I think Anne does pay attention in her diary in various ways, and uses various ways to “create a picture in words”. Although she is only a teenager, she is quite sensitive to the surroundings and describes plenty of details to make her thoughts concrete. I think Anne successfully leads us to see the Annex, the people, and their hiding life both rationally and emotionally through her eyes. Generally, her writing skill is rather good and impresses me most favorably.

The first day she comes to the Annex, she describes the rooms with details. For example, “The large warehouse on the ground floor is used as a workroom and storeroom and the milling room, where cinnamon, cloves and a pepper substitute are ground.” She also writes about the people who help them, but all the descriptions here are only “introductions”, and she has not added her opinions yet. In short, it is objective and direct. She introduces them room by room and person by person, and we can briefly get an idea about who they are and where they live. It is important to know how things going on, and I think she does a good job.

The way she describes the members of the Annex is more complicated than the introduction. She first makes some opinions and then expresses her thoughts with the one’s behavior. For instance, “Mr. Dussel, the man who was said to get along so well with children and to absolutely adore them, has turned out to be and old-fashioned disciplinarian and preacher of unbearably long sermons on manners.” Her readers have already known what kind of person he is, and then we find plenty of evidences on the following pages.

I beg, “Mr. Dussel, you seem to believe further discussion of the matter is pointless, but I beg you to reconsider.”

Dussel gave me his most charming smile and said, “I’m always prepared to discuss the matter, even though it’s already been settled.”

　　We see that Mr. Dussel is not the person he himself says, and he seems quite childish, selfish, strict, and stubborn. Anne’s reactions also reflect Mr. Dussel’s personality. Although Anne is very polite, he never takes her opinion into his consideration. That is Mr. Dussel. Anne uses her impression, opinions and evidence, to make the picture vivid.

　　Then she expresses the life in the Annex through the members. “Mrs. Van D. was trying to do everything at once: learning Dutch out of a book, stirring the soup, watching the meat, sighing and moaning about her broken rib.” Through this sentence, we can see what their life is like. The soup and the meat mean they eat well or not badly at least. They having water and fire means the circumstances are good, and the supplies are enough. And Mrs. van Dan is happy to learn Dutch. She looks quite casual and not very nervous. It shows that although they are hiding, they are not in extreme danger and live well. They even celebrate Hanukkah and St. Nicholas Day. If they were in danger and things were getting worse, they would not celebrate them.

　　Also, she is sensitive to the sound. “In the next room there’s a terrible creaking: that’s Margot’s folding bed being set up.” “The bathroom door creaks.” She writes a lot of the creaking sound. It seems nothing but delivers an important message to us; that is, silence. It is extremely quite and silent. We can guess that they are afraid of making sound and that they cannot make any sound. Otherwise, the police will probably discover them. All these small images she writes reflect that although they are safe, they are still rather nervous and scared. Their life is only materially good, not mentally good.

　　On the other hand, I think Anne has ability to make abstract feeling and emotion become concrete and influence the readers.

　　When the clock strikes half past eight.

　　Margot and Mother are nervous. “Shh…Father. Be quiet, Otto. Shh…Pim! It’s eight-thirty. Come here, you can’t run the water anymore. Walk softly!” a sample of what’s said to Father in the bathroom. At the stroke of half past eight, he has to be in the living room. No running water, no flushing toilet, no walking around, no noise whatsoever. As long as the office staff hasn’t arrived, sounds travel more easily to the warehouse.

　　I think she creates the feeling of being frightened and nervous deliberately. First, the sentences are brief. If the sentences are too long, it seems too normal. Second, she mentions the time several times. It seems that they eagerly hope something leaving as quick as possible. Third, the scene almost “stops”. Their action becomes abnormally slow and nothing else bothers. The atmosphere is extraordinarily frozen. Anne expresses the “concrete abstract” marvelously!

In fact, Anne’s writing style is not special. The only thing she does is expressing and describing things with details fully as she possibly can. Since she writes in a casual and usual way, and even never thought of being published, we see the Jews’ authentic life without decoration. It is simple but real, so that we are touched and moved by her innocence. That is her true piece of the society, reveals and exposes the darkness, and finally wins people’s heart and sympathy to the Jews.