From the Diary of Anne Frank
By Anne Frank
Analysis: 
·
The chapter is an extract or a page from
The Diary of A Young Girl written in diary format by Anne Frank. It is also
celebrated as an autobiography of Anne Frank.
· The
chapter shares Anne’s views on friendship, relations, studies and teachers.
· Discussing
her habits she proudly accepts that she is a chatterbox and that too, an
incorrigible one as she inherited this attribute from her mother. She feels
that inherited attributes are difficult to change.
·
It also mentions about her love for
books and interest for writing her emotions and experience. It reflects she had
a knack for creative writing which stood her as a popular writer in the world
with just one small diary.
About
the Book ‘The Diary of A Young Girl’
The Diary of a Young Girl also known as The Diary of
Anne Frank, is a book of the writings in Dutch language by Anne Frank while she
was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the
Netherlands. The family was apprehended in 1944, and Anne Frank died of typhus
in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. The diary was retrieved by
Miep Gies, who gave it to Anne's father, Otto Frank, the family's only known
survivor, just after the war was over. The diary has since been published in
more than 60 languages.
First published under the title ‘Het Achterhuis’ in
Amsterdam in 1947, the diary received widespread critical and popular attention
on the appearance of its English language translation ‘Anne Frank: The Diary of
a Young Girl’ in 1952. Its popularity inspired the 1955 play The Diary of Anne
Frank which was later adapted for the screen for the 1959 movie version. The
book is included in several lists of the top books of the 20th century.
Summary
/ Synopsis
§ This
chapter is a part of Anne Frank’s emotions and experiences compiled as a diary. Here, she tells us about the early
days of her life. She decided to write a diary because
she did not have any friend. Anne was born on the 12th of June. 1929. She had a
sister three years older to her. She lived in Frankfurt until she was four. Her
father immigrated to Holland in 1933.
§ Anne
Frank went to the Montessori school.
When Anne was in the sixth form, her teacher was Mrs
Kuperus, the headmistress. Both shared a good understanding and had a great love for each other.
§ Anne
had no one who she could confide in and share the feelings of her heart. So she decided
to make her diary her friend. She called it ‘Kitty’. On Saturday 20th June
1942, Anne Frank made her first entry in her diary. It was in the format of a
letter and was addressed to her diary ‘Kitty’. Anne describes her experiences
with her Mathematics teacher, Mr Keesing.
§ Anne
writes that one day Mr Keesing punished her for talking too much in the class. He gave
her extra homework. He asked her to write an essay on ‘A Chatterbox.’ Anne
wrote it, but she again talked in the class. Now Mr Keesing asked her to write
an essay on ‘An Incorrigible Chatterbox.’ Mr Keesing liked the essays written
by Anne Frank.
§ But
Anne could not give up the habit of talking in the class. Therefore, as a punishment,
Mr Keesing asked her to write an essay on an unusual title. “‘Quack, Quack,
Quack.’ said Mistress Chatterbox.” Anne wrote this essay in the form of a poem.
It was about a mother duck and the father swan. 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 the right way. He read the poem to Anne’s
class and other classes also. He allowed Anne to talk in the class and never
again gave her extra homework.
Video on Diary of Anne Frank
Historical Back
ground
During the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, Anne
Frank received a blank diary as one of her presents on 12 June 1942, her 13th
birthday. According to the Anne Frank House, the red, checkered autograph book
which Anne used as her diary was actually chosen by her the day before with her
father when browsing a bookstore near her home.
On 5 July 1942, Anne's older sister Margot received
an official summons to report to a Nazi work camp in Germany, and on 6 July,
they went in hiding with their parents Otto and Edith. They were later joined
by Otto's business partner’s family. Their hiding place was in the sealed-off
upper rooms of the annex at the back of Otto's company building in Amsterdam. In
the published version, names were changed: The van Pelses are known as the Van
Daans. With the assistance of a group of Otto Frank's trusted colleagues, they
remained hidden for two years and one month.
In August 1944, they were discovered and deported to
Nazi concentration camps. Only Otto Frank survived the war. Anne was 15 years
old when she died of a disease in concentration camp, a few weeks before the
prisoners were liberated by British troops on 15 April 1945.
Important Question Answers
Q1. Was Anne right when she said, “ The world may not
be interested in the musings of a 13 years old.”
Ans. No, Anne was not right when she said that the
world might not be interested in the musings of a 13 years old girl as we all
saw that the whole world gave a wonderful response to her diary. It was published in many languages, performed as play and even adapted as a film. Even now
people are interested to buy and read the book. The book has been a best seller and
even included in the curriculum across the globe.
Q2. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother,
Mrs. Kuperus and Mr. Keesing? What do these tell about her?
Ans. To begin with her diary Anne Frank talks about
her father, Mr. Otto Frank. It tells how much she loves her father. She writes that
Otto Frank is the most adorable father she has ever seen.
She also shares special bond with her grandmother.
When her parents moved to Holland and after some time her sister, Margot also
joined them, Anne was with her grandmother. When she died, she created a void
in Anne’s life. Anne thinks of her very often, misses her all the time and will
always love her.
Mrs. Kuperus was her headmistress and taught her
when she was studying in sixth form. They both shared a beautiful relationship
and good understanding. We know this because at the time of her farewell, that
was heart breaking, they both were in tears.
Mr. Keesing, the ‘old fogey’ as she called her was
her Math teacher. He was annoyed with her for ages she used to talk so much
during class. He used to give her extra homework but could not change her.
Her description of these people tells that Anne was
an emotional and sensitive girl and that the relations value much in her life.
Q3. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is
Mr. Keesing unpredictable? How?
Ans. Anne says
‘teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth’. She means to say that
results are completely different from students’ expectations and predictions. The
so called dummies in class also pass somehow. Mr. Keesing is the best example
of such teachers as he used to scold her much and punish her with extra
homework. At the end, he did the most unexpected thing. He laughed his heart
out at her funny story and never scolded nor punished her. 
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