Class 10 English — First Flight · Chapter 4 NotesFrom the Diary of Anne Frank

Anne Frank was born on 12 June 1929 in Germany. Her family moved to Amsterdam after the Nazis gained power in Germany, but they were trapped when the Nazi occupation extended to the Netherlands. In July 1942 the family went into hiding in hidden rooms in her father Otto Frank's office building, along with four friends. After two years they were betrayed and sent to concentration camps. Anne died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen within days of her sister Margot. Her father Otto was the only survivor of the group. When he returned to Amsterdam after the war, he found that Anne's diary had been saved. He had it published in English as The Diary of a Young Girl. The diary was given to Anne for her thirteenth birthday and records events from 12 June 1942 to 1 August 1944.

• Anne Frank12 June 1929 – February/March 1945
• Family moved to Amsterdam after the Nazis gained power in Germany
• Went into hiding in July 1942 in Otto Frank's office building
• Anne died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen; Otto Frank was the only survivor

Anne begins by saying that writing in a diary is a strange experience for her, because she has never written anything before and feels that nobody, including herself, would be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old schoolgirl. Still, she feels like writing and has a greater need to get things off her chest. She recalls the saying 'Paper has more patience than people', which she thought of on a day when she was depressed, bored and listless. She decides that since she will not let anyone else read the notebook, it makes no difference. The real reason she keeps a diary is simple: she does not have a true friend. On the surface she has loving parents, a sixteen-year-old sister, about thirty friends, loving aunts and a good home, but she cannot talk to anyone about anything deeper than ordinary everyday things.

• Paper has more patience than people
• Anne feels she has everything on the surface but no one true friend
• She cannot confide in friends beyond ordinary everyday matters

Anne does not want to jot down facts in the diary the way most people would. Instead, she imagines the diary as a long-awaited friend and decides to call this friend Kitty. This choice shows how she treats the diary as an insider rather than an outsider. Before telling her stories to Kitty, she feels she must give a brief sketch of her life, even though she dislikes doing so. This sketch covers her parents' marriage, her sister's birth in Frankfurt in 1926, her own birth on 12 June 1929, the family's move to Holland, her schooling at the Montessori nursery school, and the death of her grandmother in January 1942. The entry ends with the solemn dedication of the diary on 20 June 1942.

• Anne names the diary Kitty and treats it as a trusted friend
• She gives a brief sketch of her life before starting her stories
• The sketch ends with the dedication of the diary on 20 June 1942

Anne's father, whom she calls the most adorable father she has ever seen, married her mother when he was thirty-six and she was twenty-five. Her sister Margot was born in Frankfurt in 1926, and Anne was born on 12 June 1929. The family lived in Frankfurt until Anne was four. Her father emigrated to Holland in 1933, and her mother Edith Hollander Frank joined him in September, while Anne and Margot were sent to Aachen to stay with their grandmother. Margot went to Holland in December and Anne followed in February, when she was plunked down on the table as a birthday present for Margot. Anne attended the Montessori nursery school until she was six, and in the sixth form her teacher was Mrs Kuperus, the headmistress, with whom she shared a heartbreaking farewell. In the summer of 1941 Grandma fell ill and had an operation, so Anne's birthday passed with little celebration. Grandma died in January 1942, and Anne still thinks of her and loves her. The 1942 birthday celebration was meant to make up for the earlier one, and Grandma's candle was lit along with the rest.

• Father married at thirty-six; mother was twenty-five
• Margot born in Frankfurt in 1926; Anne born on 12 June 1929
• Anne followed Margot to Holland in February 1934
• Grandma died in January 1942; her candle was lit at Anne's 1942 birthday

The entry of Saturday, 20 June 1942 opens with the whole class quaking in its boots because of the forthcoming meeting in which teachers decide who will move up to the next form and who will be kept back. Half the class is making bets. Two boys behind Anne, C.N. and Jacques, have staked their entire holiday savings on their bet, and from morning to night they argue about whether they will pass. Anne says that even her friend G.'s pleading glances and her own angry outbursts cannot calm them down. She remarks that about a quarter of the class should be kept back, but adds that teachers are the most unpredictable creatures on earth. She herself is not very worried, except about maths. She gets along pretty well with all nine of her teachers, seven men and two women.

• The class is anxious about the meeting that decides promotion
• C.N. and Jacques bet their holiday savings on passing
• Anne is confident except in maths; she gets along with her teachers

Mr Keesing, the old fogey who teaches maths, was annoyed with Anne for ages because she talked so much. After several warnings he assigned her extra homework: an essay on 'A Chatterbox'. Anne thought about the subject and came up with convincing arguments to prove the necessity of talking. She wrote three pages, arguing that talking is a student's trait, that she would try to keep it under control, but that she could never cure herself of the habit since her mother talked as much as she did, if not more, and there is not much one can do about inherited traits. Mr Keesing laughed at her arguments, but when she talked through the next lesson he assigned a second essay, 'An Incorrigible Chatterbox'. She handed it in and he had nothing to complain about for two whole lessons. In the third lesson he had had enough and gave her a third topic: 'Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox'. The class roared with laughter.

• First essay'A Chatterbox' — talking is a student's trait and an inherited habit
• Second essay'An Incorrigible Chatterbox'
• Third essay'Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox'

Anne had nearly exhausted her ingenuity on the topic of chatterboxes, so her friend Sanne, who was good at poetry, offered to help her write the essay from beginning to end in verse. Anne jumped for joy. Mr Keesing was trying to play a joke on her with the ridiculous subject, but she made sure the joke was on him. She finished a beautiful poem 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. Luckily, Mr Keesing took the joke the right way. He read the poem to the class, adding his own comments, and to several other classes as well. Since then Anne has been allowed to talk and has not been assigned any extra homework. On the contrary, Mr Keesing is always making jokes these days.

• Sanne helped Anne write the third essay in verse
• The poem was about ducklings bitten by their father for quacking too much
• Mr Keesing read the poem to other classes and stopped giving extra homework

The chapter also teaches the form of a diary and the language features that go with it. A diary is a book with a separate space or page for each day, in which you write your thoughts and feelings or what has happened on that day. A journal is a full record of a journey, a period of time or an event, written every day. A log is a written record of events with times and dates, usually official. A memoir is a record of a person's own life and experiences, usually of a famous person. Diary language often uses subjectless sentences, sentence fragments, contracted forms such as they're, I've, can't and didn't, and everyday expressions used in speech. Such language is not suitable for more formal kinds of writing. The chapter also introduces compound words, phrasal verbs and idioms, and shows how contracted forms can make a written text sound like actual speech.

• Diarya page for each day for thoughts and feelings
• Journala full daily record of a journey, period or event
• Logan official record of events with times and dates
• Memoira record of a person's own life, usually a famous person