From the Diary of Anne Frank Class 10: Summary and Q&A

From the Diary of Anne Frank Class 10 lets you hear Anne in her own voice: why she starts a diary, how she sees her family and school, and how she wins over a strict teacher with a joke. This guide covers the background, a part-by-part summary, the characters and themes, and eight board-style question answers.

Background: Who Was Anne Frank?

Anneliese Marie Frank, known as Anne, was a German-born Jewish girl. After the Nazis came to power in Germany, her family moved to Amsterdam in 1933 to escape persecution. They were trapped when the Nazi occupation spread to the Netherlands during World War II.

In July 1942 the family went into hiding in secret rooms in her father Otto Frank's office building. Anne wrote her diary during the two years in hiding. The group was later betrayed and sent to concentration camps, where Anne died of typhus in 1945. Otto Frank, the only survivor of the group, found the diary after the war and had it published as The Diary of a Young Girl.

One point to keep clear: the school entry in this chapter is dated 20 June 1942, before the family went into hiding. Mr Keesing's classroom is not a scene from the hiding place.

Summary: Paper Has More Patience Than People

Anne says writing a diary is a strange experience for her. She feels that no one will later be interested in the thoughts of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl. Yet she has a deep need to get all kinds of things off her chest. Paper has more patience than people, she says: a diary listens without getting bored or judging.

She has loving parents, a sister and about thirty people she calls friends. Still, she feels lonely. With her friends she talks only about ordinary everyday things. She has no true friend she can confide in. So she makes the diary that friend and names it Kitty.

Summary: A Brief Sketch of Her Life

To help Kitty understand her, Anne gives a short history of her family. Her father married at thirty-six. Her sister Margot was born in 1926, and Anne was born in Frankfurt on 12 June 1929. Her father emigrated to Holland in 1933 and her mother followed. Anne and Margot stayed with their grandmother in Aachen before joining their parents. Anne says she was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.

Her grandmother fell ill in 1941 and died in January 1942. Anne writes that nobody knows how often she thinks of her grandmother and that she still loves her. This shows how deeply she feels.

Summary: Results, Mr Keesing and the Three Essays

In the entry of 20 June 1942, the whole class is quaking in its boots, which means shaking with fear. The teachers are about to meet and decide who moves up to the next form and who is kept back. Anne and her friend G.N. laugh at the boys who have bet their holiday savings on the results. Anne thinks about a quarter of the class should be kept back, but she adds that teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth. She feels fine about most subjects but worries about Maths.

Her Maths teacher, Mr Keesing, whom she calls an old fogey, has been annoyed with her for a long time because she talks too much. As a punishment he sets an extra essay: A Chatterbox. Anne writes a convincing argument. Talking, she says, is a student's trait, and she inherited it from her mother, who talks just as much. There is little one can do about inherited traits. Mr Keesing finds this funny.

When she keeps talking, he sets a second essay, An Incorrigible Chatterbox. Then a third: Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox. This one is meant to make her look silly. Her friend Sanne, who is good at poetry, helps her write the essay in verse. The poem tells of ducklings punished by their father for making noise, turning the teacher's joke back on him.

Mr Keesing takes the joke the right way. He reads the poem to her class and others, adding his own comments. After that Anne is allowed to talk, gets no more extra homework, and Mr Keesing even starts making jokes himself.

Characters

• Anne: witty, honest, observant and lonely in a crowd of friends. She answers criticism with creativity instead of losing heart.
• Mr Keesing: strict at first, but with a good sense of humour. He appreciates Anne's ingenuity, and their relationship changes from punishment to understanding.
• Sanne: Anne's friend who helps write the duckling poem.

Themes and Message

• Need for a true friend: Anne has company but no one to confide in, so the diary becomes her friend.
• Humour and wit: Anne turns a punishment into a chance to show her cleverness.
• Growing understanding: A strict teacher and a talkative student reach mutual respect.
• History behind the diary: Knowing what later happened to Anne gives her ordinary school worries a deeper weight.

Important Question Answers

1. What does Anne mean by paper has more patience than people? A diary is a silent listener that does not judge or get bored. People might lose patience with a teenager's problems, but paper lets her write everything freely.

2. Why does Anne feel lonely despite having many friends? With her friends she talks only about ordinary everyday things. She has no true friend she can confide in, so she turns the diary into that friend, Kitty.

3. Why was the whole class quaking in its boots? They were afraid of the coming teachers' meeting, which would decide who would move up to the next form and who would be kept back.

4. Why did Mr Keesing give Anne extra homework? He was annoyed because she talked too much in class, so he set her an essay on the subject A Chatterbox.

5. What argument did Anne give in her first essay? She said talking is a student's trait and that she had inherited it from her mother, who talked as much as she did. Little can be done about inherited traits.

6. How did Anne answer the third essay? With help from her friend Sanne, she wrote it as a poem about ducklings punished by their father for making noise, turning the joke back on Mr Keesing.

7. How did Mr Keesing's attitude change? He took the joke well, read the poem to several classes, let Anne talk in class and stopped giving her extra homework. He even began making jokes himself.

8. What does the chatterbox episode reveal about Anne? She is witty and resilient. Instead of simply apologising, she argues cleverly and then uses a poem to turn the joke around. This shows a sharp mind and a sense of humour that helps her handle criticism.

Words and Common Mistakes

Useful phrases: plunge in (go straight to the topic), kept back (not promoted), lose heart (become discouraged), make up for (compensate for something lost or missed), get along with (have a good relationship with).

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Do not place the Mr Keesing episode in the hiding place. It happens in June 1942, before the family went into hiding in July.
• Do not call Kitty a real person. It is the name Anne gives her diary.
• Do not mix up the three essay titles or their order.

The chapter also includes the poem Amanda! by Robin Klein. When you are ready to practise, study this chapter with Joy.