CLASS 10

CHAPTER 4

THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

NOTES AND EXERCISE

From the diary of Anne Frank Summary

In this lesson, Anne talks about being lonely
and having no one to talk to despite being
surrounded by family and around 30 people
whom she called her “friends”. Thus, she takes
the decision of writing her feelings in a diary. It
is unusual for her to write in a diary but she is
really in need of a true friend. Thus, she
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decides to name her diary “kitty” and unlike
other people, she is not going to mention just
facts in it. She starts with writing her
background, to make it easier to understand for
anyone who reads it later. She describes her
family and early childhood when they all
migrated, her early schooling. After giving a
brief account of her background, she comes to
the present day where she tells us about the
result day. Everyone in the class is nervous
about their result and boys are even making
bets. Anne was quite sure about herself and her
friends. She had a good equation with all the
teachers except her maths’ professor, who was
constantly annoyed at her for her talking habits.
Thus, he started giving her punishments in the
form of essays on weird topics such as
“Chatterbox” to which she replied with full wit.
She wrote essays that were funny and
explained that this was a trait that she inherited

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from her mother and not much could be done
about it. He kept on giving her essays until she
wrote a satire. After that third and last
assignment, Mr Keesing never pointed her out
for talking.

From the diary of Anne Frank Question and

Answers
Q1. What makes writing in a diary a strange
experience for Anne Frank?
A. It was the first time Anne was writing in a
diary. She felt that later no one would be
interested in reading about the thoughts of a
young girl. Both these facts made it a strange
experience for her.

Q2. Why does Anne want to keep a diary?

A. Anne wanted to keep a diary and write in it
because she had a lot going on in her head.

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She had no friend with whom she could talk
about such personal stuff. Thus, she decided to
maintain a diary.

Q3. Why did Anne think she could confide more

in her diary than in people?
A. According to Anne Frank, “paper has more
patience than people”. She chose to confide
more in her diary because she felt there was no
friend who could listen to her with enough
patience.

Q4. Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of

her life?
A. Anne feels it would be weird to just simply jot
down facts without giving her background. In
case someone might read it in future, he/she
won’t be able to understand vaguely stated
facts. Thus, she decided to provide a brief
sketch of her life.

Q5. What tells you that Anne loved her

grandmother?
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A. The fact that Anne spent some part of her
childhood with her grandmother is self-sufficient
to imply connection between the two. Also, she
explicitly mentioned in her diary that she misses
her grandmother more than anyone is aware of
is evident enough that she loved her
grandmother.

Q6. Why was Mr Keesing annoyed with Anne?

What did he ask her to do?
A. Mr Keesing, Anne’s maths professor was
annoyed with her because she would not stop
talking during his lectures as a result of which,
he gave her assignments as punishments.

Q7. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox

in her essay?
A. Anne explained that she got this habit of
speaking too much from her mother, mentioning
that it was inherited.

Q8. What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk

in class?
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A. On being given the third assignment as
punishment, Anne wrote a satirical piece which
was quite promising. Thus, finally, the professor
allowed her to talk.

Q9. Was Anne right when she said that the

world would not be interested in the musings of
a thirteen-year-old girl?
A. Yes, Anne was right in thinking that the world
would not be interested in the musings of a
thirteen - year - old girl. As she was a common
girl, no one would want to know her feelings
and so, no one would read her diary.

Q10. 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?
A. Anne’s diary was actually written in Dutch.
Her diary is different from that of others on
various aspects. She had named her diary

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“Kitty”. She thought of it as her only true friend.
She could confide in Kitty. She treated it as
another person because according to her,
“Paper has more patience than people”. She
started by writing “Dearest kitty” and ended the
account by writing, “Yours Anne”.

Q11. Why does Anne need to give a brief

sketch about her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’
as an insider or an outsider?
A. Anne feels it would be weird to just simply jot
down facts without giving her background. In
case someone might read it in future, he/she
won’t be able to understand vaguely stated
facts. Thus, she decided to provide a brief
sketch of her life. She treates “kitty” as an
insider as it was her only true friend with whom
she could share each and everything.

Q12. How does Anne feel about her father, her

grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing?
What do these tell you about her?

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A. According to Anne, her father is the most
lovable man one could ever come across. She
loved and missed her grandmother more than
she showed. She was on good terms with her
teachers except the old fogey, Mr Keesing who
taught them mathematics. The headmistress,
Mrs Kuperus was her class teacher and both
were very close to each other. Mr Keesing often
punished Anne with extra assignments as a
punishment for her talkative nature. These
indicate that Anne was affectinate and a loving
person.

Q13. What does Anne write in her first essay?

A. In her essay, Anne mentions that she will try
her best to minimise talking between lectures
but this is a trait she inherited from her mother
and it is difficult to eliminate an inherited trait.
Also, her mother talks as much as she does, if
not more. She also stressed that talking was a
necessary quality for a good student.

