English teacher Harry Mitchell last week asked students to make and wear yellow stars similar to those Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis. The graded assignment, part of a lesson on The Diary of Anne Frank, was intended to teach empathy, he said.
Furthermore, the Diary of Anne Frank has NO business being part of any public school's class curriculum.
Although I agree that "touchy-feely" projects are often a substitute for the teacher having to lead an intellectual discussion on the points made by the author and are often readily forgotten after the "play" is finished, I disagree on your objection to the Diary of Anne Frank being part of the curriculum. It really is a great piece of literature, particularly as it is written by a 14-year old girl living under great duress.
As someone who grew up in the 60s, "The Diary of Anne Frank" was always on those summer reading lists - not as a part of the curriculum. Books assigned during the year were generally from the greatest of world literature - the Greeks, Homer, Shakespeare, Austen, the Brontes, Melville, etc. During our vacations we were lucky enough to read books like the "The Diary," "To Kill a Mockingbird," and "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn."
Why? Why is that wrong? In my public high school the drama club put on "The Diary of Anne Frank." Other productions included "A Raisin in the Sun" and "J.B." (a modern adaptation of the biblical Book of Job)
Since then, I have had many (non-Jewish) visitors to my website ask me, what is an appropriate book to teach their children about the Holocaust? Something that isn't too gruesome. "Diary of Anne Frank" is what I recommend.
Exactly.
However, the Diary of Anne Frank is a highly-regarded book that belongs in an English class because it's so beautifully written. I wonder whether it even occurred to the sucky liberal teacher to discuss the book's literary merits rather than making it a touchy feely excuse to go all fuzzy.