From the Diary of Anne Frank (First Flight – Class 10)
Author Details / लेखक परिचय
Author: Anne Frank (Anneliese Marie “Anne” Frank)
Work: The Diary of a Young Girl (diary entries: 12 June 1942 – 1 Aug 1944)
Context: Nazi occupation; Anne wrote while hiding in Amsterdam (Secret Annex). Excerpt adapted in NCERT as a prose lesson.
Notable People: Otto Frank (father, survivor who published the diary), Margot Frank (sister).
Lesson Summary / पाठ-सार
English: Anne explains why she begins a diary—she feels lonely despite having many acquaintances and believes “paper has more patience than people.” She names the diary “Kitty.” She sketches her family background and her affection for her grandmother and teachers. The classroom episode with Mr Keesing shows her wit: punished for talking, she writes clever essays (“A Chatterbox,” “An Incorrigible Chatterbox”) and finally a humorous poem that makes the teacher change his attitude. The extract captures Anne’s candid voice, resilience, and the importance of honest self-expression during turbulent times.
हिन्दी: ऐन बताती है कि वह डायरी क्यों शुरू करती है—बहुतों के होते हुए भी उसे सच्चा मित्र नहीं मिलता और “कागज़ लोगों से अधिक धैर्यवान” लगता है। वह अपनी डायरी का नाम “किटी” रखती है, परिवार व बचपन का संक्षिप्त परिचय देती है और दादी व शिक्षकों के प्रति प्रेम दर्शाती है। कक्षा में अधिक बोलने पर शिक्षक मिस्टर कीसिंग दंडस्वरूप निबंध/कविता लिखवाते हैं; ऐन की बुद्धिमत्ता और हास्यप्रियता उन्हें प्रभावित करती है और उनका रवैया बदल जाता है। यह अंश ऐन की ईमानदार आवाज़, संवेदनशीलता और उथल-पुथल के समय में आत्म-अभिव्यक्ति के महत्व को उजागर करता है।
Character Details / पात्र परिचय
- Anne Frank: 13-year-old diarist; witty, honest, self-aware; seeks a true friend in “Kitty”.
- Otto Frank (Father): Loving, supportive; later ensures the diary’s publication.
- Edith Hollander Frank (Mother): Mentioned in background; family’s move and hardships frame Anne’s world.
- Margot Frank (Sister): Elder sister (studious); Anne follows her to Holland.
- Grandmother: Deeply loved by Anne (lights “Grandma’s candle” on birthday); symbol of warmth and memory.
- Mrs Kuperus: Headmistress/teacher; emotional farewell shows Anne’s attachment to good teachers.
- Mr Keesing: Maths teacher; initially strict about Anne’s chatter, later appreciative and humorous after her poem.
- Sanne: Friend who helps Anne turn punishment topic into a clever verse—shows peer support and creativity.
- “Kitty” (the diary): Anne’s imagined confidante—functions as a true friend and listener.
- Classmates (G.N., C.N., Jacques): Reflect school atmosphere, exam promotion anxiety, and everyday teenage life.
Class 10 English – First Flight
From the Diary of Anne Frank (Prose) + Amanda! (Poem) • Full NCERT Questions (Original Wording) + Hindi Meanings + Answers • Devices • Grammar Tasks
📘 From the Diary of Anne Frank — NCERT Solutions (EN + HI)
A. Activity: Match (Diary / Journal / Log / Memoir)
Question (Original): Match the terms under ‘A’ with descriptions under ‘B’.
| A (Term) | Correct Match in B (Meaning) |
|---|---|
| (i) Journal | A full record written every day of a journey/period/event. |
| (ii) Diary | A book with a space/page for each day for thoughts/feelings/happenings. |
| (iii) Log | A written record of events with times and dates (usually official). |
| (iv) Memoir(s) | A record of one’s own life/experiences (often a famous person). |
B. Activity: Classify entries (Diary/Journal/Log/Memoir)
- (i) Late rising + Mum scolding + FIFA: Diary (व्यक्तिगत दैनिक भावनाएँ/घटनाएँ)।
- (ii) 10:30, 01:00, 05:45, 09:30 — time-stamped schedule: Log.
- (iii) Trip record + feelings about city: Journal (यात्रा-वृत्तांत/डायरी-शैली विवरण)।
- (iv) Raj Kapoor found me… “rest is history”: Memoir (संस्मरण/आत्मकथा-अंश)।
🔹 Oral Comprehension Check (after first page)
Q1. What makes writing in a diary a strange experience for Anne Frank?
हिन्दी अर्थ: डायरी लिखना ऐन फ्रैंक को अजीब क्यों लगता है?
Answer (EN): She had never written before and felt no one (not even she herself later) would be interested in a thirteen-year-old’s musings.
उत्तर (HI): क्योंकि वह पहले कभी नहीं लिखी थी और उसे लगता था कि 13 वर्ष की लड़की के विचारों में शायद किसी की रुचि नहीं होगी।
Q2. Why does Anne want to keep a diary?
