TUTORIALS BY DR SEEMA RANI From the Diary

TUTORIALS BY DR. SEEMA RANI

From the Diary of Anne Frank Written by : Anne Frank

Introduction Anne Frank was a young Jewish girl born in Germany. It was the period when Hitler's Nazi party was against the Jews and the Jews were being killed brutally in concentration camps. The Frank family fled from Germany in 1933 and took shelter in Netherland. But in 1940, Germany attacked Netherland captured it. Now the Nazis started arresting the Jews and sending them to concentration camps. The Frank family went into hiding for two years. During this time, Frank wrote about her experiences and wishes. In 1945, the family was found and sent to concentration camps where Frank died at the age of 15, her sister Margot and her mother soon died in concentration camp. Her father Otto Frank was the only one of the eight people to survive and he decided to publish the part of Anne's Diary. Anne Frank has become a famous name because of her emotional diary which has been translated into many languages. Anne Frank's diary describes the frightening period experienced by Anne, her family and friends.

It also expresses her hopes and aspirations for the future, which never to be realised. A tragic account of the difficulties faced by the Jews and her family is presented in the diary. The part of the Diary reproduced in this chapter is about the days when Anne was still a school girl and her family had not yet moved to the secret quarters. The lessons throws light primarily on themes of loneliness and teacher-student relationship.

Short Summary * On her thirteen birthday, Anne Frank's parents gave her a diary. Anne was little apprehensive about writing in her diary. She felt that by doing so would be a strange experience for her as she had never written anything before. Moreover, she was feeling that no one would be interested in reading the thought of a young teenager girl. She started writing as she thought that she would be able to confide in her feelings with diary. * The reason behind her keeping a diary was that she did not have any friend and she felt all alone. She wanted to write her thoughts. She wanted to give her need of friend a shape, hence decided to name the diary as on Saturday 20 th June, 1942 "Kitty“. Anne felt that the paper has more patience than people. She shared everything with her diary 'Kitty' and referred her father as the most loveable person, who presented her the Diary. * She stayed in Nursery school untill she was six. At her farewell she and her head mistress Mrs. Kuperus had tears in their eyes.

* The death of her grandmother in January 1942 was a shock to her. She loved her grand mother very much. She lit a candle in the memory of her grandma on her birthday. * On June, 1942, she mentioned how her class was nervous about their results. The author was not sure only about maths. She and her friend G tried to stop the students from making noise. According to Anne about the quarter of the class should not pass as they did not participate in any activity. All were afraid about Math's result. * Anne described her experience with her mathematics teacher, Mr. Keesing. Though she was a good student but she had not good relationship with Mr. Keesing, who taught her Maths. * He was always annoyed by her talkative nature. He used to give her extra homework as a punishment. * He asked her to write an essay on 'A Chatterbox'. Anne wrote it but she again talked in the class. She wrote that talking is a student's trait and wrote that her mother also talked

* Mr. Keesing gave her to write another essay on "An Incorrigible Chatterbox. Mr. Keesing liked the essay written by Anne Frank. * He gave her another essay on an unusual topic "Quack, said mistress Chatterbox. * Anne wanted to wrote something interesting and different. So, she took the help of her friend Sanne who was good at poetry. She wrote an essay in the form of a poem. * It was about a mother duck the father swan and their ducklings. The father bit the three ducklings to death because they quacked too much. It was a satire on Mr. Keesing. But he took the joke in right way and laughed heartily. * He read the poem to Anne's class and other classes. Above all he allowed Anne to talk in the class and never again gave her extra home work.

