Chapter 4 From the Diary of Anne Frank Solutions
Question - 11 : - What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
Answer - 11 : - Anne’s last essay entitled — ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox’.” in the form of a poem showed Mr Keesing the lighter side of Anne. He was impressed the way she presented her arguments in a rhythmic manner. It helped in bridging the gap between Mr Keesing and Anne and thereafter she was never assigned extra homework by him.
Question - 12 : - Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
Answer - 12 : - It is a human tendency that kids are often not considered seriously by elders. Being a thirteen-year-old girl, Anne thought that most people don’t want to give importance to a child’s perspective towards the world because they think children are too immature to talk about worldly matters. However, Anne Frank’s diary was popular among the masses and was translated in different languages and she became one of the most renowned and discussed of the Holocaust victims.
Question - 13 : - There are some examples of diary or journal entries in the ‘Before You Read’ section. Compare these with what Anne writes in her diary.
Answer - 13 : - What language was the diary originally written in? In what way is Anne’s diary different?
Answer:
Anne’s diary was originally written in Dutch. It was different from other entries in several aspects and from most of the examples given before the text. She had named her diary as ‘Kitty’. She wrote in an informal tone which exuded the carefree nature of a teenager. She confided her feelings and secrets on it as she considered her diary to be her best friend. She wrote a lot of personal events and memories in her diary which made it different from other diaries.
Answer - 14 : -
Anne gave a brief introduction of her family in the ‘diary’ because she felt that it was hard to make others realise that a teenager like her could write about loneliness and all the events happenings around her in a matured manner. She talked about her adorable father, compassionate mother, beloved grandmother and loving elder sister in her diary ‘Kitty’.
Kitty was gifted to her by her parents on her thirteenth birthday and she considered it as her best friend and treated it as an insider as she could confide all her feelings and emotions by writing on it.
Question - 15 : - How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
Answer - 15 : - Anne had fond of memories of her adorable father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing, her Maths teacher who had left indelible and lasting impressions on her mind and had a major impact in her life. The way she wrote about all of them in her diary revealed that Anne was very attached to each of these persons and was quite good at understanding people. She had developed an everlasting bond and a wonderful interpersonal relation with each of them.
Question - 16 : - What does Anne write in her first essay?
Answer - 16 : - Mr Keesing had asked Anne to write an essay on the topic ‘A Chatterbox’ as a punishment for her talkative nature. In the essay, she wrote about the effects of being talkative and also argued that she had inherited it from her mother who was also very talkative. She justified this by saying that nobody could do anything about inherited traits. It was therefore, difficult to give up a habit so easily and it also formed a part of a student’s trait. Reading this, Mr Keesing also had a hearty laugh at the argument given by Anne.
Question - 17 : - Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?
Answer - 17 : - Anne cited the perfect example of Mr Keesing as an unpredictable teacher because she felt that Mr Keesing was indifferent towards her behaviour who always rebuked her for her talkative nature. Although initially he punished her by assigning extra homework, but after reading her essays he enjoyed a good laugh and thereafter never gave her such punishment and allowed Anne to talk in the class.
Question - 18 : - What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
Answer - 18 : -
(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:
(i) These lines exhibit that Anne did not have any close friend with whom she could confide her secrets. Therefore, she blamed herself for her reserved nature.
(ii) This line implies that Anne considered her diary ‘Kitty’ to be her best friend and wrote all her emotions and secrets on it rather than simply jotting down facts like other people do.
(iii) This statement implies the humorous nature of Anne. She had a witty personality and wrote the line in a funny tone. The words ‘plunked down’ exhibit her sense of humour.
(iv) This line implies that Anne thought that a quarter of the class are dumbheads and she was intelligent enough to make it to the next class. She called the teachers as the most unpredictable creatures on earth because it was quite uncertain who will fail or pass and make it to the next grade.
(v) This statement implies that Anne was talking about writing. She was given extra homework to write essays by Mr Keesing as a punishment for her talkative nature. Although that was extra work for her, but she wanted to do it in full vigour. She did not want to leave big spaces between the words to make the essay look voluminous. She wanted to write convincing arguments to prove the essence of talking. That way her approach to writing was different from others.
Question - 19 : - Match the compound words under A with their meanings under ‘B’. Use each in a sentence.
Answer - 19 : -
| S.No | A | | B |
| 1 | Heart-breaking | (a) | Obeying and respecting the law |
| 2 | Homesick | (b) | Think about pleasant things, forgetting about the present |
| 3 | Blockhead | (c) | Something produced by a person, machine or organisation |
| 4 | Law-abiding | (d) | Producing great sadness |
| 5 | Overdo | (e) | An occasion when vehicles/machines stop working |
| 6 | Daydream | (f) | An informal word which means a very stupid person |
| 7 | Breakdown | (g) | Missing home and family very much |
| 8 | Output | (h) | Do something to an excessive degree |
Answers:
1. (d),
2. (g),
3. (f),
4. (a),
5. (h),
6. (b),
7. (e),
8. (c).
Question - 20 : - Now find the sentences in the lesson that have the phrasal verbs given below. Match them with their meanings.
Answer - 20 : - (You have already found out the meanings for some of them.) Are their meanings the same as that of their parts? (Note that two parts of a phrasal verb may occur separated in the text.)
| 1 | Plunge in | (a) | Speak or write without focus |
| 2 | Kept back | (b) | Stay indoors |
| 3 | Move up | (c) | Make (them) remain quiet |
| 4 | Ramble on | (d) | Have a good relationship with |
| 5 | Get along with | (e) | Give an assignment (homework) to a person in authority (the teacher) |
| 6 | Calm down | (f) | Compensate |
| 7 | Stay in | (g) | Go straight to the topic |
| 8 | Make up for | (h) | Go to the next grade |
| 9 | Hand in | (i) | Not promoted |
Answers:
1. (g),
2. (b),
3. (h),
4. (a),
5. (d),
6. (c),
7. (b),
8. (f),
9. (e).