From the Diary of Anne Frank Question Answer – Class 10 English

Before You Read — Activity (Page 49)

1. Do you keep a diary? Given below under 'A' are some terms we use to describe a written record of personal experience. Can you match them with their descriptions under 'B'? (You may look up the terms in a dictionary if you wish.)

Yes, I keep a diary and write in it most evenings about my day, my thoughts and my feelings.

2. Here are some entries from personal records. Use the definitions above to decide which of the entries might be from a diary, a journal, a log or a memoir.

(i) I woke up very late today and promptly got a scolding from Mum! I can't help it — how can I miss the FIFA World Cup matches?

Diary. It records the writer's personal feelings about what happened on one particular day.

(ii) 10:30 a.m. Went to the office of the Director / 01:00 p.m. Had lunch with Chairman / 05:45 p.m. Received Rahul at the airport / 09:30 p.m. Dinner at home

Log. It is a record of events with exact times, in a formal, official style.

(iii) The ride to Ooty was uneventful. We rested for a while every 50 km or so, and used the time to capture the magnificent landscape with my HandyCam. From Ooty we went on to Bangalore. What a contrast! The noise and pollution of this once-beautiful city really broke my heart.

Journal. It is a record of a journey, describing the places visited along the way.

(iv) This is how Raj Kapoor found me — all wet and ragged outside R.K. Studios. He was then looking for just someone like this for a small role in Mera Naam Joker, and he cast me on the spot. The rest, as they say, is history!

Memoir. A famous person is looking back on an important event in his or her own life and career.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 51)

1. What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?

Writing in a diary is strange for Anne because she has never written anything before. She also feels that later on neither she nor anyone else will be interested in "the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl".

2. Why does Anne want to keep a diary?

Anne wants to keep a diary because she does not have a true friend. She feels like writing and has an even greater need "to get all kinds of things off" her chest. The diary will be the friend she can share her deepest thoughts with.

3. Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people?

Anne felt that "paper has more patience than people". With her friends she could only talk about ordinary everyday things and never grew close to them. A diary would listen to her patiently, without judging her, and since no one else would read it, she could write freely.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 51)

1. Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?

Anne gives a brief sketch of her life because no one would understand a word of her stories to Kitty if she plunged right in. Since she treats Kitty as a new friend, she first introduces her family and background, though she dislikes doing so.

2. What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?

Anne writes, "No one knows how often I think of her and still love her." At her 1942 birthday celebration, Grandma's candle was lit along with the rest. These details show how dearly Anne loved and missed her grandmother.

Oral Comprehension Check (Page 54)

1. Why was Mr Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?

Mr Keesing, the maths teacher, was annoyed with Anne because she talked too much in class. After several warnings, he asked her to write an extra homework essay on the subject 'A Chatterbox'.

2. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?

Anne argued that talking is a student's trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. However, she said she could never cure herself completely, because her mother talked as much as she did, if not more, and there is not much one can do about inherited traits.

3. Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?

Mr Keesing was strict but not harsh. He warned Anne several times and punished her with extra essays when she kept talking. Yet he laughed at her arguments, took her poem "the right way" and read it to several classes. He was a disciplinarian with a good sense of humour.

4. What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?

Anne's poem 'Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox' made Mr Keesing change his mind. Written with her friend Sanne's help, it told of a father swan who bit his three ducklings to death for quacking too much. Mr Keesing enjoyed the joke, read the poem to several classes and then allowed her to talk.

Thinking about the Text

1. Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?

No, Anne was wrong. Her diary, published after the war as The Diary of a Young Girl, has been translated from Dutch into many languages and has become one of the world's most widely read books. Films, plays and even an opera have been based on it. People value it because it gives an honest, intimate picture of daily life under Nazi occupation, written by a mature and insightful young mind. Anne herself has become one of the best-known victims of the Holocaust. So the world was, in fact, deeply interested in the musings of this thirteen-year-old girl.

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?

Anne's diary was originally written in Dutch.

The entries in 'Before You Read' are short, factual records of a day, a journey, official appointments or a famous life. Anne's diary is different because she writes it as letters to an imaginary friend, 'Kitty', beginning "Dearest Kitty" and ending "Yours, Anne". She does not just jot down facts; she shares her loneliness, her love for her family and humorous school incidents in a personal, chatty and reflective way. Her diary reads like a conversation with a trusted friend.

3. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat 'Kitty' as an insider or an outsider?

Anne gives a brief sketch of her family because Kitty would not understand a word of her stories if she plunged right in. Kitty needs to know who her parents, her sister and her grandmother are, and how the family came to Holland.

Anne treats Kitty as an outsider, a new friend who knows nothing about her yet. That is why she introduces her background first. At the same time, she hopes Kitty will become her closest friend, an insider to her most private thoughts.

4. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?

Anne calls her father "the most adorable father I've ever seen", which shows great love and respect. She loves her grandmother deeply, thinks of her often after her death and is touched that Grandma's candle is lit on her birthday. She was so attached to Mrs Kuperus, her headmistress, that both of them were in tears at their "heartbreaking farewell". She first sees Mr Keesing as an "old fogey" who is annoyed with her, but later appreciates that he took her joke in the right spirit.

