This document provides background information on primary and secondary sources, literary genres such as biography, diary, and memoir. It then analyzes the genres and source types used in the graphic novel Maus. Next, it provides a brief biography of Anne Frank, describing her life and family's experience hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam. It notes that Anne received a diary for her 13th birthday and used it to record her thoughts and experiences while in hiding. Her diary was discovered after the Gestapo arrested her family and published in 1950. The document concludes by providing some context for readers before beginning an excerpt from Anne Frank's diary.

1. Maus Notes Part 2 + DOAYG Notes
Item 22 in your Table of Contents

2. Sources
Primary Secondary
Written by people
who were present at
events, either as
participants or as
observers. E.g.
Letters, Diaries,
Autobiographies,
Speeches,
Photographs,
Interviews
Records of events that were
created sometime after the
events occurred; the writers
were not directly involved or
were not present when the
events took place. E.g.
Encyclopedias, Textbooks,
Biographies, Magazine
Articles, Web Sites (secondary
sources get their information
from primary sources)

3. Literary Genre:
Nonfiction
Genre — a category in
which a work of literature
is classified.
Biography Diary Memoir
A true account of a person’s
life written by another
person.
Source Type: ____________
A daily record of a writer’s
thoughts, experiences, and
feelings.
Source Type: ____________
A form of autobiographical
writing in which a writer
shares his or her personal
experiences.
Source Type: ____________

4. Identify Genre & Source Type in Maus
A Graphic Novel is a genre that can be either fiction or
nonfiction. Maus is a nonfiction work because it depicts
the real events that happened in 1) Vladek’s experience
of surviving during the Holocaust (Genre:
_____________ and 2) Art’s experiences and feelings in
interviewing his father (Genre: ___________________).
Source Type(s):
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________

5. Anne Frank Biography
http://www.biography.com/people/anne-frank-9300892/videos/anne-
frank-mini-biography-2079116599

6. Anne Frank
Born June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany. The Franks
left Germany in 1933 and moved to Amsterdam,
Netherlands to escape the persecution of the Jews by
the Nazi party. However, the Nazis invaded the
Netherlands in 1940 and soon after started rounding up
Jews. Otto Frank, Anne’s father, perceived the direction
of events and proceeded to make plans for his family’s
safety in the form of creating a hiding place in the top
and back of a building on the Prinsengracht Canal. The
family went into hiding on July 5, 1942 when Anne’s
sister Margot was summoned to report for deportation.
They hid in their “secret annexe” for two years until a
Dutch informer revealed the Franks’ hiding place to the
Gestapo. They were then sent to Auschwitz in one of the
last shipments of Jews to leave prior to the invasion of
Brussels by the allies. In October of 1944, Anne was sent
to Bergen-Belsen in Germany. She died sometime
around March of 1945 at the age of 15. The war ended
in May 1945.

8. Anne’s Diary
Anne received the diary for her 13th
birthday and immediately started
recording her experiences, thoughts, and
feelings. Her diary was discovered by
friends after the Gestapo took the family
from the annexe. At first, Anne’s father
circulated the diary to family members as
a memorial to Anne. It was later
published at the insistence of a professor
in 1950. Portions have been removed at
the insistence of Otto Frank, as Anne
wrote unflattering passages about her
relationship with her mother.
Source Type: ________________________

9. Things to know before reading…
• Anne addressed her diary entries to “Kitty”: “In order to enhance my
mind’s eye the picture of a friend for whom I have waited so long, I
don’t want to set down a series of bald facts in diary like most people
do, but I want this diary itself to be a friend, and I shall call that friend
Kitty.”
• Translated from the original Dutch version. There are multiple
translations to English, and they vary in content and wording.

10. The Diary of a Young Girl
Start reading the excerpt from The Diary of a Young Girl. Any reading
you do not finish in class is due for homework.
Feel free to make reading notes on your handout. The copy is yours to
keep. You will need to bring your copy to class next class.