CBSE Class 10 English From the Diary of Anne Frank Important Questions Set 02

Short Answer Questions

Question 1. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay? (NCERT)
Answer: She gave two arguments to justify that she was a chatterbox, one that chatting was a student’s trait, and the other reason that nothing could be done about the inherited traits.

Question 2. Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher? (NCERT)
Answer: Yes, he was a strict teacher because he wanted to set right Anne for talking too much in class.

Question 3. What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class? (NCERT)
Answer: When Anne had written her assignment – a long beautiful verse, Mr Keesing liked it. He read the poem to the class, added his comments to it and then he allowed her to talk.

Question 4. Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl? (NCERT)
Answer: No, Anne was not right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl.

Question 5. 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 was Anne’s diary different? (NCERT)
Answer: Anne started with a diary format but it became a memoir later on.
The diary was originally written in Dutch. Unlike the usual factual entries, Anne’s diary is personal and reflective: she treats it as a friend, names it ‘Kitty’ and pours out her feelings to it.

Question 6. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’ as an insider or outsider? (NCERT)
Answer: She feels she is very lonely and this feeling is with her despite the fact that she has a family. That is why she wants to give a brief sketch of her family. She treats Kitty as an insider.

Question 7. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her? (NCERT)
Answer: Anne Frank loved her father too much. She described him as the most adorable father she had ever seen. She was deeply attached to her grandmother. She felt extremely lonely after her death and she even lit a candle for her on her next birthday. Anne got attached to her headmistress, Mrs Kuperus and became emotional when bidding farewell. Mr Keesing, her maths teacher was very strict and she got pretty well with him.

Question 8. What does Anne write in her first essay? (NCERT)
Answer: She wants to write convincing arguments on the essay ‘A chatterbox’. She writes that it is a student’s trait and that she will try to keep it under control. But she says she wouldn’t be able to cure it as the trait has been inherited from her mother.

Question 9. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Was Mr Keesing unpredictable? How? (NCERT)
Answer: Yes, what she says is right. She couldn’t predict the reactions of Mr Keesing on her assignments.

Question 10. What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
(i) 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.
(ii) 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.
(iii) 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.
(iv) 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.
(v) 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. (NCERT)
Answer: (i) Friendly and warm
(ii) Wants to be different and original
(iii) Witty
(iv) Humorous
(v) Intelligent

Question 11. What prompted Anne to maintain a diary?
Answer: After the death of her grandmother, Anne felt quite lonely. She started writing a diary to share her sorrows and joys.

Question 12. Who became Anne’s friend, and what was the friend’s name?
Answer: Anne’s diary became her friend. She named it ‘Kitty’.

Question 13. For whom was Anne ‘‘a birthday present’’ and why?
Answer: Anne was ‘a birthday present’ to her sister, Margot, because she came to Holland on Margot’s birthday and was plunked down on the table as the birthday present.

Question 14. Why did Anne think that she was alone? Give reasons.
Answer: Anne felt very lonely though she had loving parents and many other friends because she could not share her feelings with any one of them.

Question 15. How do you know that Anne was close to her grandmother?
Answer: Anne spent her early childhood with her grandmother. After her death she missed her a lot and often thought of her. She even lit a candle as a tribute to her deceased grandmother.

Question 16. (i) Where did Anne stay before going to Holland?
(ii) Why was she in tears when she left the Montessori School?
Answer: (i) Anne stayed at Aachen where her grandmother stayed.
(ii) When she parted with her loving teacher, Mrs Kuperus, she wept piteously.

Question 17. Why was the entire class quaking in their boots?
Answer: The entire class was quaking in the boots as they knew that their fate was going to be decided in a meeting. The teachers would decide who would pass and who would fail. This worried them a lot.

Question 18. Justify the opinion that Mr Keesing was innovative with his punishments.
Answer: Mr Keesing was innovative with his punishments because he didn’t scold Anne or ask her to leave the class for being a chatterbox. Instead, he asked her to write essays on the subject of ‘chatterbox’ as a punishment to instil discipline in her.

Question 19. The classmates of Anne Frank were shaking with fear and nervousness. Comment.
Answer: The classmates of Anne Frank were shaking with fear and nervousness because it was the day of the annual results. The students did not know who would be promoted to the next class and who would be kept back.