WORD MEANING Musing Prompted Enhance Emigrated Dedication Quaking in its boots Annoyed Pleading Unpredictable Inherited Trait Chatter box Incorrigible Proceeded Ducklings - Thought - Encouraged - Increase - Migrated - Devotion - Full of fear - Angry - Full of request - That which cannot be guessed about - Got from family - Feature - Talkative - The one who cannot be improved - Continued - The young ones of a duck

Extracts for Comprehension Read the following extracts and answer the given questions: (1) Paper has more patience than people. " I thought of this saying on one of those days when I was feeling a little depressed and was sitting at home with my chin in my hands, bore and listless, wondering whether to stay in or go out. I finally stayed where I was, brooding: Yes, paper does have more patience, and since I'm not planning to let anyone else read this stiff-backed notebook grandly referred to as a "diary', unless I should ever find a real friend, it probably won't make a bit of difference. (a) Paper has more patience than people" Explain Ans. inanimate. (b) Who is the author of the above lines? Ans. "The author is a young girl of 13, named Anne Frank.

© Why does the author decide to keep a diary? Ans. Therefore she decides to keep a diary as hr true friend. (d) What name was given to the 'stiff-backed notebook"? Ans. It was named "Kitty'. (2) Let me put it more clearly; since no one will believe that a thirteen-year-old girl is completely alone in the world. And I'm not I have loving parents and a sixteen-year-ole sister, and there about thirty people I car call friends. I have a family, loving aunts and: good home. No, on the surface I seem to have everything, except my one true friend (a) Who is the thirteen-year-old girl' here? Ans, Thirteen-year-old girl' is Anne Frank. (b) Why does she feel that she is ‘all alone?

Ans. She feels so because she does not have any friends. (c) What character trait of the author is revealed through this chapter? Ans. She is quite an introvert kind of a girl. (d) How does the 'thirteen-year-old girl' sole he Problem of being alone? Ans. She decides to keep a diary as a friend and call it "Kitty lovingly. (3) To enhance the image of this long-awaited friend in my imagination, I don't want to jot down the facts in this diary the way most people would do, but I want the diary to be my friend, and I'm going to call this friend Kitty. Since no one would understand a word of my stories to Kitty if I were to plunge right in, I’d better provide a brief sketch of my life, much as I dislike doing so. (a) Who/What is Kitty? Ans. Kitty is the name given to her diary by Anne Frank, the author

(b) What imagination does the author have about long-awaited friend? Ans. Sheimagineshim/hertobeatruefriendwithwhomshecouldshareherfeelingsandinner thoughts without any hesitation. (c) dislike for it ? Ans. It was because people won't be interested in her writings without it. (d) What does the brief sketch of my life include? Ans. kindergarten and the family's migration to Netherland from Germany etc. (4) Our entire class is quaking in its boots. The reason, of course, is the forthcoming meeting in which the teachers decide who'll move up to the next form and who’ll be kept back. Half the class is making bets, G. N. and I laugh ourselves silly at the two boys behind us, CN and Jacques, who have staked their entire holiday savings on their bet. From morning to

night, its "You're going to pass", "No, I'm not". "Yes, you are", "No, I'm not" Even G. 's pleading glances and my angry outbursts can't calm them down. 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. (a) What do you understand by the term `quaking in its boots"’? Ans. It means "being too mach excited. (b) Why is the entire class `quaking in its boots'? Ans. and who would not. (c) What does Anne Frank think about her class? Ans. they should not be promoted to the next level.

(d) What does she say about teachers? Ans. likes, dislikes ideas or thoughts. (5) Mr Keesing, the old fogey who teaches maths, was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much. After several warnings, he assigned me extra homework. An essay on the subject, A Chatterbox: A chatterbox-what can you write about that? I worry about that later, I decided, I jotted down the title in my notebook, tucked it in my bag and tried to keep quiet. (a) Who was Mr Keesing ? Ans. He was Anne's one of the nine teachers and he taught them maths. (b) Why was he annoyed with Anne ? Ans. He was annoyed with her because she talked to much in the class

(c) What punishment did he give to Ann and why? Ans. because he was annoyed with her talkative behaviour. (d) Why did Anne try to be quiet? Ans. She tried to amend her talkative behaviour by keeping quiet. (6) The class roared. I had to laugh too, though I’d nearly exhausted my ingenuity on the topic of chatterboxes. It was time to come up with something else, something original, My friend Sanne, who' good at poetry; offered to help me write the essay from beginning to end in verse and jumped for joy. Mr. Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, bur I'd make sure the joke was on him. (a) In what way did the class roar and why? Ans. the same topic for the third time.

