Anne Frank's Dear Miss Breed

Life is a State of Mind

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart,” observed Anne Frank, a nationwide and posthumous author of the Holocaust. Anne Frank suffered many hardships during her lifetime for a 15-year old female: going into hiding for 25 months, living in a concentration camp for a year, and dying of typhus fever. Anne Frank wrote “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl”, where she describes her experience hiding from the Nazis. Joanne Oppenheim also describes the hardships of Louise Ogawa in “Dear Miss Breed”, who learned to acclimate to a Japanese-American Internment camp. Louise Ogawa and Anne Frank were both showing a hopeful outlook on life. Both individuals demonstrate that being optimistic

In “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl”, Anne Frank remains optimistic by plastering “the walls with pictures. When the Van Daans arrive, we'll [Anne and the others in hiding will] be able to build cupboards and other odds and ends out of the wood piled in the attic”. Anne is doing her best to stay buoyant by making the Annex look like a home. This auspicious act helped facilitate a positive environment for everyone in the Annex. Optimists bring happiness to everyone’s lives. According to “Mindfulness and Positive Thinking”, “...optimists are generally happier with their lives than pessimists”. The positive mindset of an optimist leads to them being more content than if they were pessimists. Being blithe also helps the people around you stay hopeful and less downcast. According to “Positive Psychology and the Science of Happiness”, “People who volunteer or simply care for others on a consistent basis seem to be happier and less depressed”. Perhaps this is because their focus is now outside of themselves. If the person in the conflict remains positive, he or she will affect their environment in a positive manner. Elevated mental energies are fostered as a result of a positive