Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who was forced to live in secret during World War II. It is a very personal and poignant piece of writing. In the diary, she writes about her feelings, school life, the relationship she has with her diary, and the anxiety of hiding in the midst of war and enormous struggles. The Class 10 English textbook First Flight has a chapter titled “From the Diary of Anne Frank” that shares an entry from this diary of Anne Frank.
The NCERT Solutions provided for this chapter align with the new CBSE curriculum and updated NCERT syllabus. When students use the NCERT Solutions, they will be able to relate the text clearly and can answer questions more skillfully. Clearly stating ideas in a piece of writing will help students with comprehension and developing their writing process in academic and competitive exams, like the Olympiads.
Discover more about Anne Frank and her impactful diary with our NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English Chapter 4 “From The Diary of Anne Frank”. The answers are clear and follow the recent syllabus. Click the link below to download the free PDF.
In this chapter, students better understand the state of Anne Frank, a teenager living in challenging times. The main points include:
Oral Comprehension Check
1. What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?
Ans. Anne had never written anything before. Her thought that later on no one will be interested in the musings of a thirteen year old school girl makes it a strange experience.
2. Why does Anne want to keep a diary?
Ans. Anne wants to keep a diary because she has no close friend to confide in. And unfortunately this situation is not going to change. So, diary will help in getting all kinds of things off her chest.
3. Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people?
Ans. Anne thought that she could confide more in her diary than in people because she believed in the saying that paper has more patience than people. Moreover, she never found a real friend to confide in.
4. Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?
Ans. Anne provides a brief sketch of her life so that everybody can understand every word of her stories to Kitty. Without the brief sketch of her life it would be difficult to understand her diary entries.
5. What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?
Ans. Anne's birthday passed with little celebration when Grandma fell ill in 1941 and had an operation. On Anne's birthday in 1942, Grandma's candle was also lit along with the rest. These tell us that Anne loved her grandmother.
6. Why was Mr. Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?
Ans. Mr. Keesing was annoyed with Anne because she talked much in the class. He asked her to write an essay on 'A Chatterbox', then on 'An Incorrigible Chatterbox' and finally on 'Quack, Quack, Quack', Said Mistress Chatterbox.
7. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
Ans. She gave two arguments to justify her 'Chatterbox', one that chatting in student's traits and other reason that nothing can be done about the inherited traits.
8. Do you think Mr. Keesing was a strict teacher?
Ans. Mr. Keesing was a strict teacher. However, he was not rigidly strict. He expected discipline and silence in his class while he was teaching, which is acceptable. He punished Anne by asking her to write an essay on 'A Chatterbox'. When Anne wrote a convincing essay on it, he received it with a good laugh. However, when Anne continued with her talking, he punished her again by asking her to write another essay; this time the topic was 'An Incorrigible Chatterbox'. Even after this when she kept talking, he asked her to write on the topic 'Quack Quack Quack, said Mistress Chatterbox". He was trying to play a joke on her. However, she came up with a brilliant poem, and he read this poem in the class, acknowledging its content. Therefore, in regard of these events, Mr. Keesing cannot be entirely labelled as a strict teacher. He was fun-loving too.
9. What made Mr. Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
Ans. Anne was able to justify her talkative nature every time she was punished by Mr. Keesing. On three occasions, as punishment, he gave her topics to write essays on. However, on each occasion he was impressed by the manner in which she presented her arguments. Finally, Mr. Keesing accepted the fact that Anne would always be that way. Hence, she was allowed to talk in class.
Thinking About the Text
10. Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
Ans. No, Anne was not right when she said so. Her diary has become one of the most widely read books of the world. Moreover, it is an important document of daily life and condition of Jews under Nazi occupation.
11. 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?
Ans. Anne's diary was originally written in Dutch language. Anne's diary is a different one. It is in the form of a letter. It has the features of a journal; But it also describes feelings and thoughts.
12. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat 'Kitty' as an insider or an outsider?
Ans. Anne needs to give a brief sketch about her family because she thought that no one would understand a word of her stories to 'Kitty' without it. She treats 'Kitty' as an insider. She treats 'Kitty' as her close friend and confides in her (Kitty) to get all kinds of things off her chest.
13. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs. Kuperus and Mr. Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
Ans. Anne felt that her father was the most adorable father she had ever seen. Anne remembered her grandmother even after her death. She wrote in her diary that no one knew how often she thought of her grandmother and still loved her. In the sixth form at the Montessori nursery school, her teacher was Mrs. Kuperus, who was also the headmistress. At the end of the year, they were both in tears as they said a heartbreaking farewell. Mr. Keesing was her Maths teacher. He was annoyed with her because she talked too much. However, Anne was able to justify her talkative nature every time she was punished by Mr. Keesing. On each occasion he was impressed by the manner in which she presented her arguments. All these incidents show how lovable and smart Anne was. Everybody was attached to her, and even Mr. Keesing could not help but laugh at her essays and acknowledge her smart mind.
14. What does Anne write in her first essay?
Ans. In her first essay, titled 'A Chatterbox', Anne wanted to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking. She began thinking about the subject. She wrote three pages and was satisfied. She argued that talking was a student's trait and that she would do her best to keep it under control. She further wrote that she would never be able to cure herself of the habit since her mother talked as much as she did. There was not much that one could do about inherited traits. Mr. Keesing too had a good laugh reading her arguments.
15. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr. Keesing unpredictable? How?
Ans. Anne felt that a quarter of her class was dumb, and should be kept back and not promoted to the next class. However, she also felt that teachers were the most unpredictable creatures on earth. Mr. Keesing could be termed as unpredictable. The way Anne always talked while the class was going on. any teacher would lose his temper. However, after several warnings, all Mr. Keesing did was to assign her extra homework. She had to write an essay on 'A Chatterbox'. In this way. he tried to play a joke on her. Each time that he asked her to write such essays, she wrote very well. She kept countering his jokes. One could not have predicted that he would take all the jokes in the right spirit. Finally, when she wrote an entire essay in verse he accepted her talkative nature and actually allowed her to talk in class. He did not even assign her any more extra homework. That is why it can be said that Mr. Keesing was unpredictable.
16. 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. May be 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 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 space between the words, but the trick was to come up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking.
Ans.
(i) These lines show that Anne had no true friend whom she could confide in. She even put the blame on herself that the fault might be hers.
(ii) This line shows that Anne really considered her diary as a friend whom she could trust and narrate all her stories to. She did not want just a diary in which she could write down the facts like others did. She considered it as her friend and named her Kitty.
(iii) This statement shows that Anne was a fun-loving person. She was witty and knew how to present things in a funny way. She narrated this incident with a lot of fun. The use of 'plunked down' shows her sense of humour.
(iv) This statement shows that she had an opinion on everything. She thought that a quarter of her class was full of dummies, signifying that she herself was intelligent enough to make it to the next class. She thought of teachers as the most unpredictable creatures on earth because nobody could say which students they would fail and which students would be passed on to the next class.
(v) This statement shows that Anne knew a lot about writing. She was given the task of writing an essay as a punishment. She took it on with full vigour. She did not want to write it like others who merely left big spaces between the words to make the essay look voluminous. She knew that the trick was to come up with a convincing argument to prove the necessity of talking. She was different in her approach from everybody else.
(Session 2025 - 26)