English Class 10 - X CBSE Chapter 4 From the Diary of Anne Frank Material

INTRODUCTION
This chapter is an excerpt from the ‘Diary of a Young Girl’ written by Anne Frank. It is an autobiography that was first published in 1947. In this chapter, the writer Anne Frank tells about her true companion - a diary. She writes everything about her life in her diary and considers it her true friend. At the time of the invasion of German over Holland, her family went into hiding. At that time she started to write in her diary. She spent her adolescent years hidden from the outside world, and her diary kept all her secrets.

CHARACTERS
1. Anne Frank - The 13 years old Jewish girl who writes a diary while she is hiding in Amsterdam from the Nazis during World War II.
2. Margot Frank - Anne’s sister who is three years older than Anne.
3. Otto Frank - Anne’s father who is a Jewish businessman who left Germany after Hitler’s rise to power, hoping to find refuge in Holland.
4. Mrs. Frank - Anne’s mother who is the source of many conflicts with Anne during the two years that the family spends in hiding.
5. Mr. Keesing - Anne Frank’s teacher who punishes Anne as he gets annoyed by her talkative nature.

SUMMARY

Anne’s feelings about diary

Anne writes her diary. She feels that doing so is a strange experience for one like her. It is so because she has not written anything earlier. Secondly, no one would be interested in reading something written by her as she is a small girl.

Writes a diary

One day Anne felt a bit depressed. She felt that paper had more patience than people. She was wondering whether to stay in or go out. Finally, she stayed in and thought. She felt that she won’t let anyone read her ‘diary’ unless she found a real friend. So she wrote it.

Writing about her family

She wrote that she was not completely alone in the world. But she had loving parents and a sixteen-year-old sister. She had about thirty people around her, whom she could call friends. Then she had a family, aunts, and a good home. But she had had no true friend. She thought of having a good time when she was with friends. But she could not get closer. She admitted it was her fault that she didn’t confide in each other. Since they were not liable to change, she started writing a diary. She made it her friend.

Diary named ‘Kitty’ - brief sketch of life

She wanted the diary to be her friend. So she named it Kitty. She wrote a brief sketch of her life, though she disliked doing so. So, she wrote it. She wrote that her father married her twenty-five-year-old mother at the age of thirty-six. Her sister Margot was born in Frankfurt in Germany in 1926. She was born on 12 June 1929. Her father emigrated to Holland in 1933. Her mother Edith Hollander Frank went with her father to Holland. But she and her sister were sent to Aachen to stay with their grandmother. Then they went to Holland.

Anne’s school

There she was sent to a Montessori nursery school. She stayed there until she was six. In the sixth class, her teacher was Mrs. Kuperus, the headmistress. Both had tears when they bade farewell.

Reasons for not Writing the Diary

In the summer of 1941, her grandma fell ill. She had to be operated upon. She died in January 1942. She thought of her greatly and she loved her still. They celebrated Anne’s birthday in 1942. The four of them were doing well till 20 June 1942. Then Anne wrote her diary again. It was like this.

About class affairs

It was the day of the declaration of results. Everyone in her class was in tension. The reason was who would go to the next class and who would not. They had bets with other boys on who would pass and who would not. She found the teachers as the most unpredictable creatures on the earth. She was not worried about her girlfriends and herself. She was sure to make that. But she was not sure about Maths. They could only wait and told each other not to lose heart.

Mr. Keesing gives extra work as punishment

She went along with her teachers pretty well. Mr. Keesing was a dull person who taught them Maths. He was always annoyed with her as she talked much. He gave her as a punishment, extra homework. It was in the form of an essay on ‘A Chatterbox’. She was unable to understand what she could write about it. She put a slip of it on her school bag. It was to remind herself to write later.

Does the homework given extra

In the evening, she had done her homework. She began thinking of the subject of the essay. She thought to write good points of arguing to prove the necessity of talking. Then she had an idea. She then wrote the three pages to her satisfaction. She wrote that talking was a feature of a student. Her mother also used to talk much. She inherited this trait from her mother. She tried to keep quiet.

Homework as punishment given again

Mr. Keesing read it and laughed. Then he gave her another essay as she didn’t stop talking. She was to write it on ‘An Incorrigible’ Chatterbox’. She wrote it and it satisfied Mr. Keesing. She did not talk for two lessons. But she started speaking again in the third lesson. He again asked her to write an essay. It was: ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress, Chatterbox’. The class too roared into laughter hearing it. She also laughed. She wanted to write something original now. Her friend Sanne was good at poetry. She helped her to write the essay in verse.

Anne’s poem a joke on Mr. Keesing himself

Anne had finished her poem. It was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings. The three ducklings were bitten to death by the father. It was because they quacked too much. Luckily, Mr. Keesing took the joke the right way. Mr. Keesing had played a joke on her. But she had had it on him. He read the poem to the class adding his own comments. Since then she had been allowed to talk. She hadn’t even been given extra homework. Mr. Keesing continued making jokes in class.

MESSAGE

The chapter conveys the message that a young student should be allowed to interact in class in order to feel joyous, stay mentally fit, and have an enjoyable learning experience.