THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL, Anne Frank

THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL, ANNE FRANK

WORD MEANING

curiosity – keen interest, eagerness

coincidence – happening together, simultaneous

recess – break between periods

glances – looking

tucked in – put in

ramble – roaming

ridiculous – funny

peony – a garden plant with large red, pink or white flowers

guilder – standard unit of money used in the Netherlands before the introduction of euro

tart – an open pastry case containing sweet or savoury fillings

dummy – a silly person

fogey – an old-fashioned person

chatterbox – a person who talks a lot

trait – a distinguishing quality of a person

incorrigible – behaviour that is impossible to change or improve

ingenuity – to be clever and creative

A. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

1. Anne received many gifts on her birthday. How many did she receive? What does this tell us about her?

She received about sixteen gifts. This tells us about her friendliness and popularity among her near and dear ones.

2. Whom is Anne addressing in this extract? Why is it in the first person?

In this extract Anne is addressing to her dearest Kitty, the diary. As she writes her experiences, she personifies diary as her friend; hence as a first person, it is something like she is talking to the diary.

3. Why was Anne not allowed to take part in gym class? Why did the class play volleyball at the gym?

She was not allowed to take part in gym because her shoulders and hips tend to get dislocated. As it was Anne’s birthday, she got to decide which game her classmates would play and she had chosen volleyball.

4. What was Anne asked to do as punishment for talking to Mr. Keesing’s class? Was it a just punishment? Why?

As punishment Mr. Keesing asked Anne to write essay on the subject “A Chatterbox.” No, it was not just a punishment, because writing an essay could only be an exercise to express one’s opinion which she of course did. However, from our, the students’ perspective it could only be seen as punishment.

B. CHOOSE THE RIGHT OPTION TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

1. Why did Anne and her friend laugh at the boys, C. N. and Jacques Kocernoot?

a. The boys were very silly.

b. They kept cracking jokes in the class.

c. They bet all their savings on whether they would pass on not. (✓)

d. The teacher made fun of the boys.

2.  What was the title of the second essay assigned to Anne by Mr. Keesing?

a. An Incorrigible Chatterbox

b. ‘Quack, Quack, Quack,’ said Mistress Chatterback (✓)

c. A Chatterbox

d. Three Baby Ducklings

3. What was Mr. Keesing’s response to Anne’s joke?

a. He added his own comments.

b. He tasked her with another essay to write.

c. He read the poem to the class and to several other classes as well.

d. both the option a. and c. (✓)

C. READ THESE SENTENCES FROM THE TEXT AND ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.

1. A little after seven I went to Daddy and Mama and then to the living room to open my presents, and you were the first thing I saw, maybe one of my nicest presents.

a. Who is ‘I’?

‘I’ refers to Anne Frank.

b. Who/what is ‘you’?

‘You’ refers to Diary.

c. Why do you think ‘I’ feels that ‘you’ was the present that he/she had received?

Here the ‘I’, Anne Frank feels about the ‘you’ the Diary, she received. It was her birthday gift which she had received and was lying on he table.

2. …teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth. Maybe this time they’ll be unpredictable in the right direction for a change.

a. Why does Anne feel that ‘teachers are unpredictable creature’?

Anne feels so because after the evaluation, it most often becomes unpredictable as to who would be promoted to the next class. Noone could read the mind of the teacher and his/her mind about the direction they take.

b. What do you think about Anne’s opinion?

Anne is certain about her promotion; the only thing she is not sure about is Maths. However, she does not like to lose heart and tells the same to others.

c. What does she mean when she says that they may be ‘unpredictable in the right direction’?

It means that the decision of the teacher about criteria of promoting students is highly unpredictable.

3. I wrote the three pages Mr. Keesing has assigned me and was satisfied.

a. Who was Mr. Keesing?

Mr. Keesing is the old fogey Maths teachers of her class.

b. What did Anne write in the three pages?

In the three pages she wrote the essay on the topic ‘A Chatterbox’.

c. Why do you think she was satisfied?

She was satisfied because, through her essay she was able to come up with convincing argument to prove the necessity of talking.

4. I finished my poem, and it was beautiful!

a. Why did Anne write the poem? What was its title?

Anne wrote the poem because she she was running out of ingenuity on the topic chatterboxes. 

The title was ‘Quack, Quack, Quack said Mistress Chatterback.’

b. Who helped Anne write the poem?

Her friend Sanne, who was good at poetry, helped her with the poem.

c. What was the mood (serious/comic/gloomy) of the poem? What was the general response to the poem?

It was a sort of comic as it had the tragic end ‘the death of three baby ducklings by the father’. The poem was well appreciated by Keesing. He added his own comments and read it to several other classes as well.

D. THINK AND ANSWER.

1. What does this extract tell you about Anne’s character?

From this extract we come to know that Anne was very cheerful, intelligent and witty person. It was quite impossible for her to remain silent. She was very friendly and that is why she had many friends. Finally, we know her ingenuity in writing.

2. Anne describes Mr. Keesing as a ‘fogey’. What opinion did you form about Mr. Keesing? Why?

It is common for a student to form opinion about Mr. Keesing as fogey. But Mr. Keesing is never seen punishing anyone; he asks them, for instance Anne, to write on a given topic. Perhaps he knew her authentic approach in writing. We also find Keesing appreciating her writing by adding his comments and reading it to several other classes.

3. Anne feels women are ‘chatterboxes. What do you think? Justify your response.

Anne feels talking is a female trait because she has seen this in the nature of her mother and therefore is something she has inherited.

4. Do you think Mr. Keesing responded to Anne’s poem in the correct way? Did his response change the relationship between Mr. Keesing and Anne? State your reasons.

Of course Mr. Keesing responded to Anne’s poem in the right way. He read the poem out to the class, adding his own comments. He also read that poem to several other classes. This never affected their relationship. Infact, Mr. Keesing took it so lightly that Keesing was always found making jokes thereafter, Yours Anne.

E. DISCUSS IN CLASS.

In this story, you read about a young girl who recounts one of her experiences at school, and how she manages to outwit her teacher with her frankness. Is outspokenness a desirable quality? Discuss

Being outspoken requires tremendous amount of faith, courage and honesty. It is a desirable quality if used to speak honestly. It is always appreciated to let out what is within one’s heart and mind. It is not about letting someone into shame or humiliation; it is all about being factual without alteration. It requires a mature audience who is able to rationalize to what is said and correct if any error found in the presentation.

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