CBSE Class 10 English From the Diary of Anne Frank Important Questions Set 03

Long Answer Questions

Question 1. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? How does Anne’s description of these characters reflect her own character? Is she fair, critical or biased about them?
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. Anne’s description of these characters shows that Anne herself is a good human being. She has respect for all. She does not hesitate in making her teacher realise that he is wrong. She is fearless but talkative. She is fair and critical in her approach. She is not biased.

Question 2. Write a brief character sketch of Anne. How does she impress you? What will you learn from her?
Answer: Young Anne was a very intelligent girl and had a flair for writing essays. She could write essays and convinced her teacher that the talkativeness was her birthright and that she had no control over her talkativeness as she had inherited the art from her mother. She outwitted her teacher by writing the essay. But when the teacher punished her again and asked her to write another essay, “The Incorrigible Chatterbox’’, she composed a poem and gave a message through it to the teacher. The teacher was so impressed by her little poem that he decided not to punish her. Thus, we see that she is capable of writing good essays and win the heart of Mr Keesing and make him realise his mistake. Her fearlessness, critical thinking, humility and unbiased approach are some of the values reflected in her personality. I like her creativity and humorous approach to deal with her strict maths teacher, Mr Keesing.

Question 3. Do you think Keesing was justified in punishing Anne? Would you support such a punishment in your class? Why/Why not?
Answer: Mr Keesing was a very strict teacher who could not tolerate Anne’s talkativeness and would punish her. He even did not try to find out why the girl was always talking in his class. He was not justified in punishing her because he should have tried to make his teaching more impressive and interesting. Anne was weak in Mathematics; naturally, she was not interested in learning in his class. First, he insulted her and asked her to write an essay on a chatterbox. As a teacher he should have been careful enough not to insult a young girl in front of the class. He further punished her to write another essay. The children are loving young ones who should not be punished at all but treated affectionately.
No, I will not support any kind of punishment. A teacher should not use punishment to control the class. He/ she should understand the level of students and modify his/her method of teaching.

Question 4. What do you think about Anne’s talent for writing essays which she wrote convincingly, when punished by the teacher? (Delhi 2020)
Answer: Young Anne was very intelligent, had an extraordinary talent and a flair for writing essays. By writing essays and a poem, she convinced her teacher that the talkativeness was her birthright and she had no control over it as she had inherited the art from her mother. She outwitted her teacher by writing the essays. But when the teacher punished her again and asked her to write another essay, “The Incorrigible Chatterbox”, she composed a poem and gave a message through it to the teacher. The teacher was so impressed by the poem that he decided not to punish her. Thus, Anne impressed Mr. Keesing and ultimately won his heart.

Question 5. A character sketch is a quick rendering of a character. It depicts the key personality traits, behaviour, background and nature of a specific character. In the light of the above information, trace the character sketch of Anne Frank, in about 120 words.
Answer: Anne was a young and talented girl who talked a lot. Although she was a chatterbox, she had trouble confiding in people. She considered her family an important part of her identity. She was inquisitive and had a flair for writing. She always tried to put her best foot forward. When Mr Keesing gave her essays as punishment, she wrote convincing arguments on the necessity of talking. For the third essay, she wrote a poem with the help of her friend Sanne, which Mr Keesing appreciated a lot. This shows that she was a determined, witty and strong-spirited girl.

Question 6. Mr Keesing was annoyed with Anne because of her excessive talking in class. He wanted Anne to control her habit of talking. Based on your understanding of the characters in the chapter ‘From the Diary of Anne Frank’, develop a conversation between Mr Keesing and Anne’s mother regarding Anne’s chatting in class.
Answer: Mr Keesing: Mrs Frank, I am sorry to have called you here at such short notice, but it was important. As you know, Anne is a very talkative girl. She disturbs the whole class by talking excessively in the middle of lessons.
Mrs Frank: I am sorry to hear that, Mr Keesing. I had no idea about this. I know that Anne is talkative, but disturbing the class is not acceptable.
Mr Keesing: Anne is a good student, Mrs Frank. She has a bright future. Her conversation skills are great too. But her habit of talking non-stop is proving bad for her. She doesn’t concentrate on her studies these days.
Mrs Frank: I will surely make her control her habit of talking in class, Mr Keesing. Thanks for informing me.
Mr Keesing: Thank you for coming, Mrs Frank.

Question 7. ‘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.’ This is how Anne ends her diary. As Anne, write the successive diary entry that expands this quote.
Answer: Dear Kitty,
You won’t believe how things have changed in Mr Keesing’s class! Ever since he read my poem ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, said Mistress Chatterbox’ aloud to the class, he seems to be a different man. He has not given me a single extra essay. In fact, he laughs at my little remarks and even cracks jokes himself. Today he told us a funny story about a talkative parrot and looked right at me with a twinkle in his eyes!
I think he finally understood that talking is a student’s trait, and that I inherited it from Mother. I still try to keep quiet when it matters, but I feel so relieved. Maths is no longer a lesson I dread.
Yours, Anne

Question 8. Just like Mr Keesing, the young seagull’s mother in ‘Two Stories about Flying’ plays the role of a teacher in the story. You have been asked to present an evaluation of the approaches of both the baby seagull’s mother and Mr Keesing. Write this presentation draft including your insights, in about 120 words, comparing the approaches of both teachers.
Answer: Both Mr Keesing and the young seagull’s mother act as teachers, but their methods differ. Mr Keesing wanted to stop Anne from talking in class. Instead of scolding her, he gave her essays on ‘A Chatterbox’ and similar topics. When Anne answered with clever arguments and a witty poem, he accepted her point and even began to joke with her. His approach was patient, creative and flexible.
The seagull’s mother used a firmer method. When coaxing failed, the family left the young bird alone and hungry. She then tempted him with a piece of fish and stopped just out of reach, forcing him to dive and discover that he could fly.
Both teachers understood their learners and used indirect methods that led to growth rather than fear.

