First Flight - Lesson 4 From The Diary Of Anne Frank - Anne Frank Glossary, Summary, Questions, And Answers. Glossary - 1. musings - thoug...
First Flight - Lesson 4
From The Diary Of Anne Frank - Anne Frank
Glossary, Summary, Questions, And Answers.
Glossary -
1. musings - thought.
2. brooding - to worry, to think.
3. listless - with no energy or interest.
4. confide - to tell personal things privately to a person that one trusts.
5. jot - to write quickly.
6. plunge - jump or dive quickly.
7. plunked down - put down casually.
8. quaking in its boots - shaking with fear and nervousness.
9. old fogey - an old-fashioned person.
10. ramble on - talk or write aimlessly for a long.
11. traits - qualities.
12. incorrigible - something that cannot be corrected.
13. chatterbox - a person who continuously talks on any topic.
14. ingenuity - originality and inventiveness.
15. adorable - lovable.
16. outbursts - sudden release of strong emotion.
17. dedication - commitment.
Summary -
Oral Comprehension Check -
1. What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?
Ans - When Anne Frank started writing her diary she was just 13, and she thought that nobody would be interested to read the thoughts of a little girl, and also it was her first attempt, so it was a strange experience for her.
2. Why does Anne want to keep a diary?
Ans - At that age, she desperately wanted to share her feelings with someone, but she had no friends to share, so she decided to keep a diary, also she believed that paper does have more patience.
3. Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people?
Ans - Anne thought so because she had no friends who would listen to her with patience, and she believed that, " Paper has more patience than people".
4. Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?
Ans - Before writing her diary, Anne provides a brief sketch of her life because she thought that in the future if someone reads her diary, he would understand her feelings in a better way if he or she knew a little bit about her life.
5. What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?
Ans - Anne spent her childhood with her grandmother, and she had a strong emotional bond with her. In her diary, she said " No one knows how often I think of her and still love her". On her birthday, she lighted a candle in the memory of her grandmother, this shows her love and affection for 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 used to talk more in the classroom, and even after several warnings she didn't stop, he assigned her an essay to write on the topic of, "Chatterbox".
7. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
Ans - She justified herself as being a chatterbox by giving two reasons, first, it is the quality of a student to talk, and second she inherited this quality from her mother.
8. Do you think Mr.Keesing was a strict teacher?
Ans - Not exactly, but he was expecting complete silence and discipline in the classroom, while he was teaching, and Anne was completely the opposite of that, she always used to talk in the classroom, so annoyed with her habit, he gave her assignment to write an essay, but when Anne wrote the essay, he was impressed with her writing skills also, and he read the content loudly in the classroom, even he used to enjoy jokes of her also.
7. What made Mr. Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
Ans - Whenever Anne talked more in the classroom, as a mark of punishment, he used to give her assignments to write an essay, and every time she had written an essay effectively, he was very impressed with her writing skills, and finally when she wrote a beautiful poem, he liked it very much and allowed her to talk in the class.
Thinking about the Text -
1. Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
Ans - Yes, Anne was right when she said that when she started writing a diary, she was merely a thirteen-year-old girl, neither did she have any experience of life nor matured enough, so she thought so.
2. 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 different than others in many ways, she treated her diary as her true friend and named as a 'Kitty', as she had no friends who would listen to her feelings patiently, so she always considered her diary as her true friend and wrote it as the diary is listening to her thoughts in a very personnel way, the diary was originally written in the Dutch language.
3. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch of her family? Does she treat Kitty as an insider or an 'outsider'?
Ans - Anne gives a brief sketch of her family before writing her diary because she thought if she directly writes her diary, then in that case the reader would be confused and unable to understand her feelings. She always considered Kitty as her true friend because she could share anything with Kitty, so Kitty was an insider to her.
4. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs. Kuperus and Mr. Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
Ans - About her father, Anne felt that her father was the most adorable father she had ever seen. Anne was very close to her grandmother and always missed her after her death, and she wrote, " No one knows how often I think of her". Mrs. Kuperus headmistress of her school, and they both were in tears when Anne left the school. Mr. Keesing was her maths teacher and he was very strict in the classroom, and because of her talkative nature, he often punished her, but at the same time he was impressed with her writing skills.
5. What does Anne write in her first essay?
Ans - As a mark of punishment because of her talkative nature, her teacher Mr. Keesing asked her to write an essay on the topic, "A Chatterbox", and in her essay, she put up the thoughts that talking is an essential and fundamental quality of a student, and moreover she gained this quality from her mother and also said that inherited qualities are difficult to control.
6. Anne says that teachers are the most unpredictable. Is Mr. Keesing unpredictable? How?
Ans - Anne says that the teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on the earth, and she said it because of the reason that she was unable to predict their nature. Yes, Mr.Keesing is an unpredictable teacher because earlier he used to punish her by assigning her to write an essay because she used to talk more in the classroom, but later on he was impressed with her writing skill and started to share her content among the students and even cracked jokes on it, so because of his changed behavior, we can say so, or we can say that his behavior was up to the mark.
7. What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person.
1. 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.
Ans - By the above statement, we can say that Anne was a kind of reserved nature and did not mix easily among her friends, and for that she blames herself.
2. 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 always treated, "Kitty" as her true friend and shared all the details of what exactly she felt. Actually, by this sentence, she meant to say that her diary would be a true reflection of her personality, not like others who hide something and show something.
3. Margo 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 - By the above lines, Anne wants to say there was a strong emotional bond between the sisters, and she followed her sister to Holand as a birthday gift to her sister Margot.
4. 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 the earth.
Ans - By the above lines, Anne says that there are many weak students in her classroom who should not be promoted to the next class, but according to her, the teachers are unpredictable and they may promote even such students to the next class.
5. 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 - The above sentence was said by Anne when as a mark of punishment she was asked to write an essay, and as she was good at writing, she used proper words, sentences, and arguments that would justify how it was essential for a student to talk, and because of her skill in writing, she succeeded in her attempt, and impressed her maths teacher Mr.Keesing.
Thinking about Language -
1. Match the compound words under 'A' with their meanings under 'B'
1. Heartbreaking - producing great sadness.
2. Homesick - missing home and family very much.
3. Blockhead - an informal word that means 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 about the present.
7. Breakdown - an occasion when vehicles/machines stop working.
8. Output - something produced by a person, machine, or organization.
2. Match the phrasal verbs with their meanings.
1. plunge in - go straight to the topic.
2. kept back - not promoted.
3. move up - go to the next grade.
4. ramble on - speak or write without focus.
5. get along with - have a good relationship with.
6. calm down - make (them) remain quiet.
7. stay in - stay indoors.
8. make up for - compensate.
9. hand in - give an assignment (homework) to a person in authority(the teacher).
3. Here are a few sentences from the text which have idiomatic expressions. Can you say what each means?
1. Our entire class is quaking in its boots.
Ans - Our entire class is shivering with fear and nervousness.
2. Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose hope.
Ans - Until then, we keep telling each other not to lose hope.
3. Mr. Keesing was annoyed with me for ages because I talked so much.
Ans - Mr. Keesing was annoyed with me for a long time because I talked so much.
4. Mr. Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I'd make sure the joke was on him.
Ans - Mr. Keesing was trying to play a joke on me with this ridiculous subject, but I'd make sure the joke should overturn on him.
4. Here are a few more idiomatic expressions that occur in the text. Try to use them in sentences of your own.
1) Caught my eye - to get someone's attention.
Ans - It was the unusual colour of his jacket that caught my eye.
2) He'd had enough - want no more of something.
Ans - He had had enough money to survive for a year.
3) Laugh ourselves silly - laugh for a long time.
Ans - I love getting together with my childhood friends because we always seem to laugh ourselves silly.
4) Can't bring myself to -unable to do unpleasant things.
Ans - Because of his cunning nature, I just couldn't bring myself to talk to him.
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