by Anne Frank
A cheerful little extract from one of the most tragic true stories of the century.
“Paper has more patience than people.”
Answer the following questions:
1) What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?
It was strange because she had never written anything before, and also because it seemed to her that later on neither she nor anyone else would be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.
2) Why does Anne want to keep a diary?
Anne Frank thought that paper had more patience than people. Moreover, she had no real friend in whom she could confide (tell personal or private things with trust). Therefore, she tried to find a friend in her diary with whom she could share everything. She even gave her a name, Kitty.
3) Why did Anne think she could confide in her diary than in people?
She could not talk to anyone freely, and she thought that paper had more patience than people. Therefore, she could confide in her diary more.
4) Why was Mr. Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?
Mr. Keesing was annoyed with Anne, because she talked too much during the Mathematics class. Mr. Keesing gave her an essay to write on the topic ‘Chatterbox’.
5) How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
Anne said that talking was a student’s trait and yet she would try her best to keep it under control. Further, she argued that she would never be able to cure herself of the talking habit as her mother talked as much as she did. There was not much she could do about inherited traits.
6) 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 not right when she thought this way. As of now, the entire world knows about her diary, and it is among the top ten most read books of all time.
It has been translated into many languages. There have also been several films, television and theatrical productions based on the diary.
7) 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?
The diary was originally written in Dutch language. Anne’s diary is different because she has not only mentioned the events, but also written about her own thoughts and feelings. The diary has been described as the work of a mature and insightful mind, and an intimate examination of the daily life under Nazi occupation.
8) Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’ as an insider or an outsider?
Anne thought that no one would understand a word of her stories written to Kitty if she directly jumped into it. Therefore, she decided to give a brief sketch about her early life and family.
She treated ‘Kitty’ as an insider, her one true friend in whom she could confide and tell everything.
9) How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs. Kuperus and Mr. Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
Her father: She thought him to be the most adorable father she had ever seen.
Her Grandmother: She loved her grandmother very much. She missed her a lot after she died. They passed Anne's birthday with little celebration that year. Even the next year, they had a special candle to commemorate her.
Mrs. Kuperus: Mrs. Kuperus was the headmistress at Anne’s old school. She was very much attached to her. Both were in tears when Anne had to leave the school.
Mr. Keesing: Anne called Mr. Keesing an ‘old-fogey’. He was her Mathematics teacher. Based on him, she had an opinion that teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth.
By this, we can conclude that Anne was a loving, caring and affectionate girl. She was quite sensitive and sentimental. Even she was funny and highly talkative.
10) What does Anne write in her first essay?
In her first essay, Anne defended her point about talking. She wrote three pages, and argued that talking was a student’s trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. But she would never be able to cure herself of the habit as her mother talked as much as she did. There was not much she could do about inherited traits.
11) Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr. Keesing unpredictable? How?
Her opinion that teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth is based on Mr. Keesing. First, despite being a Mathematics teacher, he gave Anne an essay to write which is English related homework. Further, when she submitted her essay, Anne expected Mr. Keesing to get angry, but instead he had a good laugh at her arguments. At last, when Anne submitted a poem with the title ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox’, Mr. Keesing took it the right way. He read the poem not only to Anne’s class, but to all the other classes as well.
12) Was Mr. Keesing a strict teacher?
No, Mr. Keesing was not a strict teacher. He certainly did not like Anne talking in his classes, but instead of any serious punishment, he gave her an essay on the same subject which Anne annoyed him with. Later, he took the essays and the poem in good spirit of humor, and he had a good laugh. If he was strict, he would not have laughed at these funny submissions. He finally let Anne talk in his classes. He also began cracking jokes.
OR
We cannot say for certain whether Mr. Keesing was a strict teacher or not. To put it in Anne's words, teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth, and Mr. Keesing was a perfect example for this. He was annoyed with Anne as she talked continuously during his classes, and gave her an essay to write as punishment. On the other hand, the essay writing was not too serious a punishment, and it was even on a topic that Anne annoyed him with. He even took the essays and the poem in the right spirit, and had a good laugh. He read the poem in all the other classes, and began cracking joke himself as well.
13) 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 did not have any close friends. She was a reserved type of girl when it came to sharing personal things. She doubted her own personality in making such connections.
(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 did not have any close friends, and she wanted to confide in her diary which would serve as her one true friend. She would open up freely while writing rather than speaking.
(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.
Both the sisters were very close, and that Anne was humorous with her writing as she used such an expression.
(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 was intelligent compared to her classmates. She was also unable to understand the behavior of teachers at times, and humorously made a remark about that.
(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.
She took tasks given to her very seriously. She did not just do something for the sake of doing. In this case, she wanted to sound convincing and prove her point.
TIMELINE
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