Question 9. ‘From the Diary of Anne Frank’ throws light on teacher-student relationship, class atmosphere and discipline. Discuss.
Answer: ‘From the Diary of Anne Frank’ clearly describes the teacher-student relationship, class atmosphere and discipline. Anne, who talks a lot in class, gets punished by Mr. Keesing, her maths teacher. He gets annoyed with her because of her talkative nature. He asks her to write an essay on the subject ‘A Chatterbox’ as punishment, which is learning in disguise because he wanted her to focus on her studies. He cannot be blamed for the punishment as he did it for Anne’s own benefit. The teacher-student relationship is very respectful and sacred. It is about discipline and classroom manners, which are essential for every student as well as teacher; otherwise both teaching and learning would be hampered.
This relationship is clearly shown in Mr. Keesing’s and Anne Frank’s actions, as they both play jokes on each other, but in a very humorous and healthy manner. Such a healthy relationship is needed in every class for effective teaching and learning.

Question 10. Why did Mr. Keesing assign Anne extra homework, an essay on “A Chatterbox”? How did she justify her being a chatterbox?
Answer: Mr. Keesing was annoyed by Anne’s talkative nature. He had reprimanded her several times for talking in class. When it seemed that Anne was not going to mend her behaviour, Mr. Keesing asked Anne to write a three-page essay on the topic ‘A Chatterbox’ as extra homework/punishment. Although Anne found the topic strange and a head-scratcher, she wrote the essay to justify her being a chatterbox. She thought about the topic and felt that anybody could ramble on, but not everyone could “come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.” Anne wrote in her essay that being talkative is a student’s trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. However, it would be a difficult task for her since she had inherited it from her mother: “my mother talked as much as I did...” Anne further wrote that she could not completely cure herself of a habit which was inherent in her.

Question 11. Was Anne an intelligent girl? Support your answer by giving instances from the chapter.
Answer: Anne was indeed an intelligent girl. She was only thirteen when she started writing, but her diary shows she was mature for her age. She decided to write a diary because she felt the need of a true friend. She understood that paper was more patient than people. Only an intelligent girl can think so deeply and wisely. Moreover, when it was time for her teachers to decide whom to promote to the next class and whom to detain, Anne was sure she would be promoted because she had done well in all subjects except maths.
When Mr. Keesing punished Anne for her talkativeness again and again and asked her to write essays one after the other, each time Anne came up with a brilliant explanation for her talkative nature. She composed a poem on ‘Quack, Quack, Quack, said Mistress Chatterbox’ and gave a message through it to her teacher. Mr. Keesing was so impressed by her little poem that he decided not to punish her any more. It shows that Anne was capable of thinking out of the box and of making Mr. Keesing realise his mistake. It also reflects her fearlessness, genuine wit, creativity and humorous approach to dealing with her situation.

Question 12. What do you think about Anne‘s talent for writing essays which she wrote convincingly, when punished by the teacher?
Answer: Anne was a young and talented girl. She was inquisitive and thirsty for knowledge. She had a flair for writing and tried to put her best foot forward. She took her friend, Sanne’s help to script the third one. She suggested Anne to write her essay in the form of a verse. Anne did the same. She wrote her third essay in a verse-form, which her teacher, Mr. Keesing, appreciated a lot. This shows that she was a determined and strong spirited girl.

Question 13. Paper has more patience than people. Elucidate.
Answer: By paper, Anne means a place where one can write one’s thoughts and express oneself. The paper will wait silently for you and whenever you wish to write on it, it will be there for you. Comparing it to a person, he or she will not wait indefinitely for you to decide whether you wish to share your thoughts with him/her or not. Chances are he/she will get exasperated and leave. A person will have less or no patience for indecision of any kind. On the other hand, a paper has unlimited patience to wait for you to write on it. Also, when one begins to narrate things which are important to oneself, the other person may not be interested in listening to it. This is not the case with a paper. A book or a journal has no ambitions of its own and hence, it can bear everything one wants to write in it, be it interesting or boring.

Question 14. Corporal punishment is banned in our schools. The kind of punishment that Anne gets for talking in the class—is it acceptable or should all punishments be banned?
Answer: The teacher is angry with Anne for talking in the class even after being warned. He gives her essays to write on the same topic as her punishment. I feel this kind of punishment is acceptable. Corporal punishment which involves hitting, making the student stand for long, hold ears etc. should never be given. It not only hurts the student physically, but also causes a lot of mental and emotional trauma. Giving essays to write or community work in lieu of punishment is the right way to let the student know that his or her behaviour is unacceptable and that he or she needs to change it. This not only teaches the students proper discipline, but also increases their experience and divinity in that particular task. Such a punishment is a boon even for the punished.