Question 20. Anne bid a ‘heartbreaking farewell’ to Mrs Kuperus. As Anne, write a brief farewell note to Mr Keesing after being promoted to the next class.
You may begin like this: Dear Mr Keesing, It has been ......
Answer: Dear Mr Keesing,
It has been a wonderful year with you as my maths teacher. I have learnt a lot from you. You helped me hone my writing skills by giving me innovative homework for being talkative in class. I am glad I could convince you that one can’t do much about one’s inherited traits. I tried to control my habit of talking but couldn’t, as I got it from my mother. Thank you for taking my jokes sportingly. I will miss you, sir.
Anne

Question 21. How has the author personified Anne’s diary in the story?
Answer: Anne cleverly personifies her diary by giving it the name ‘Kitty’ and writing to it as she would to a friend. It creates the impression that the diary is a living friend and not just a notebook. Also, by saying ‘paper has more patience than people’, she personifies paper.

Question 22. Give two reasons to support the opinion that Anne’s diary is interesting to readers.
Answer: Anne’s diary is interesting to readers because she paints a vivid picture of life in school. She comes across as fun-filled and cheeky, which keeps the reader hooked. She also makes the effort to give a context to her life so that the reader can better understand her stories.

Question 23. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’ as an insider or an outsider? (NCERT)
Answer: Anne gave a brief sketch of her family because no one would believe that a thirteen-year-old girl with a loving family and many friends could feel lonely. She also felt that Kitty would not understand her stories without some background. Kitty was a diary gifted to her on her thirteenth birthday, but she considered it her best friend and treated it as an insider.

Question 24. Why did Anne have tears when she left her Montessori school? (Diksha)
Answer: Anne had to leave her Montessori school and enrol in the Jewish Secondary School. As she had to leave her old school, her headmistress Mrs Kuperus and all her loving friends, she was in tears.

Question 25. Kitty was a trusted friend to Anne. Elaborate. (CBSE SQP 2023)
Answer: Kitty was indeed a trusted friend to Anne. It allowed Anne to express her innermost thoughts. It also provided her with a space to confide in and unburden herself, serving as a form of therapy for her loneliness and isolation.

Question 26. How did Anne regard her diary and what name did she give to it? (CBSE 2012)
Answer: Anne regarded her diary as her long-awaited friend. She considered it one with whom she could share her deepest feelings and which would not judge her or find her talkative. She named it ‘Kitty’.

Question 27. Explain the emotion vested in Anne’s statement, “...I was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot.”
Answer: Anne was taken to Holland later than the rest of her family and was placed on the table as a ‘birthday present’ for her sister Margot. The statement carries warmth and humour. It shows Anne’s affection for her family and her playful way of looking at her own childhood.

Question 28. The story is a powerful example of self-expression and the human spirit. Elaborate.
Answer: Though Anne felt lonely, she did not let her feelings crush her. She found a friend in her diary and expressed her thoughts freely. Even when punished, she turned her essays into witty arguments and a poem. Her writing reflects a lively, resilient spirit that found strength in self-expression.

Question 29. How does the story challenge the notion that just being surrounded by people guarantees true companionship?
Answer: Anne had loving parents, a sister, aunts and about thirty friends, yet she felt alone. She could talk to them only about ordinary everyday things and had no one to share her deeper feelings with. This shows that true companionship depends on understanding, not on the number of people around us.

Question 30. What caused Anne to believe that a diary was a better confidant than a person?
Answer: Anne believed a diary to be a better confidant than a person because she found paper to be more patient than people. She always craved someone who was a patient listener because, according to her, she had all kinds of things which she needed to get off her chest, and her diary wouldn’t reveal her secrets as it wasn’t meant for anybody’s reading.

Question 31. Give a reason for Anne wanting to keep a diary.
Answer: Anne always felt lonely even when she was surrounded by her friends and loved ones. The only thing Anne needed more in her life was a true friend. Anne says that she did not feel close to her existing friends, so she did not confide in them. A diary, on the other hand, would be ideal because Anne could easily express what was on her mind and in her heart. Unlike others, a diary wouldn’t judge her or be dismissive of her.

