From the Diary - First Flight - Class 10 - CBSE English

Let me put it more clearly, since no one will believe that a thirteen-year-old girl is completely alone in the world. And I'm not. I have loving parents and a sixteen-year-old sister, and there are about thirty people I can call friends. I have a family, loving aunts and a good home. No, on the surface I seem to have everything, except my one true friend. All I think about when I'm with friends is having a good time. I can't bring myself to talk about anything but ordinary everyday things. 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. In any case, that's just how things are, and unfortunately they're not liable to change. This is why I've started the diary. a. Why was Anne Frank disturbed even when she had loving parents, relatives and friends? b. Why did Anne decide to write a diary? c. Find the word that means the same as 'unluckily'.

To enhance the image of this long awaited friend in my imagination, I don't want to jot down the facts in this diary the way most people would do, but I want the diary to be my friend, and I'm going to call this friend 'Kitty'. Since no one would understand a word of my stories to Kitty if I were to plunge right in, I'd better provide a brief sketch of my life, much as I dislike doing so. a. Who was the long awaited friend of Anne? Why? b. What did she provide in her diary? c. Find a word from the extract which means the same as 'submerge'.

My father the most adorable father I've ever seen, didn't marry my mother until he was 36 and she was 25. My sister Margot was born in Frankfurt in Germany in 1926. I was born on 12th June, 1929. I lived in Frankfurt until I was four. My father emigrated to Holland in 1933. My mother, Edith Hollander Frank, went with him to Holland in September, while Margot and I were sent to Aachen to stay with our grandmother. a. When and where was Anne Frank born? b. To whom was Anne and her sister Margot stay with in Aachen? Why? c. Find out the opposite of 'immigrated' used in the passage.

That evening, after I'd finished the rest of my homework, the note about the essay caught my eye. I began thinking about the subject while chewing the tip of my fountain pen. 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. I thought and thought, and suddenly I had an idea: I wrote the three pages Mr. Keesing had assigned me and was satisfied. I argued that talking is a student's trait and that I would do my best to keep it under control, but that I would never be able to cure myself of the habit since my mother talked as much as I did if not more, and that there's not much you can do about inherited traits. a. What is the main feature of an essay according to Anne? b. What did Anne argue in the essay? Why? c. What does the idiom 'caught my eye' means?

However, during the third lesson he'd finally had enough. 'Anne Frank, as punishment for talking in class, write an essay entitled-'Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox'." The class roared. I had to laugh too, though I'd nearly exhausted my ingenuity on the topic of Chatterboxes. It was time to come up with something else, something original. My friend, Sanne, who's good at poetry, offered to help me write the essay from beginning to end in verse and I jumped for joy. Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I'd make sure the joke was on him. a. Why did Mr Keesing, her teacher, ask her to write another essay? b. Why did Anne want to write the essay with the help of her friend Sanne? c. Find out the word which means 'deserving or inviting mockery'.

I finished my poem, and it was beautiful! It was about a mother duck and a father swan with three baby ducklings who were bitten to death by the father because they quacked too much. Luckily, Mr Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well. Since then I've been allowed to talk and haven't been assigned any extra homework. On the contrary, Mr Keesing's always making jokes these days. a. Why did the father duck kill the baby ducklings? b. What happened when Mr Keesing read the essay? c. Find out the word from the passage which means 'given'.

Describe Anne's Feelings about having a diary.

Why was Anne’s whole class nervous and anxious?

Describe Anne's love for her grandmother.

Why did Mr keesing punish her? How did Anne devise a plan to stop him from teasing her?

Who was Mrs. Keperous? What was Anne’s relation with her?

What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?

Why does Anne want to keep a diary?

Why did Anne think that she could confide more in her diary than in people?

Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?

What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?

Why was Mr. Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?

How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?

Do you think Mr. Keesing was a strict teacher?

What made Mr. Keesing allow Anne to talk in the class?

Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?

There are some examples of diary or journal entries in the ‘Before You Read’ section. Compare these with what Anne writes in her diary. What language was the diary originally written in? In what way is Anne’s diary different?

Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’ as an insider or an outsider?

How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?

What does Anne write in her first essay?

Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?

What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person? a. 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. b. 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. c. 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. d. 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. e. 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.