(b) chatterboxes? Ans. subject was exhausted (c) Why was Mr. Keesing playing a joke on the author? Ans, It was because he was annoyed with her talkative behaviour. (d) How did the author try to reverse the joke on Mr. Keesing? Ans. about a mother duck, a father swan and three duckling. The ducklings were bitten to death, by father swan because they quacked too much. Obviously, the father character resembled Mr. Keesing's personality and thus the joke was reversed on him.

(7) I finished my poem, and it was beautiful ! It was about a mother duck and a father swan wins three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much Luckily, Mr. Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well. Since then I've been allowed to talk and haven’t been assigned any extra homework. On the contrary, Mr. Keesing's always making joke these days. (a) What was the tile of the poem? Ans. The title was : Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox. (b) Why did the author have to write this poem? Ans. her ingenuity on the topic chatterbox. So, she decided to write the poem instead of writing an essay again.

(c) How can you say that Mr. Keesing took the joke the right way? Ans. read the poem to the entire class and to other classes as well. (d) What effect did the whole episode have on Anne Frank? Ans. Anne Frank was allowed to talk and she was not given extra homework after that. Short Answer Type Questions Q. 1 What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank? ng Ans. reason is she has not written anything before. The second reason is the apparent disinterest which most of the people would show in musings of a thirteen-year-old girl. Q. 2 Why does Anne want to keep a diary? [Textual] Ans. needs some channel through which she can get off all the burden and pain she is suffering

from. Secondly, she cannot discuss her day-to-happenings with anyone. But she would be able to record these happenings in a diary: Hence, she wants to keep a diary: She desires to keep a diary also because she believes that "Paper has more patience than people. Q. 3 Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people? Ans. will have more patience to listen to her plight. That is why she could confide more in her diary than in people. She does not have a true friend. So she cannot confide her feelings in anyone. So, she thinks that she can confide in it better than in any person. Q. 4. Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life? (Textual) Ans. information about the topic. By providing, brief sketch of her life, Anne gives an overview of her family, her relatives, and her age. This helps the reader to develop connection with the author.

Q. 5 What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother? (Textual) Ans. that she loved her grandmother. Moreover, the touching gesture of lighting up one candle for grandmother during Anne's birthday is also a poignant reminder of the love for grandma. Q. 6. Why was Mr Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do? (Textual) uite ewas Frank Anne Ans. teacher, Mr. Keesing was annoyed with her. As a punishment, he ordered her to write an essay on the topic A Chatterbox. Q. 7 How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay? [Textual] Ans. her Infirst essay Anne justified her talkativeness by explaining that was ither ingenes, because her mother was also talkative. She said that talking was a student's trait. She wrote that she would do her best to cure herself of this habit.

Q. 8. Do you think Mr. Keesing was a strict teacher? [Textual] Ans. Mr. Keesing was not strict a teacher. He was quite rational a teacher with lot aof understanding He liked discipline in his class and wouldn't allow anybody create a mess there. He believed that students should be taught practically: Mr. Keesing was just trying to control a supposedly bad habit of Anne. When he was convinced that Anne was good at writing and her talkativeness was not a hurdle in the way of her studies, then he changed his opinion about her. Q. 9. What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in her class? (Textual) Ans. to feel positive about the natural behaviour of a teenager. This helped bridge the generation gap between the teacher and the student. He took the joke in the right spirit and allowed Anne to talk in the class henceforth. Q. 10 thirteen-year-old girl? [Textual]

Ans. thirteen-year-old girl. Most of the people do not want to see the world from a child's perspective because children are too immature for them. People seldom believe that a child can also have beautiful insights about the trials and tribulations of human life Q. 11 What language was the diary originally written in? In what way is Anne's diary different? Ans. of writing her diary She mixes her diary writing with a few things of journals or memoirs Anne Frank's diary was originally written in Dutch. Her diary is entirely different than most of the examples given before the text. It is different as it doesn’t follow the appropriate format. Q. 12. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat "Kitty as an insider or an outsider? (Textual] Ans. world. She needs to give a brief sketch about her family so that readers can correlate with her in a better way: She treats Kitty' as an insider.

