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Thinking about the Text

Question 1:

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

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

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

5.    What does Anne write in her first essay?

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

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.

(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.

(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) 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.

(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.

Answer 1:

1. No, Anne was not right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl.

2.    Originally Anne's diary was written in Dutch. Her diary was different from the others in many aspects. She had named her diary 'Kitty'. She took it as her only true friend whom she could confide in. Anne treated it as another person who listened to her daily accounts. She wrote all her thoughts in it. She started by writing 'Dearest kitty' and ended the account by writing, 'Yours, Anne'. Her diary was a lot more personal than other diaries.

3.    Anne Frank was 13 years old. She had no friends. Anne said that paper is more patient than people. She was all alone as she had no real friend. Anne Frank gives the sketch of her adorable father, compassionate mother, kind grandmother, and loving sister no clears the reader's perception that there is nobody to take care of Anne Frank. She had named her diary Kitty. She treated it as an insider because she called it her best friend and was ready to confide in it.

4.    Anne said that she had the most adorable father ever seen. She loved her grandmother so much that she remembered her even after her death. She wrote in her diary that no one knew how often she thought of her grandmother and still loved her. Mrs Kuperus was her teacher in the sixth form at the Montessori nursery school. She was also the headmistress. At the end of the year, they were both in tears as they had a heart-breaking farewell.

Mr Keesing was her Math’s teacher. Anne used to talk too much which annoyed Mr. Keesing. Every time she was punished by Mr. Keesing Anne was able to justify her talkative nature by giving convincing arguments. He was impressed by the manner in which she presented her arguments. All these events indicate how lovable and smart Anne was. Everybody was attached to her, and even Mr Keesing could not help but laugh at her essays and acknowledge her sharp m in d.

5.    Anne was given to write essay as her a part of her punishment not once, not twice but three times by her math’s teacher Mr. Keesing. The topic for first essay was 'A Chatterbox'. Anne wanted came up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking. She gave arguments that talking was a student's trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. She further wrote that she would never be able to cure herself of the habit since her mother talked as much as she did and it was an inherent trait. There was not much that one could do about inherited traits. Mr. Keesing too had a good laugh reading her arguments.

6.    When it was time for the results all the students were making assumptions that who would pass and who out be asked to stay back. Anne felt that a quarter of her class was dumb, and should be kept back and not promoted to the next class. However, she also felt that the teachers were the most unpredictable creatures on earth. Same can be said for Mr. Keesing. Any teacher would lose temper the way Anne always talked while the class was going on. After several warnings, Mr. Keesing did gave Anne extra homework. She had to write an essay on 'A Chatterbox'. In this way, he tried to play a joke on her. He had a good laugh when she gave her arguments in the essay.

Each and every time that she was asked to write such essays, she wrote very well. She kept countering his jokes. He took all the jokes in the right spirit. Eventually he accepted her talkative nature and actually allowed her to talk in class. He did not even assign her any more extra homework. That is why it can be said that Mr. Keesing was unpredictable.

7.    (I) these lines show that Anne had no real friend whom she could confide in.

She even put the blame on herself that the fault might be hers because she does not let others come close to her.

(ii)  This line shows that Ann e really considered her diary 'Kitty' as a real friend whom she could con fide in and narrate all her stories to.

(iii) Anne uses the phrase 'plunked down' shows her sense of hum ours. She was a fun-loving person,

Witty and knew how to present things in a funny way. She narrated this incident with a lot of fun.

(iv) When it was time for results she had an opinion on everyone. She though t that a quarter of her class was full of dumb students, which tells that she herself was intelligent enough to make it to the next class. She thought that teachers were the most unpredictable creatures on earth because nobody could say which students they would fail an d which students would be passed on to the next class.

(v)  This statement shows that Anne knew a lot about writing. She took the task of writing an essay as a punishment. She did not want to write it like others who merely left big spaces between the words to make the essay look voluminous. She knew that the trick was to come up with a convincing argument to prove the necessity of talking. She was different in her approach from everybody else.