening is conspicuous. A bank robbery in broad daylight is a conspicuous crime. A robber who breaks into a house in the middle of the night wearing black is trying to be inconspicuous.
  18. fatalist
    someone who feels powerless to change his or her destiny
    If you are a fatalist you believe that there is nothing you can do to change the course of your life. It's as if every detail about your life and its future is mapped out ahead of time.
  19. mercurial
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
    A moody person is mercurial. They have sudden changes in mood--sometimes they are jovial, other times they are in irascible.
  20. vile
    morally reprehensible
    Something that is vile is revolting and disgusting. Rape is a vile crime.
Created on Tue Mar 19 10:27:03 EDT 2013 (updated Thu Mar 21 10:05:09 EDT 2013)

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