Q. 13 How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her? (Textual) er nd ondly mother. perus members ther, Mrs Anne her Ans, had left indelible impressions on her mind. She considers her parents 'adorable and loves her grandmother deeply. She feels equally for headmistress Mrs Kuperus. She also loves her maths teacher Mr Keesing though she calls him 'old fogery. The way she tells about these persons reveals that Anne was very good at understanding people and at developing interpersonal relations. Q. 14 What does Anne write in her first essay? (Textual) Ans. trait. However, she would do her best to keep this habit under control. She writes that her mother also talked much and thinks that she had inherited this trait from her mother. Not much can be done about inherited traits.

Q. 15 Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?

(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. (iv) kept back, but teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth. (v) come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking. Ans. (i) Anne is reserved. (ii) She is self-confident and inventive, (ii) She has good sense of humour, (iv) She is intelligent, (v) She has a sense of propriety and convincingness Q. 17 Why did Anne think that she was alone? Give reasons. Ans. Even being surrounded by so many loving people like her parents, an elder sister, and

loving aunts Anne suffered from a strange syndrome. She feels that she was all alone in this world. Although she had a number of friends, but there was no one in whom she could confide. So she thought that she was alone. Q. 18 Where did Anne stay before going to Holland? Anne's dd rents Ans. stay with her grandmother for some months. Q. 19 Why was Anne in tears, when she left the Montessori School? Ans. her headmistress Mrs Kuperus also showed affection to Anne. Se, when Anne had to leave the Montessori school, she was in tears. Q. 20 Why was the entire class quaking in its hoots? Ans. annual meeting, In that meeting they were going to decide which of the students would be

promoted to the next class and which of them would be kept back in the same class. As a result, the students were nervous because of the worries of their future. Q. 21 What does Anne tell us about her family? Ans. the time of his marriage, he was thirty-six years old and Anne's mother was twenty-five. She also has a sixteen-years-old sister. In her family, she has loving aunts too. When she was just four years old, her parents migrated to Holland in 1933 Anne and her sister Margot stayed with their grandmother in Aachen. Q. 22 What homework was given to her by Mr Keesing? How did she do it? Ans. talked too much. After several warnings, he assigned her extra homework as a punishment. She was told to write an essay on A Chatterbox. At first, she did not have much idea but then she thought and thought.

Finally, she came up with some convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking and she wrote three pages on the subject. After reading her views, Mr Keesing was not only amused but also seemed satisfied. Q. 23 What was Mr Keesing's reaction when he read Anne Frank's essay 'A Chatterbox? but only isfied. used He ed reading Keesing not After Anne's was Ans. views, Mr had a good laugh when he read the arguments given by Anne Frank in her essay A Chatterbox. Although she had written that she would try to control her habit. But she did not stop talking and continued to do so even during the next lesson. Mr Keesing got annoyed and assigned her another essay on "An Incorrigible Chatterbox. Q. 24 What was the third essay assigned to Anne Frank? How did she do it? Ans. Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox. Anne wrote this essay in verse form. She wrote

about a mother duck and father swan. They had three ducklings. But the father killed the ducklings because they quacked too much. Mr Keesing liked the essay greatly. He read it out to the class. He read it to other classes also. After that he stopped punishing Anne. Long Answer Type Questions Q. 1. Anne found a friend in her diary. Comment.