Question 32. Anne adored her grandmother. Is it true or false? Why?
Answer: True. Anne says that when her parents moved to Holland from Germany in 1933, she and her elder sister Margot moved in with their grandmother, whom she loved very dearly and grew close to. After her grandma fell ill and passed away, Anne often missed her as she still loved her. A candle for grandma was lit along with the other candles on Anne’s birthday.

Question 33. What made Mr. Keesing become cross with Anne?
Answer: Mr. Keesing was cross with Anne because, according to him, Anne was the most talkative girl in class. He always found Anne talking to her friends or disturbing the class. He reprimanded Anne many times; however, nothing seemed to prevent Anne from talking to her friends in the class.

Question 34. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
Answer: In her essay, Anne justified her being a chatterbox by saying that it is a characteristic of all students. She also mentioned that her mother too was a talkative person by nature. Therefore, Anne’s talkative nature was inherited; it was impossible for her to get rid of that trait completely.

Question 35. Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people? (NCERT)
Answer: Anne felt that paper has more patience than people. Since she does not have any friend, the diary would be the one she could confide in.

Question 36. 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? (NCERT)
Answer: Anne’s diary was originally written in Dutch. Her diary is different because she names her diary ‘Kitty’ and writes in it as if she is confiding in a friend.

Question 37. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr. Keesing unpredictable? How? (NCERT)
Answer: Yes, Mr. Keesing is unpredictable because on one hand he punishes Anne for her talking and then after reading her creative essays, he lets her talk in the class.

Question 38. What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
(i) 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. (NCERT)
Answer: This tells us that though she has many friends, there isn’t one best friend to confide in.
(ii) 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. Ans. She wants the diary to be the friend that she can share everything with.
(iii) 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. Ans. This means that she spent more time with her grandmother and was very attached to her.
(iv) 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. Ans. She is a little perturbed by the unpredictability of teachers and believes that sometimes even undeserving students are sent to the next grade.
(v) 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. Ans. She is a creative young girl, who, even for a punishment of writing an essay, is not wanting to take the easy way out.

Question 39. Why does Anne name her diary?
Answer: To enhance the image of her friend in her imagination, Anne doesn’t want to jot down the facts in her diary the way most people would do but she wants the diary to be her friend, and so, she calls this friend ‘Kitty’.

Question 40. Why was Anne’s class quaking in its boots?
Answer: Anne’s entire class was quaking in its boots because of the forthcoming meeting, in which the teachers would decide who’ll move up to the next form and who’ll be kept back.

Question 41. What was the poem about that Anne wrote for the third essay? Did this essay appease her teacher?
Answer: For the third essay, Anne wrote a poem. 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. The poem was so funny that the teacher forgave her and henceforth she was not punished for talking in class.

Question 42. What did the diary mean to Anne Frank and what name did it receive from her?
Answer: The diary was like the ‘one true friend’ to Anne and she called it by the name ‘Kitty’. She confided all her thoughts and feelings in her diary. She felt that writing got all things off her chest and paper has more patience.

Question 43. "Paper has more patience than people." Why did Anne assert such a statement? What does this statement tell about Anne as a person?
Answer: These lines are from The Diary of Anne Frank where she implies writing in her diary as a means of expressing the complications of sharing her often complex adolescent thoughts, emotions and experiences with those around her when people don't bother listening to her. Anne finds it easier to be honest in writing than to speak openly with other people as it listens to her more patiently and silently and can confide in her diary all her secrets.

Long Answer Questions

Question 1. What idea do you form of Mr Keesing as a teacher? What is that you like the most about him?
Answer: Mr Keesing, the maths teacher, was very strict. He got annoyed with Anne as she talked too much. He warned Anne several times and after that he assigned her extra homework. When she completed it she was assigned one more essay by Mr Keesing. He found all the essays correct and laughed at her arguments. This shows his liking for Anne. At last, he tried to play a joke on Anne by giving her a ridiculous topic – Quack, Quack, Quack, said mistress Chatterbox. The poem written by Anne, completely transformed Mr Keesing. Now, he had started having fun with students and even allowed them to talk. Mr Keesing was a good teacher. He was a very disciplined and concerned teacher. He wanted his students to be serious in his classes. However, he was a short tempered teacher who punished Anne without understanding her stand. When Anne cracked a joke on him, he took it in a positive way. This trait of his character is very impressive.