From the Diary of Anne Frank | NCERT Solution | English | Class X
Updated: May 3, 2022
Lesson Architecture
Story-At-A- Glance
NCERT Questions
Extra Questions
From the Diary of Anne Frank
BEFORE YOU READ
Anneliese Marie ‘Anne’ Frank (12 June 1929 – February/March 1945) was a German – born Jewish girl who wrote while in hiding with her family and four friends in Amsterdam during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II.
Her family had moved to Amsterdam after the Nazis gained power in Germany but were trapped when the Nazi occupation extended into the Netherlands.
As persecutions against the Jewish population increased, the family went into hiding in July 1942 in hidden rooms in her father Otto Frank’s office building.
After two years in hiding, the group was betrayed and transported to the concentration camp system where Anne died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen within days of her sister, Margot Frank. Her father, Otto, the only survivor of the group, returned to Amsterdam after the war ended, to find that her diary had been saved.
Convinced that it was a unique record, he took action to have it published in English under the name The Diary of a Young Girl. The diary was given to Anne Frank for her thirteenth birthday and chronicles the events of her life from 12 June 1942 until its final entry of 1 August 1944.
It was eventually translated from its original Dutch into many languages and became one of the world’s most widely read books.
There have also been several films, television and theatrical productions, and even an opera, based on the diary. Described as the work of a mature and insightful mind, the diary provides an intimate examination of daily life under Nazi occupation.
Anne Frank has become one of the most renowned and discussed of the Holocaust victims.
Anne Frank’s First Entry in the Diary
Anne Frank a thirteen year old girl was gifted a diary by her father. So she decided to write in her diary which she considered to be her best friend in loneliness and named it ‘Kitty’.
She began writing in June 1942. In her first entry she expressed her desire to confide everything to the diary as she hadn’t been able to do so to anyone else.
Initially she was not interested to write anything on her diary as she thought that at a later date in future nobody would be interested to read the musings of a 13-yr-old girl.
She had many things to write about as she had no real friend with whom she could share all her private things.
She felt that paper had more patience than people. As she had no friend, therefore, she started writing her own diary.
Her Childhood and Family
Annie says that she had loving parents and a sixteen-year-old sister, and there are about thirty people she could call friends. She had a family, loving aunts and a good home.
In spite of being flanked by many people around in her family, she could not confide herself to them. Therefore, she planned to start writing her own diary.
Annie decided to give a name to her diary-it is ‘Kitty’’. As she thought people might read her diary in future, so she started the diary by giving introduction of her family.
She called her father the most adorable father. Her father married her mother when he was at the age of 36 and she was 25.
She and her sister Margot were both born in Frankfurt. As soon as Anne turned 4, her father moved to Holland followed by her mother in September while both the sisters stayed with their grandmother in Aachen.
Margot was also sent to Holland in December followed by Anne in February who was brought as a birthday present for Margot.
Anne’s School
Annie started right away at the Montessori nursery school. She stayed there until she was six in the first form.
In the sixth form my teacher was Mrs Kuperus, the headmistress. At the end of the year we were both in tears as we said a heart-breaking farewell.
In the summer of 1941 Grandma fell ill and had to have an operation, so my birthday passed with little celebration.
Her Grandmother’s Death
Grandma died in January 1942. Annie had profound love for her grandmother whom she missed very often.
Her birthday celebration in 1942 was intended to make up for the previous year’s celebration which could not be held due to sickness of her grandmother.
Grandma’s candle was lit along with the rest. Annie informed us that her family was doing well and that brings her to the present date of 20 June 1942 the date of dedication of her diary.
Her view About Teachers
She mentions in her first diary how her entire class is nervous about their results. The result will be decided by a meeting of teachers in which they will decide which students will move to next form and which of them will be kept back.
According to Anne, about a quarter of class should not be allowed to pass because they hardly respond or take part in any of the activities. She refers to them as “dummies”. But her prediction might not be correct as teacher’s decision will be final.
The only thing subject that she was unsure about was mathematics. But all they could do was wait for the results and not lose their hope.
Annie informs us that she got along pretty well with all her teachers. There are nine of them, seven men and two women.
Punishment by Mr Keesing & Annie’s Response
Mr Keesing, the old fogey who taught her maths, was annoyed with her for ages because she talked so much. After several warnings, he assigned her extra homework- an essay on the subject, ‘A Chatterbox’. A chatterbox.