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Q14. Anne says teachers are most
unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable?
How?
A. Yes, Mr Keesing is an unpredictable person.
He is angry with Anne for being talkative in
class and gives her extra assignments as a
punishment. But later, he finds her essays to be
witty and amusing. This brings a change in him
and he accepts her arguements. He develops a
funny bone too and starts cracking jokes in the
class. This change in Mr Keesing’s nature
shows that he is unpredictable.

Q15. 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.
A. This shows that Anne does not confide in
people very easily. It is difficult for her to make
personal relations where she could share
what’s going on in her mind.

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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.
A. This statement indicates that Anne does not
have a close friend she could confide in. She
was lonely despite having family and friends.
Thus, she wanted the diary to be her only true
friend.

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.
A. This statement is indicative of the love
between the sisters. On migration, Anne was
the last one to be brought to Holland and it was
done on the birthday of her elder sister to
surprise her.

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.

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A. Anne feels that there are many weak
students in the class who should be detained.
Almost one - fourth of the class did not deserve
promotion but the teachers, decision could not
be predicted.

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.
A. Anyone could write senseless stuff while
leaving big gaps in order to fill up a number of
pages and submit the assignment easily. But
Anne wanted to give such arguements which
could prove that it was necessary for her to talk.
She wanted to write sensible stuff.

From the diary of Anne Frank Grammar

Exercises
Match the compound words under ‘A’ with their
meanings under ‘B’. Use each in a sentence.
A B

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Heartbreaking -obeying and respecting the
law
Homesick -thinking about pleasant things,
forgetting about the present
Blockhead -something produced by a
person, machine or an
organisation
Law-abiding -producing great sadness
Overdo -An occasion where
vehicles/machines stop working
Daydream -an informal word which means
a very stupid person
Breakdown -missing home and family very
much
Output -do something to an excessive
degree

Answers-
A B Sentences

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Heartbreaking -producing great It would be
sadness heartbreakin
g to see it all
collapse.
Homesick -missing home He was
and family very homesick for
much America after
five weeks in
Europe.
Blockhead -an informal word He did not
which means a understand
very stupid the lecture as
person he is a
blockhead.
Law-abiding -obeying and The spirit of
respecting the freedom
law turned
Nelson
Mandela
from a law-
abiding
attorney into
a criminal.
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Overdo -do something to I’d simply
an excessive overdone it in
degree the gym.
Daydream -thinking about He was lost
pleasant things, in a
forgetting about daydream.
the present
Breakdown -An occasion Breakdowns
where could totally
vehicles/machine disrupt
s stop working production.
Output -something This machine
produced by a gives a good
person, machine output.
or an
organisation

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

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 that two parts of a phrasal verb may occur
separated in the text.)
i. plunge in – speak or write without focus
ii. kept back – stay indoors
iii. move up – make (them) remain quiet
iv. ramble on – have a good relationship with
v. get along with – give an assignment
(homework) to a person in authority (the
teacher)
vi. calm down – compensate
vii. stay in – go straight to the topic
viii. make up for – go to the next grade
ix. hand in – not promoted
Answers-
i. plunge in – go straight to the topic
ii. kept back – not promoted
iii. move up – go to the next grade
iv. ramble on – speak or write without focus
v. get along with - – have a good relationship
with
vi. calm down – make (them) remain quiet
vii. stay in – stay indoors
viii. make up for – compensate

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ix. hand in – give an assignment (homework)
to a person in authority (the teacher)

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.
ii. Until then, we keep telling each other not to
lose heart.
iii. Mr Keesing was annoyed with me for ages
because I talked so much.
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.
Answers:
i. Our entire class is quaking in its boots-
Shaking with fear and nervousness
ii. Until then, we keep telling each other not to
lose heart- not to lose hope
iii. Mr Keesing was annoyed with me for ages
because I talked so much- Since a long time

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 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.- He was outwitted
by her

Try to use them in sentences of your own.

i. caught my eye
ii. laugh ourselves silly
iii. he’d had enough
iv. can’t bring myself to
Answers-
i. Caught my eye- The scenic beauty of Taj
Mahal caught my eye.
ii. Laugh ourselves silly- On hearing the joke,
the audiences laughed themselves silly.
iii. He’d had enough- The teacher said that
he’d had enough, and he wanted all the
notebooks by Wednesday.
iv. Can’t bring myself to- After yesterday’s
embarrassing incident, I can’t bring myself to
face him.

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 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.
i. Break somebody’s heart.
ii. close/dear to heart
iii. from the (bottom of your) heart
iv. have a heart
v. have a heart of stone
vi. your heart goes out to somebody
Answers-
1. Break somebody’s heart
Meaning- to upset somebody deeply
Sentence- It is not good to break somebody’s
heart by lying to them.

2.close/dear to heart
Meaning- something/ someone who is near to
you
Sentence- The watch gifted by mother is close
to my heart

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3.from the (bottom of your) heart
Meaning- to genuinely mean or feel something
Sentence- I apologise from the bottom of my
heart

4.have a heart
Meaning- to evoke the feeling to help someone
in distress
Sentence- The poor beggar asked the rich man
to have a heart get him something to eat

5. have a heart of stone

Meaning- to not feel anything or any sentiment
Sentence- He is so cruel that it feels like he has
a heart of stone.

