CBSE Class 10 English First Flight From the Diary of Anne Frank Notes and Important Questions Set 04

About the Author

Anne Frank (12 June 1929 to early 1945) was a German-Dutch Jewish girl, born in Frankfurt, whose family moved to Amsterdam to escape the Nazis. In July 1942 the family went into hiding in a secret annexe behind a bookcase. Anne kept a diary, a birthday gift, till they were arrested in August 1944. She died in the Bergen-Belsen camp. Her father Otto, the only survivor, published the diary in 1947 as The Diary of a Young Girl, which has been translated into over 70 languages.

Theme and Summary

Theme: the loneliness of adolescence and the need for a true friend. Anne has many friends and a loving family, but she feels that no one understands her inner thoughts, so she makes her diary, which she names Kitty, her confidante.

Anne starts with her family background and early life, then writes about the day of the school results, when the class is nervous and boys place bets. She gets on well with every teacher except Mr Keesing, her maths teacher, who is annoyed by her constant talking. He gives her essays as punishment: 'A Chatterbox', then 'An Incorrigible Chatterbox', and finally 'Quack, Quack, Quack, said Mistress Chatterbox'. For the last one Anne writes a funny poem with the help of a friend, in which a mother duck and a father swan have ducklings who are bitten to death by the father because they chatter. Mr Keesing laughs, takes it in the right spirit and never punishes her for talking again.

Character Sketches

Anne is intelligent, witty, confident and sensitive. She turns a punishment into a joke, shows a sense of humour and creativity, and is honest and forthright. Under the playful girl is a serious and lonely girl who longs for real friendship.

Mr Keesing is strict at first, but fair, broad-minded and sporting. He accepts that Anne's talking is a natural trait, enjoys her joke at his cost and changes his behaviour. This shows he is an understanding teacher.

Important Questions