English (First Flight) · CBSE Class 10 · Prose: Anne Frank · Poem: Amanda! (Robin Klein) · 25 Quiz
From the Diary of Anne Frank — Summary, Author, Theme & Word-Meanings
About the Author
Anne Frank (1929–1945) was a German-born Jewish girl. During World War II, to escape Nazi persecution, her family hid for two years in secret rooms in Amsterdam. She was betrayed, sent to a concentration camp, and died of typhus at Bergen-Belsen. Her father Otto, the only survivor, published her diary as ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ — one of the world’s most widely read books. This chapter is an extract from that diary.
Theme
The extract shows the loneliness, thoughts and wit of a sensitive 13-year-old girl. Anne treats her diary as a true friend (‘Kitty’) to whom she can confide everything. It also humorously describes her school life and her clever handling of her maths teacher, Mr Keesing.
Summary
Anne finds writing a diary a strange experience — she has never written before and feels no one would be interested in a schoolgirl’s musings. Yet she needs to ‘get things off her chest’. Though she has loving parents, a sister and many friends, she feels she has no one true friend in whom she can confide. Believing that ‘paper has more patience than people’, she decides to make the diary her friend and names it ‘Kitty’. To help Kitty understand, she gives a brief sketch of her life and family — her father, mother, sister Margot, her school, her dearly loved grandmother who had recently died.
She then writes about her school. The whole class is nervous before the meeting where teachers decide who will move up to the next form. Anne is confident except in maths. Her maths teacher, Mr Keesing, was annoyed by her constant talking and punished her with essays on ‘A Chatterbox’, then ‘An Incorrigible Chatterbox’. Anne cleverly argued that talking is a student’s trait she had inherited from her mother and could not cure. When he set a mocking third essay (‘Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox’), Anne wrote it in funny verse (a mother duck and father swan who bit three ducklings for quacking too much). Mr Keesing took the joke well, read the poem to the class, and from then on allowed Anne to talk and even made jokes himself.
The Poem — Amanda! (Robin Klein)
The poem contrasts the constant nagging of an elder (‘Don’t bite your nails… Did you finish your homework… Don’t eat that chocolate…’) with a young girl Amanda’s inner world of freedom. In her imagination she becomes a mermaid drifting in an emerald sea, an orphan roaming the streets in sweet silence, and Rapunzel living peacefully in a tower. The poem shows how over-instruction and nagging stifle a child’s freedom and drive her into a dream world; what the elders call ‘moody’ and ‘sulking’ is really the child’s longing for peace and independence.
Word-Meanings
musings = thoughts; listless = with no energy or interest; confide = share private things with someone trusted; brooding = thinking deeply/unhappily; plunked down = put down casually; quaking in its boots = shaking with fear; old fogey = an old-fashioned person; ramble on = talk aimlessly for long; incorrigible = that cannot be corrected; inherited traits = qualities got from parents; ingenuity = cleverness, inventiveness. (Poem) languid = relaxed; drifting = moving slowly; tranquil = calm; sole = only; blissfully = happily; sulking = being silent and bad-tempered.
NCERT Textbook Solutions (From the Diary of Anne Frank + Amanda!)
OC-1.1What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?
Writing a diary is strange for Anne because she had never written anything before, and because she feels that neither she nor anyone else would later be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl.
OC-1.2Why does Anne want to keep a diary?
Anne wants to keep a diary because she has no true friend in whom she can confide. She needs to pour out her feelings and ‘get things off her chest’, so she decides to make the diary her friend and call it ‘Kitty’.
OC-1.3Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people?
Because ‘paper has more patience than people’. Unlike people, the diary would listen patiently without judging or interrupting, and she was not planning to let anyone else read it, so she could share her deepest feelings freely.
OC-2.1Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?
She provides a brief sketch so that ‘Kitty’ (the reader) could understand her stories. Since no one would follow her diary entries without some background, she first explains her family and life history.
OC-2.2What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?
Anne loved her grandmother deeply: she writes, ‘No one knows how often I think of her and still love her.’ Also, at her birthday celebration her grandmother’s candle was lit along with the rest in her memory.
OC-3.1Why was Mr Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?
Mr Keesing, the maths teacher, was annoyed because Anne talked too much in class. As punishment, he assigned her an extra essay on the subject ‘A Chatterbox’.
OC-3.2How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
Anne argued that talking is a student’s trait and that she would try her best to control it, but she could never cure herself of the habit because her mother talked as much as she did — and one cannot do much about inherited traits.
OC-3.3Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?
Mr Keesing was strict but fair and good-humoured. He did punish Anne with essays, but he took her clever arguments and funny poem in the right spirit, laughed, read the poem to other classes, and later allowed her to talk. So he was not harsh, but a sporting and understanding teacher.
OC-3.4What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
When Mr Keesing set a mocking third essay, Anne wrote it as a funny poem about a mother duck and father swan who bit three ducklings to death for quacking too much. Mr Keesing took the joke the right way, read the poem to the class, and from then on allowed Anne to talk without assigning extra homework.
TT-1Was Anne right when she said the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
No, Anne was completely wrong. Her diary became one of the most widely read books in the world, translated into many languages and adapted into films, plays and even an opera — proving that the world was deeply interested in her thoughts.
TT-2Compare the ‘Before You Read’ entries with Anne’s diary. What language was it written in? How is Anne’s diary different?
The ‘Before You Read’ entries are brief, factual records. Anne’s diary was originally written in Dutch. It is different because she writes it as letters to a friend called ‘Kitty’, pouring out her feelings, thoughts and reflections rather than merely listing facts — it is personal, emotional and intimate.