Annie wrote the three pages Mr Keesing had assigned her and was satisfied.
She argued that talking is a student’s trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control, but that she would never be able to cure herself of the habit since her mother talked as much as she did if not more, and that there’s not much she could do about inherited traits.
Mr Keesing had a good laugh when she handed in the homework. He assigned her another homework- ‘An Incorrigible Chatterbox’. She handed it in, and Mr Keesing had nothing to complain about for two whole lessons.
On the third class Mr. Keesing handed her yet another assignment as punishment on the topic ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox’.
Her friend, Sanne, being good at poetry, offered to help her write the essay from beginning to end in verse. Annie thought to herself that Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on her with this ridiculous subject, but through the poem she would make sure the joke was on him.
It was a beautiful poem which was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much.
Mr. Keesing’s Appreciation of Annies’s Homework
Mr Keesing fortunately took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well.
Annie was allowed to talk and had not been assigned any extra homework. On the contrary, Mr Keesing’s always making jokes these days.
On the contrary, Mr Keesing was always making jokes in the class very often.
NCERT Solution
Oral Comprehension Check ( Page 51)
1. What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?
Ans: Annie was writing her diary for the first time. She thought neither she nor anyone else in future would be interested to read the musings of a thirteen-year-old school child. Therefore, it appeared to be a strange experience for Anne Frank.
2. Why does Anne want to keep a diary?
Ans: Annie wants to keep a diary so as to confide all her feelings, which were bottled up inside her. As paper had more patience than friends, therefore, she wanted to empty all her suppressed feelings in writing down a diary. She had no friend whom she could confide to all her secrets.
3. Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people?
Ans: According to Annie, paper has more patience than people. Therefore, she thought that only in writing on her diary she could express her feelings. In the event of finding a real friend, she would read all her feelings from her diary in future.
Oral Comprehension Check ( Page 51)
1. Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?
Ans: Annie thought that if people found interest in reading her diary in future, then it is necessary to mention her family background so that they have fair knowledge about whom they would read the diary. So she provided a brief sketch of her life.
2. What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?
Ans: Annie had profound love for her grandmother whom she missed very often.
Her birthday celebration in 1942 was intended to make up for the previous year’s celebration which could not be held due to sickness of her grandmother. Grandma’s candle was lit along with the rest. So from Annie’s description of her grandmother, we can understand that fact that Annie loved her grandmother very much.
Oral Comprehension Check (Page 54)
1. Why was Mr Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?
Ans: Mr. Keesing was annoyed with Annie as she was very talkative in the class.
He asked her to write an assignment on chatterbox.
2. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
Ans: Annie argued that talking is a student’s trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. She expressed her doubt that she would never be able to cure herself of the habit since her mother talked as much as she did if not more. She expressed her inability that there’s not much she could do about inherited traits.
3. Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?
Ans: I don’t think Mr. Keesing was a strict teacher. He ignored Annie’s chattering inside the class for many days. In spite of repeated warnings when Annie did not stop talking, he gave her extra work. Therefore, he can’t be termed as a very strict teacher.
4. What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
Ans: On the third class Mr. Keesing handed her yet another assignment as punishment on the topic ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox’.Her friend, Sanne, being good at poetry, offered to help her write the essay from beginning to end in verse.
It was a beautiful poem which was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much. Mr. Keesing read the poem to the class and to several other classes as well. Thereafter, Annie was allowed to talk in class.
Thinking about the Text ( Page 54)
1. Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the
musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
Ans: Anne was not right in thinking that her diary would not be read by the people. It is due to the publication of her diary by her father that she could become a household name later on.
2. There are some examples of diary or journal entries in the ‘Before You Read’
section. Compare these with what Anne writes in her diary. What language
was the diary originally written in? In what way is Anne’s diary different?
Ans: Anne’s diary was originally written in Dutch. The other diary entries are either about a particular day or incident.
Anne’s diary is different as it is in the form of an informal letter, which she addressed to her diary, Kitty as if she was speaking to a friend.
3. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat
‘Kitty’ as an insider or an outsider?
Annie gives a brief sketch about her family so that if family information is provided while writing her diary the readers would come to know in detail about her and would take interest in reading contents of her diary.
She treats Kitty as an insider. We can understand this as she imagines her to be her intimate friend.
4. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and
Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
Ans:
Anne thinks that her father is the most adorable father in the world.