These feelings show that Anne is affectionate, sensitive and emotional. She values relationships and remembers people with warmth, yet she is also honest and humorous in judging others.

5. What does Anne write in her first essay?

In her first essay, 'A Chatterbox', Anne tried to prove the necessity of talking with convincing arguments. She wrote that talking is a student's trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. But she added that she could never cure herself of the habit, since her mother talked as much as she did, if not more, and nothing much can be done about inherited traits. She wrote the three pages Mr Keesing had assigned and was satisfied with her work.

6. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?

Yes, Mr Keesing is unpredictable. At first he is annoyed with Anne's talking and punishes her with three essays, each with a sillier title. One would expect him to become angrier when she kept on talking. Instead, he had a good laugh at her first essay. When she wrote a witty poem in reply to his final punishment, he took the joke the right way, read it to her class and several other classes, and from then on allowed her to talk. He even began making jokes himself. No one could have predicted that a strict teacher would change so completely.

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.

Anne is honest and self-critical. She longs for deep friendship rather than surface fun, and she is willing to blame herself instead of her friends for the distance between them.

(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.

Anne is imaginative and original. She feels lonely and wants a real companion, so she turns her diary into a friend named Kitty instead of using it for a dull record of facts.

(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 has a lively sense of humour. Instead of simply saying that she joined her family in Holland, she jokes that she was "plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot". She can describe an ordinary family event in a light, amusing and affectionate way.

(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.

Anne is frank, confident and a little critical of others. She speaks her mind boldly and observes her teachers and classmates with a sharp, witty eye.

(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.

Anne is intelligent and creative. She does not want to fill pages lazily; she takes up a challenge and tries to produce clever, convincing arguments.

Thinking about Language

I. Match the compound words under 'A' with their meanings under 'B'. Use each in a sentence.

Sentences:

1. Heartbreaking: The pictures of families who lost their homes in the flood were heartbreaking.
2. Homesick: In her first week at the hostel, Riya felt very homesick.
3. Blockhead: "Don't be a blockhead and leave your umbrella on the bus again," said my brother.
4. Law-abiding: A law-abiding citizen pays taxes and follows traffic rules.
5. Overdo: Exercise is good for you, but do not overdo it on the first day.
6. Daydream: Instead of solving the sums, Rahul sat daydreaming about the holidays.
7. Breakdown: The bus had a breakdown on the highway, so we reached school late.
8. Output: The factory doubled its output after installing new machines.

II. Phrasal Verbs

1. The text you've just read has a number of phrasal verbs commonly used in English. Look up the following in a dictionary for their meanings (under the entry for the italicised word).

(i) plunge (right) in: to begin doing or saying something suddenly and directly, without preparation.

(ii) kept back: (keep back) to make a student repeat a class; not promote. It can also mean to hold something back or not reveal it.

(iii) ramble on: to talk or write for a long time in a confused way, without keeping to the point.

(iv) get along with: to have a friendly relationship with someone.

2. Now find the sentences in the lesson that have the phrasal verbs given below. Match them with their meanings. (You have already found out the meanings of some of them.) Are their meanings the same as that of their parts? (Note that two parts of a phrasal verb may occur separated in the text.)

No, for most of these the meaning is not the same as that of their parts. Phrasal verbs such as plunge in, kept back, ramble on, get along with, make up for and hand in have special meanings that cannot be guessed from the separate words. Only stay in and, to some extent, move up and calm down keep a meaning close to that of their parts.

III. Idioms

1. Here are a few sentences from the text which have idiomatic expressions. Can you say what each means? (You might want to consult a dictionary first.)

(i) Our entire class is quaking in its boots.

quaking in its boots: very frightened and nervous. The whole class was trembling with fear about the meeting that would decide who would be promoted.

(ii) Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose heart.

not to lose heart: not to become discouraged; to stay hopeful.

(iii) Mr Keesing was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much.

for ages: for a very long time.

(iv) Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I'd make sure the joke was on him.

the joke was on him: he would be the one made to look foolish; the joke he planned would turn against him.

2. Here are a few more idiomatic expressions that occur in the text. Try to use them in sentences of your own.

(i) caught my eye: A beautiful red kite in the shop window caught my eye.

(ii) he'd had enough: After waiting two hours for the bus, he'd had enough and walked home.

(iii) laugh ourselves silly: We laughed ourselves silly at the clown's tricks at the fair.

(iv) can't bring myself to: I can't bring myself to throw away my grandfather's old letters.

IV. Dictionary work

Which other expressions with catch are listed in your dictionary?

Some idiomatic expressions listed under catch are:

• catch somebody's eye: to attract someone's attention.
• catch somebody red-handed: to find someone in the act of doing something wrong.
• catch your breath: to rest after physical effort until you can breathe normally again.
• catch somebody napping: to find someone unprepared.
• catch fire: to begin to burn.
• catch somebody off guard: to surprise someone when they are not ready.
• catch the sun: to become slightly sunburnt.
• catch on: to become popular; also, to understand.
• catch up with: to reach the same level as someone who was ahead.