हिन्दी अर्थ: वह डायरी क्यों रखना चाहती है?
Answer (EN): She lacked a true friend to confide in; paper has “more patience than people,” so she decided to write to “Kitty.”
उत्तर (HI): उसके पास मन की बात कहने के लिए सच्चा मित्र नहीं था; “कागज़ लोगों से अधिक धैर्यवान होता है,” इसलिए उसने “किटी” नाम से लिखना तय किया।
Q3. Why did Anne think she could confide more in her diary than in people?
हिन्दी अर्थ: लोगों से अधिक डायरी पर भरोसा क्यों?
Answer (EN): With friends she only talked about everyday things; the diary would listen without judgment and keep secrets.
उत्तर (HI): मित्रों से केवल सामान्य बातें होती थीं; डायरी बिना निर्णय किए सब सुन सकती थी और राज़ रखती।
🔹 Oral Comprehension Check (early life sketch)
Q1. Why does Anne provide a brief sketch of her life?
हिन्दी अर्थ: जीवन-परिचय क्यों देती है?
Answer (EN): So readers of “Kitty” can understand her background before the diary entries plunge into events.
उत्तर (HI): ताकि पाठक/“किटी” उसकी पृष्ठभूमि समझकर आगे की प्रविष्टियाँ समझ सकें।
Q2. What tells you that Anne loved her grandmother?
हिन्दी अर्थ: दादी के प्रति प्रेम का प्रमाण?
Answer (EN): She thought of her often, loved her dearly, and lit “Grandma’s candle” on her birthday in 1942 to make up for the previous year.
उत्तर (HI): वह दादी को अक्सर याद करती थी; 1942 के जन्मदिन पर “Grandma’s candle” जलाया—यह उसके गहरे स्नेह का संकेत है।
🔹 Oral Comprehension Check (Mr Keesing episode)
Q1. Why was Mr Keesing annoyed with Anne? What did he ask her to do?
हिन्दी अर्थ: मिस्टर कीसिंग क्यों नाराज़ थे? उन्होंने क्या कराया?
Answer (EN): She talked a lot in class. He gave her extra essays: “A Chatterbox”, then “An Incorrigible Chatterbox”, and later “Quack, Quack, Quack, Said Mistress Chatterbox.”
उत्तर (HI): वह कक्षा में बहुत बोलती थी। उन्होंने दंड स्वरूप अतिरिक्त निबंध लिखवाए—उपरोक्त शीर्षकों पर।
Q2. How did Anne justify her being a chatterbox in her essay?
हिन्दी अर्थ: “बातूनी” होने का औचित्य?
Answer (EN): She argued talking is a student’s trait; she’d try to control it but it was partly inherited from her mother.
उत्तर (HI): उसने कहा यह छात्र-स्वभाव है; वह नियंत्रण का प्रयास करेगी, पर यह आदत माँ से विरासत में भी मिली है।
Q3. Do you think Mr Keesing was a strict teacher?
Answer: He was strict yet fair-humoured; he could laugh at her witty work and eventually changed his approach.
Q4. What made Mr Keesing allow Anne to talk in class?
Answer: Her witty poem (about ducklings) turned his joke back on him; he enjoyed it, read it to classes, and stopped punishing her.
📘 Thinking about the Text (NCERT — Original Questions)
1. Was Anne right when she said that the world would not be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year-old girl?
हिन्दी अर्थ: क्या दुनिया 13 वर्षीय लड़की के विचारों में रुचि नहीं लेगी—वह सही थी?
Answer: Initially she felt so; history proved otherwise. Her diary, due to honesty and insight, became globally significant.
2. … Compare these with what Anne writes… What language was the diary originally written in? In what way is Anne’s diary different?
Answer: It was written in Dutch. Unlike routine logs, Anne writes to “Kitty” like a friend—candid, reflective, literary, with feelings and self-analysis.
3. Why does Anne need to give a brief sketch about her family? Does she treat ‘Kitty’ as an insider or an outsider?
Answer: To orient the reader; she treats “Kitty” as an insider—a trusted confidante.
4. How does Anne feel about her father, her grandmother, Mrs Kuperus and Mr Keesing? What do these tell you about her?
Answer: Deep love for father/grandmother; affectionate gratitude for Mrs Kuperus (both cried at farewell); balanced view of Mr Keesing (strict yet humorous). She is sensitive, grateful, honest.
5. What does Anne write in her first essay?
Answer: “A Chatterbox”: speaking is a student trait; she’ll try to control it; some habits are inherited.
6. Anne says teachers are most unpredictable. Is Mr Keesing unpredictable? How?
Answer: Yes—he shifts from punishment to humour, appreciates her poem, and stops assigning extra work.
7. What do these statements tell you about Anne Frank as a person?
- (i) …not get any closer… maybe my fault… don’t confide — self-aware, honest.
