Description:
Visit het achterhuis on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam and explore the annex where Anne Frank wrote her renowned diary. With more than 1,000 historical photos, over 15 video films, and four hours of spoken text, Anne Frank House presents a complete picture of all the details Anne sought to capture in her diary. The software even includes a copy of Anne's diary, complete with 30 percent more material than the original published version. Install the application and within minutes you'll have access to not only the program, but the Anne Frank Web site as well. The software is set up to resemble the actual house where Anne and her family hid during World War II. Using the mouse, we were able to navigate our way through different rooms throughout the building, as well as other buildings in the surrounding area. The program does an amazing job of capturing the neighborhood in which the family hid for all those years, as well as the actual rooms and corridors of their secret annex. Aside from a virtual tour of the house, complete with posters on the wall and food on the table, the program comes complete with dozens of short stories and explanations about the lives of all the occupants of 123 Prinsengracht. Click on the revolving cube that sits in the lower left-hand corner of your screen and choose from a number of options, including Timelines, People, Hidden Places, and more. We especially appreciated the outline of a typical day in the annex, where clicking on a particular time would launch a detailed explanation of what went on in the house at that particular hour. While the program may seem a bit overwhelming at times, mainly because of the large scope of information offered, it just takes a little time and practice to adjust to the application. In addition, a helpful lost-and-found navigation feature makes it easy to move around the software without losing your bearings. However, we found that sometimes the best way to experience this type of program is simply to point and click and see where it takes you. And if you do get stumped on a term or expression, the comprehensive glossary and help section is usually accessible from wherever you may be in the application. Designed for both students and teachers, Anne Frank House takes a comprehensive yet sensitive look at the complete story of Anne Frank, the families in hiding, and the vast, sometimes incomprehensible war that unfolded before their very eyes. --Gisele Toueg
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