You have read the expression 'not to lose heart' in this text. Now find out the meanings of the following expressions using the word 'heart'. Use each of them in a sentence of your own.

1. break somebody's heart: to make someone very sad.
   It broke the old man's heart when his son left the village for good.
2. close/dear to heart: very important to someone; something a person cares about deeply.
   Protecting the rhinos of Kaziranga is a cause close to my heart.
3. from the (bottom of your) heart: sincerely; with true feeling.
   I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping my family.
4. have a heart: to be kind and sympathetic (often used to ask someone not to be harsh).
   Have a heart and let the tired child rest for a while.
5. have a heart of stone: to be cruel and without pity.
   Only someone with a heart of stone could ignore the injured puppy.
6. your heart goes out to somebody: to feel deep sympathy for someone.
   My heart goes out to the people who lost their homes in the flood.

V. Contracted Forms

1. Make a list of the contracted forms in the text. Rewrite them as full forms of two words.

2. Find in the text the contracted forms that stand for two different full forms, and say what these are.

• I'd can stand for I had or I would.
  • "I'd better provide a brief sketch of my life" = I had better
  • "after I'd finished the rest of my homework" = I had finished
  • "I'd nearly exhausted my ingenuity" = I had nearly exhausted
  • "I'd worry about that later" = I would worry
  • "I'd make sure the joke was on him" = I would make sure
• he'd can stand for he had or he would. In the text, "he'd finally had enough" = he had.
• 's can stand for is or has. In the text, "who's good at poetry" = who is, and "Mr Keesing's always making jokes" = Mr Keesing is. (In "Grandma's candle" and "G.'s pleading glances", 's shows possession and is not a contraction.)

Speaking

Try to make this extract sound more like a real conversation by changing some of the verbs back into contracted forms. Then speak out the lines.

[The door is flung open, and several men tramp in. They carry sticks, and one of them, Hob, has a hammer.]

• Mob: Now where's your husband, mistress?
• Mary: In his bed. He's sick, and weary. You wouldn't harm him!
• Hob: We're going to smash his evil work to pieces. Where's the machine?
• Second Man: On the table yonder.
• Hob: Then here's the end of it!

[Hob smashes the model. Mary screams.]

• Hob: And now for your husband!
• Mary: Neighbours, he's a sick man and almost a cripple. You wouldn't hurt him!
• Hob: He's planning to take away our daily bread… We'll show him what we think of him and his ways!
• Mary: You've broken his machine… You've done enough…

Tip: When you read the lines aloud, let the Mob and Hob sound loud and angry, and let Mary sound frightened and pleading.

Writing

Now you know what a diary is and how to keep one. Can you keep a diary for a week recording the events that occur? You may share your diary with your class, if you wish to. Use the following hints to write your diary.

• Though your diary is very private, write as if you are writing for someone else.
• Present your thoughts in a convincing manner.
• Use words that convey your feelings, and words that 'paint pictures' for the reader. Be brief.

A sample diary for one week, using typical diary language (subjectless sentences, short fragments and contracted forms):

Monday, 9 November

Dear Diary,
Back to school after the Diwali holidays. Got up late, missed the bus and had to run all the way. Huffing and puffing, I reached just as the bell rang. Lucky me! Maths test announced for Friday. Not good.

Tuesday, 10 November

Rain all day. The courtyard turned into a muddy pond, and the little ones floated paper boats in it. Spent the evening revising fractions with Dad. He's far more patient than my maths teacher!

Wednesday, 11 November

Our English teacher read Anne Frank's diary aloud in class. I couldn't stop thinking about her hiding in those secret rooms. I'm grateful I can go to school freely and laugh with my friends.

Thursday, 12 November

Quarrelled with Priya over a silly thing — who'd sit near the window. We didn't speak all day. Felt miserable. In the evening I called her and said sorry. She laughed. Friends again!

Friday, 13 November

The maths test. My hands were cold and my heart was racing, but the sums weren't as hard as I'd feared. Walked home under a golden sky, feeling light as a feather.

Saturday, 14 November

Helped Ma in the kitchen. Made pithas for the first time — some were lumpy, some burnt. Dad ate three anyway and said they were "perfect". Too kind!

Sunday, 15 November

Lazy morning. Read a storybook in the sun with a cup of tea. In the evening, sat on the roof and watched the stars. A new week tomorrow. I'll try to be on time!

Listening

Your teacher will read out an extract from The Diary of Samuel Pepys about the great fire of London. As you listen complete this summary of the happenings.

Listen carefully for dates, names, times and numbers, and note them down quickly as you hear them. Completed summary:

This entry in the diary has been made on 2 September (1666), the Lord's Day, by Samuel Pepys. The person who told Pepys about the fire was called Jane. She called at about three o'clock in the morning. Pepys went back to sleep because he thought the fire was far enough away (on the backside of Mark Lane at the farthest). Pepys rose again at about seven o'clock in the morning. By then about 300 (above three hundred) houses had been burned down. The fire had spread to all Fish Street by London Bridge. Pepys then walked to the Tower along with Sir J. Robinson's little son.