She loves her grandmother as well and misses her badly during her birthday.
She is fond Mrs. Kuperus as well. When Anne left her school to return to Germany, both of them became emotional and shed tears for each other.
Mr. Keesing is her Maths teacher. Although he gave her punishment in the form of assignment, she regards her teacher.
5. What does Anne write in her first essay?
Ans: Annie argued that talking is a student’s trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. She expressed her doubt that she would never be able to cure herself of the habit since her mother talked as much as she did if not more. She expressed her inability that there’s not much she could do about inherited traits.
6. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable?
How?
Ans: Mr Keesing is unpredictable . He became irritated with Annies for talking in the class and gave her three assignments as punishment. But towards the end, when Annie submits her third essay, he found it interesting and read it out to other students in the class.
7. What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
(i) We don’t seem to be able to get any closer, and that’s the problem. Maybe
it’s my fault that we don’t confide in each other.
Ans: Anne found it extremely difficult to make a close friend whom she could confide her secrets. She is also self-critical about her inability to make friendship.
(ii) I don’t want to jot down the facts in this diary the way most people
would, but I want the diary to be my friend.
She wants to be very informal in her dealing with the diary. It is just a medium of sharing her pent-up emotions, nothing more than that according to Anne. It is a substitute for a friend for her.
(iii) Margot went to Holland in December, and I followed in February, when
I was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.
Anne seemed to have exhibited a lot of humour in this sentence with the use of the phrase ‘ plunked down’.
(iv) If you ask me, there are so many dummies that about a quarter of the
class should be kept back, but teachers are the most unpredictable
creatures on earth.
Ans: Anne means to say that in spite of the presence of many dummies, teachers are sensitive enough to consider them as it is a matter of their future. So as far as possible, they would try to promote them.
(v) Anyone could ramble on and leave big spaces between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.
Here Anne means to say that she wanted to prove to Mr. Keesing, her Maths Teacher, the necessity of talking in the class with her logical essay.
Extra Questions:
Q1. What prompted Anne to maintain a diary?
When Anne’s grandmother passed away, Anne felt quite lonely. She started writing a diary to share pent-up feelings in a diary, which she named ‘Kitty’.
Q2. Why did Anne think that she was alone? Give reasons.
Ans : Anne felt very lonely though she had loving parents and many other friends because she could not share her feelings with any one of them.
Q3. How do you know that Anne was close to her grandmother?
Ans : After the death of her grandmother, Anne missed her a lot and often thought of her. She even lit a candle as a tribute to her deceased grandmother on her birthday. Thus we come to know she was close to her grandmother.
Q4.
(i) Where did Anne stay before going to Holland?
(ii) Why was she in tears when she left the Montessori School?
Ans :
(i) Anne stayed at Aachen where her grandmother stayed.
(ii) When she parted with her loving teacher, Mrs Kuperus, she became emotional and shed tears. Both used to love each other. Therefore, Anne could not hold herself while parting from her teacher.
Q5. Do you think Keesing was justified in punishing Anne? Would you support such a punishment in your class? Why/Why not?
Ans : Mr Keesing was a very strict teacher who could not tolerate Anne’s talkativeness and would punish her. He even did not try to find out why the girl was always talking in his class. He was not justified in punishing her because he should have tried to make his teaching more impressive and interesting. Anne was weak in Mathematics; naturally, she was not interested in learning in his class. First, he insulted her and asked her to write an essay on a chatterbox. As a teacher he should have been careful enough not to insult a young girl in front of the class. He further punished her to write another essay. The children are loving young ones who should not be punished at all but treated affectionately.
No, I will not support any kind of punishment. A teacher should not use punishment to control the class. He/she should understand the level of students and modify his/her method of teaching.
Q6. Anne was very much attached to her grandmother. What should be our attitude towards our elders? What do you learn from Anne?
Ans : Anne Frank was a thirteen year old girl. She was born at Frankfurt in Germany. She lived there until she was four. Her parents emigrated to Holland and she was sent to stay with her grandmother. Anne was very close to her grandmother. She found her a lovely lady. She loved her most. After her death, Anne missed her very much. She remarks, “No one knows how often I think of her and still love her.” It shows that Anne was very much attached to her grandmother. We should be respectful and sympathetic towards our elders. We get love and wishes from our elders if we treat them respectfully. It is our duty to take a good care of our elders. We learn from Anne that if we love our elders we get love in return.
.png)