TT-3Why does Anne give a brief sketch of her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’ as an insider or an outsider?
She gives the sketch so that Kitty can follow her stories without confusion. She treats Kitty partly as an outsider (who needs the background facts) and partly as an insider — a close, trusted friend to whom she confides her innermost feelings.
TT-4How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What does this tell you about her?
She finds her father ‘the most adorable father’ she ever saw; she loved her grandmother dearly and still thinks of her; she was fond of Mrs Kuperus (her headmistress) — both cried at their farewell; and though Mr Keesing annoyed her at first, she came to like his humour. This shows Anne was a warm, sensitive, affectionate girl who valued her relationships.
TT-5What does Anne write in her first essay?
In her first essay (‘A Chatterbox’), Anne argued that talking is a student’s natural trait, that she would try to control it, but could not cure it as it was inherited from her talkative mother.
TT-6Anne says teachers are the most unpredictable creatures. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?
Yes, Mr Keesing is unpredictable. First he repeatedly punished Anne with essays for talking; but then, instead of getting angrier at her joke-poem, he took it sportingly, read it aloud to several classes, let her talk freely and even began making jokes himself — a complete and surprising change of behaviour.
TT-7What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
(i) ‘…maybe it’s my fault that we don’t confide in each other’ — she is honest and self-critical.
(ii) ‘I want the diary to be my friend’ — she is imaginative, sensitive and lonely.
(iii) ‘…plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot’ — she has a good sense of humour.
(iv) ‘…so many dummies… teachers are the most unpredictable creatures’ — she is bold, frank and opinionated.
(v) ‘…the trick was to come up with convincing arguments’ — she is intelligent and witty.
TL-1Thinking about Language — Match the compound words (A) with their meanings (B).
1. Heartbreaking → producing great sadness.
2. Homesick → missing home and family very much.
3. Blockhead → a very stupid person.
4. Law-abiding → obeying and respecting the law.
5. Overdo → do something to an excessive degree.
6. Daydream → think about pleasant things, forgetting the present.
7. Breakdown → an occasion when vehicles/machines stop working.
8. Output → something produced by a person, machine or organisation.
TL-2Phrasal Verbs — match them with their meanings.
(i) plunge in → go straight to the topic.
(ii) kept back → not promoted.
(iii) move up → go to the next grade.
(iv) ramble on → speak or write without focus.
(v) get along with → have a good relationship with.
(vi) calm down → make (them) remain quiet.
(vii) stay in → stay indoors.
(viii) make up for → compensate.
(ix) hand in → give an assignment (homework) to a person in authority.
TL-3Idioms — what does each expression mean?
(i) ‘Our entire class is quaking in its boots’ → trembling/shaking with fear.
(ii) ‘not to lose heart’ → not to be discouraged / not to give up hope.
(iii) ‘Mr Keesing was annoyed with me for ages’ → annoyed for a very long time.
(iv) ‘the joke was on him’ → he became the target of the joke; the joke turned against him.
TL-4Contracted Forms — list some from the text with their full forms; which stand for two full forms?
I’ve = I have; can’t = cannot; she’s = she is; won’t = will not; don’t = do not; that’s = that is; they’re = they are; it’s = it is.
Those standing for two full forms: I’d = I had OR I would; he’d = he had OR he would.
AM-1How old do you think Amanda is? How do you know this?
Amanda seems to be a young school-going girl, about 9–12 years old. We know this from the instructions given to her — to finish her homework, tidy her room, clean her shoes — and the warnings about biting nails and acne, which point to a child/pre-teen.
AM-2Who do you think is speaking to her?
The speaker is one of Amanda’s elders — most likely her mother (or a parent), who is constantly instructing, correcting and nagging her.
AM-3Why are Stanzas 2, 4 and 6 given in parenthesis?
They are in parenthesis (brackets) because they are Amanda’s own private thoughts / daydreams — her imaginary world — which she does not speak aloud, as opposed to the elder’s spoken nagging in the other stanzas.
AM-4Who is the speaker in Stanzas 2, 4 and 6? Is this speaker listening to the other speaker?
The speaker in these stanzas is Amanda herself, lost in her imagination. No, she is not really listening to the nagging elder — she has escaped into her own peaceful dream world.
AM-5What could Amanda do if she were a mermaid?
If Amanda were a mermaid, she would drift blissfully and peacefully in a languid, emerald green sea as its sole (only) inhabitant — completely free and undisturbed.
AM-6Is Amanda an orphan? Why does she say so?
No, Amanda is not an orphan — she has parents. She imagines being one because she longs for freedom and solitude; an orphan, she feels, could roam the streets freely in sweet, golden silence, with no one to nag or control her.
AM-7Do you know the story of Rapunzel? Why does she want to be Rapunzel?
Rapunzel was a girl locked by a witch in a tall tower, who let down her long hair for people to climb up. Amanda wants to be Rapunzel for the peace and solitude of the tower — but, unlike the original, she says she would ‘never let down her bright hair’, meaning she would never let anyone disturb her freedom.
AM-8What does the girl yearn for? What does this poem tell you about Amanda?
Amanda yearns for freedom, peace and solitude — freedom from constant nagging, instructions and restrictions. The poem tells us that Amanda is a sensitive, imaginative child who feels suffocated by over-control and escapes into a world of fantasy.
AM-9Read the last stanza. Do you think Amanda is sulking and moody?
No, Amanda is not really sulking or moody. She is simply withdrawn into her own imaginative world to escape the endless nagging. It is the elder’s constant fault-finding that makes her appear quiet and ‘moody’ — the poem subtly suggests the nagging itself is the real problem.