From the Diary of Anne Frank
Chapter Sketch
In the chapter ‘From the Diary of Anne Frank’, 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 invasion of German over Flolland, her family hid itself. At that time she started to write in her diary. She spent her adolescent years hidden from outside world, and her diary kept all her secrets.
About the Characters
Anne Frank →The 13 years old Jewish girl who writes a diary while she is hiding in Amsterdam from the Nazis during World Warll
Margot Frank →Anne’s sister, she is three years older than Anne.
Otto Frank →Anne’s father, he is a Jewish businessman who left Germany after Hitler’s rise to power, hoping to find refuge in Flolland.
Mrs Frank →Anne’s mother, she is the source of many conflicts with Anne during the two years that the family spends in hiding.
Mr Van Daan →A Jewish business and an associate of Mr Frank’s.
Mr Keesing →Her teacher who punishes Anne as he gets annoyed by her talkative nature.
OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTER
Anne Frank’s First Entry in the Diary:
Anne Frank a thirteen year old girl was gifted a diary by her father. So she decided to write in her diary which she considered to be her best friend in loneliness and named it ‘Kitty’. She began writing in June 1942. In her first entry she expressed her desire to confide everything to the diary as she hadn’t been able to do so to anyone else. She felt that paper had more patience than people. Secondly she thought that nobody would be interested in her diary as she was a small girl.
Her Childhood and Family:
Anne called her father as the most adorable person. He was 36 when he married her mother, who was just 25. She has an older sister Margot. She had about 30 people around her but she had no true friend. They lived in Frankfurt for sometime but as they were jewish they had to migrate to Holland for refuge. Her mother stayed with her grandmother but went to Holland to her father.
Anne’s Schooling:
She was sent to a Montessori nursery school. She stayed there until she was six. At her farewell she and her headmistress Mrs Kuperus had tears in their eyes.
Her Grandmother’s Death:
In the summer of 1941 her grandmother fell ill. She had to be operated upon but she died in January 1942. It gave Anne a shock and she did not write her diary in that period, but after that she wrote again as she thought of her grandmother’s love and affection.
Her view About Teachers:
Anne was not good at maths so she and her friends were always worried about it, but she was sure that she would go to the next class. She always considered teachers to be the most unpredictable creatures on the earth. So she told her friends not to lose hope.
Punishment by Mr Keesing:
Anne was a good student and had a good relationship with all the teachers except Mr Keesing, who taught her Maths. He was always annoyed by her talkative nature. He used to give her extra homework as punishment. He asked her to write an essay on ‘A Chatterbox. He also put a slip of it on her bag to remind her about it.
Completion of Homework:
Anne was unable to understand what she could write in the essay. She started writing to consider it the necessity. She wrote the three pages for her satisfaction. She defined it as a feature of a student and also mentioned that she inherited this trait from her mother who also used to talk much.
Homework given as Punishment Again:
Mr Keesing read Annes’ essay in front of class and laughed at it. He gave her another essay as a punishment on the topic ‘An Incorrigible Chatterbox’ and Quack, Quack, Quack, said Mistress Chatterbox’.
Anne Mocks Mr Keesing Amusingly with her Homework:
Anne wanted to write something interesting and different this time. So, with the help of her friend Sanne who was good at poetry, she wrote an essay in verse. It was about three duckling going deaf because their father duck beat them as they quack way too much. Mr Keesing took the joke in the right way and didn’t bother Anne for talking after that incident. She was not even given any extra homework after that.
Chapter Highlights
- Anne Frank lived in Holland after Hitler invaded.
- His father and mother left her and her sister to her Grandma.
- She was gifted a diary on her thirteenth birthday.
- She named it ‘Kitty’ and made it her best friend in her loneliness.
- She wrote every problem and happenings in her diary.
- She was very close to her Grandma, after her death she felt very much alone.
- They lived in hiding for many years to survive.
- She was lovable of every teacher except Mr Keesing who taught Maths.
- Mr Kessing got annoyed with her talkative nature.
- He punished her by giving her extra homework many a time.
- Her essay in verse form on topic ‘Quack’ Quack, Quack, said Mistress Chatterbox humiliated Mr Kessing.
- He allowed her to talk and relieved her from any extra home work.
WORD MEANINGS
musings →(here) thoughts
listless →lacking energy or enthusiasm
brooding →thinking seriously
stiff-backed →with a hard cover
grandly →beautifully
prompted →encouraged
imagination →fancy
jot →write, put together
plunge →to go into
adorable →lovable
emigrated →went to settle
plunked down →thrown down
farewell →goodbye
celebration →rejoice
intended →thought of
solemn →serious, grave
dedication →devotion
quaking →shaking because of fear
silly →foolishness
staked →put on bet
pleading →requesting
glances →looks
outbursts →bursting out
dummies →persons of low intelligence
unpredictable →about which nothing can be predicted
fogey →a dull, old-fashioned person
assigned →given
chatterbox →one who speaks too much and every time
jotted down →put down together
tucked →carried
ramble on →(here) wander, write about
convincing →making agreeable
inherited traits →features taken from one’s parents
proceeded →went ahead/forward
incorrigible →incurably bad
roared →laughed with noise
ingenuity →skill
original →real
ridiculous →funny
ducklings→offsprings of a duck
quacked →spoke much
on the contrary →opposite to it