6. your heart goes out to somebody

Meaning- to sympathise with someone else and
to understand his/her feelings or distress
Sentence- My heart goes out to all those who
are fighting the odds to come out victorious.

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 Make a list of the contracted forms in the text.
Rewrite them as full forms of two words.
For example: I’ve = I have
i. I’ve – I have
ii. Doesn’t- Does not
iii. Won’t- Would not
iv. I’m – I am
v. Don’t- Do not
vi. Can’t – Can not
vii. It’s- It is
viii. That’s- That is
ix. I’d- I would
x. Didn’t- Did not
xi. Who’ll- who will
xii. You’re- You are
xiii. We’ll- We will
xiv. There’s – There is
xv. He’d- He had
xvi. Who’s- Who is
xvii. Haven’t- Have not

We have seen that some contracted forms can

stand for two different full forms:
I’d = I had or I would
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He’d – He had or He would

MCQs

Q1- Why was writing in a diary a strange

experience for Anne?
A) she had never written anything before
B) she didn't know how to write
C) neither she nor anyone else would be
interested in it later
D) Both A and C

Q2- Who would Anne allow to read her diary?

A) her sister
B) her parents

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C) a real friend (if she got one)
D) no one

Q3- Why does Anne want to keep a diary?

A) she has no close friends
B) she loves to write
C) she wants people to read about her later
D) she likes the idea of it

Q4- What did she name her diary?

A) Anne
B) Catty
C) Kitty
D) Kitten

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Q5- Why does she give a brief sketch about
her family in the diary?
A) no one would understand it if she dove right
in
B) to introduce Kitty to her family
C) she would forget facts about her family
D) she liked talking about her family

Q6- Which subject was she not sure of

passing?
A) Maths
B) science
C) english
D) all of the above

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Q7- Why was Mr Keesing annoyed with her?
A) she was not a good student
B) she was talkative
C) she was rude
D) all of the above

Q8- Which topic was she to write an essay

on as a part of her punishment?
A) A Chatterbox
B) An incorrigible chatterbox
C) Quack, Quack, Quack, said Mistress
Chatterbox
D) all of the above

Q9- What language was the diary originally

written in ?

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A) Spanish
B) English
C) Dutch
D) French

Q10- How did Anne justify her being talkative

in the essay?
A) she disussed the subject topics in class
B) it is a habit
C) it is an inherited trait from her mother and
you can't do much about it
D) the class is boring

Q11- What shows Anne's love for her

grandmother?

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A) she still thinks about her
B) she misses her
C) she let her birthday pass with little
celebration
D) both 1 and 2

Q12- Why does Anne think she was lonely?

A) she had no friends
B) she had no real friends
C) she was all alone
D) she was an introvert

Q13- Why was she unable to get closer to

her already existing friends?
A) she didn't like her friends
B) her friends are not understanding

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C) she can't bring herself to talk about
personal stuff
D) all of the above

Q14- What would the kids bet about in class?

A) who is more talkative
B) who would pass the class
C) football matches
D) baseball matches

Q15- What did she write in her last essay?

A) a poem
B) a joke
C) a paragraph
D) a funny poem

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Q16- When was the diary given to Anne?
A) 11th birthday
B) 12th birthday
C) 13th birthday
D) 14th birthday

Q17- What name was her book published

with?
A) From the Diary of Anne Frank
B) The Diary of a Young girl
C) Anne Frank
D) Anne Frank's Diary

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Q18- Why did she not want to give a brief in
the diary at first?
A) she didn't want to be formal
B) she wanted the diary to be her real friend
C) She did not like the idea
D) both 1 and 2

Q19- How many siblings did Anne have?

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Q20- What was Anne Frank's full name?

A) Anneliese Marie Frank

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B) Anna Mariam Frank
C) Anne Mark Frank
D) Anneliese Martina Frank

Q21- Who was the only survivor from Anne's

family
A) Anne
B) Anne's father
C) Anne's mother
D) Anne's sister

Q22- What was the name of Anne Frank's

sister?
A) Margaret
B) Margot

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C) Marrie
D) Martina

Q23- In which city were Anne and Margot

sent to live with their grandmother?
A) Berlin
B) Aachen
C) Munich
D) Bonn

Q24- How old was Anne's father when he

married her mother?
A) 34
B) 35
C) 36
D) 32

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Q25- On which date did Anne record the
incident in Mr Keesing's class in her diary?
A) 12 June, 1942
B) 21 June, 1942
C) 20 June, 1942
D) 22 June, 1942

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ANSWER KEY
1 D 11 D 21 B

2 C 12 B 22 B

3 A 13 C 23 B

4 C 14 B 24 C

5 A 15 D 25 C

6 A 16 C 26

7 B 17 B 27

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8 D 18 D 28

9 C 19 A 29

10 C 20 A 30

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