Q. 2 "Paper has more patience than people. " Elucidate. Ans. It is true that 'paper has more patience than people. It seems that the qualities of patience and perseverance have disappeared from the humanities world. Most people are quick to react, sometimes over react to a situation. Often, they pass remarks without even giving any thought to them. More than often, they do not care about the feelings of others and consequently they hurt others. Our Anne Frank felt lonely in the world. Although she had loving parents an older sister and a number of friends but she was not intimate with anyone. She could talk to them about common everyday matters, but she dared not express her inner feelings to them. She wanted someone who could listen to her patiently and not react immediately She wanted someone who could keep her thoughts secret until desired. But she found that people had no patience to listen to her. She wanted to lighter the burden of ideas in her heart. So, she decided to keep a diary. Devoid of any human feelings, a diary has a lot more patience than man. One can express one's thoughts freely as per one's convenience The diary does not get bored. It never rejects the offer of friendship. That is why Anne Frank says that paper has more patience than people.

Q. 3. Give a brief sketch of Anne Frank. Ans. a sister three years older to her. She lived in Frankfurt until she was four. The Frank family fled from Germany in 1933 and took shelters in Netherlands. Anne Frank was sent to the Montessori school and stayed there until she was six. She started in the first form. When Anne was in the sixth form her teacher was Mrs Kuperus, the headmistress Both had great love for each other. Anne loved her grandmother very much. When she died in January 1912 Anne became very sad and thought a lot about her. Anne's birthday fell in June Is and the solemn celebration also included lighting a candle in the memory of the departed grandmother. Anne was an introvert kind of a girl and she had no friend in whom she could confide. She needed some channel through which she could get off all the burden and pain she was suffering from. Secondly she could not discuss her day-to-happenings with anyone. Therefore, she decided to record these happenings in a diary. Anne had an argumentative nature. She argued in her first essay that parental traits are inherited

by children. She had a good sense of humour too. Her Maths teacher, Mr Keesing tried to play a joke on her. But she wrote the essay in verse in such a way that the joke was turned on him. d. Why Q. 4. her favour?

Q. 5. Why does Anne Frank maintain a diary? Ans. that doing so is going to be a strange experience for her as she has never written anything before. Moreover, she feels that no one would be interested in reading the thoughts of a young teenager. Still she resolves to start writing as she thinks that she would be able to confide in her feelings with the diary without any hesitation and that this would certainly keep her heart lighter. Although a young teenager, Anne did not have any friends and she felt all alone. She was an introvert kind of a girl but longed to have a true friend. Her parents sister and aunts loved her quite dearly: yet she always felt the strong urge of a true friend with whom she could share her feelings without any hesitation. It was during one of her day broodings when she thought about an old saying Paper has more patience than people. She considered it to be quite right as paper won't react the way people do. This very thought encouraged her to write her diary. She also resolved not to allow anyone read her stuff until she found a real friend As she wanted her diary to be her good friend, she lovingly named it ‘Kitty’.

Q. 6 Why was the whole class shaking in its boots? How does Anne Frank describe the behaviour of her classmates? Ans closer. The teachers' annual meeting was about to be held in which they were going to decide which of the students would be promoted to the next class and which of them would be kept back in the same class. Consequently, all the students were nervous because with lots of speculations about their respective results and the results of their fellow classmates. Bets were being made among the students. They were all the time speculating who would pass and who would not. Anne was angry with many of them. But they would not calm down. There were many dummies in Anne's class. She felt that about a quarter of them should not be promoted to the next class. But she also felt that teachers are the most unpredictable persons on earth.

Q. 7. What do you know about Mr Keesing, Anne Maths teacher? Ans. men. Her Maths teacher, Mr Keesing, was one of those seven. He was a very disciplined teacher. He didn't like anyone talking in the class whereas. Anne talked too much. One day he assigned her a extra piece of homework which was an essay on 'A Chatterbox’. Anne understood what her teacher wanted from her. She finished her assignment and decided to stay quiet in the class. She wrote the essay with convincing arguments to prove necessity of talking. Mr Kessing liked her arguments that she was like her mother who was more talkative than her. Thus, it was her inherited trait. Mr Kessing, being a hard task master wanted to ridicule Anne and so gave her two more assignments 'An Incorrigible Chatterbox and Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox" Anne took the help of her friend to write about the topic in verse and emerged successfully. Mr Keesing took the joke in the right way and allowed Anne to talk in the class. He understood that he had been wrong in telling her not to talk and ir giving her extra homework.

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