- (ii) diary as a friend — imaginative, intimate writer.
- (iii) birthday present for Margot — warm humour.
- (iv) so many dummies… teachers unpredictable — witty, candid.
- (v) convincing arguments… necessity of talking — logical, persuasive.
📝 Language Work (NCERT)
I. Compound Words — Match
| A (Word) | B (Meaning) |
|---|---|
| 1. Heartbreaking | producing great sadness |
| 2. Homesick | missing home and family very much |
| 3. Blockhead | a very stupid person (informal) |
| 4. Law-abiding | obeying and respecting the law |
| 5. Overdo | do something to an excessive degree |
| 6. Daydream | think pleasant things, ignoring the present |
| 7. Breakdown | an occasion when a machine/vehicle stops working |
| 8. Output | something produced by a person/machine/organisation |
II. Phrasal Verbs
(1) Meanings (dictionary): plunge (right) in = begin suddenly; keep/kept back = not promoted/held back; ramble on = talk/write aimlessly; get along with = have a good relationship.
(2) Match with lesson-use:
- (i) plunge in — go straight to the topic ✅
- (ii) kept back — not promoted ✅
- (iii) move up — go to the next grade ✅
- (iv) ramble on — speak or write without focus ✅
- (v) get along with — have a good relationship with ✅
- (vi) calm down — make (them) remain quiet ✅
- (vii) stay in — stay indoors ✅
- (viii) make up for — compensate ✅
- (ix) hand in — give an assignment to the teacher ✅
III. Idioms
Meanings from text:
- quaking in its boots — बहुत डरना/घबराना
- not to lose heart — हिम्मत न हारना
- annoyed for ages — बहुत दिनों से खिन्न
- the joke was on him — मज़ाक उसी पर उल्टा पड़ गया
Use in your own sentences (examples): “caught my eye”, “he’d had enough”, “laugh ourselves silly”, “can’t bring myself to …”.
IV. Dictionary Skill (heart idioms) — Meanings + Example
- break somebody’s heart — गहरा दुख देना। It broke her heart to leave home.
- close/dear to heart — अत्यंत प्रिय। This cause is close to my heart.
- from the bottom of your heart — पूरे मन से। I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
- have a heart — दयालु बनना। Have a heart and forgive him.
- have a heart of stone — कठोर-हृदय होना।
- your heart goes out to sb — किसी के प्रति करुणा होना।
V. Contracted Forms
Examples in text: I’ve = I have; I’m = I am; I’d = I had/I would; he’d = he had/he would; we’re = we are; don’t = do not; can’t = cannot; won’t = will not; haven’t = have not; isn’t = is not; there’s = there is; they’re = they are.
Two-value contractions: I’d (I had / I would), he’d (he had / he would), she’d (she had / she would), we’d (we had / we would), they’d (they had / they would).
🎧 Listening Summary — The Great Fire of London (Fill-in completed)
Summary (completed): This entry has been made on September 2nd by Samuel Pepys. The person who told Pepys about the fire was called Jane. She called at about three in the morning. Pepys went back to sleep because he thought the fire was far enough off. Pepys rose again at about seven in the morning. By then about 300 houses had been burned down. The fire had spread to Fish Street, by London Bridge. Pepys then walked to the Tower along with Sir J. Robinson’s little son.
📝 Poem: Amanda! — NCERT Solutions (EN + HI)
Stanza-wise Gist (EN + HI)
- Stanza 1 & 2: Reprimands about posture/nails → Amanda’s daydream: mermaid in a calm green sea (freedom). HI: डाँट–डपट के बीच वह खुद को मुक्त मत्स्यकन्या कल्पित करती है।
- Stanza 3 & 4: Homework/room/shoes → daydream: orphan roaming freely, silence & freedom sweet. HI: “अनाथ” कल्पना में बंधन नहीं—शांति-स्वतंत्रता।
- Stanza 5 & 6: Chocolate/acne/eye contact → daydream: Rapunzel in the tower, won’t let down hair (कोई बाधा नहीं)।
- Stanza 7: Speaker warns: don’t sulk/moody—else people will think I nag. HI: सामाजिक छवि की चिंता।
Hard Words (with Hindi)
| Word | Meaning (EN) | हिन्दी |
|---|---|---|
| languid | relaxed, unhurried | शिथिल/निस्संग |
| slouching | stooping posture | झुकी हुई मुद्रा |
| hunch | bend the shoulders | कंधे झुकाना |
| tranquil | calm, peaceful | निर्मल/शांत |
| sulking | silent bad-mood | रूठा-रूठा रहना |
| nag | scold repeatedly | बार-बार टोकना/डाँटना |
Poetic Devices & Rhyme
- Contrast/Structure: Bold reprimands vs bracketed fantasy (escape vs control).
- Alliteration: “Stop that slouching… sit up straight”
- Imagery/Symbol: Mermaid/orphan/Rapunzel = freedom, solitude, control-free space.
- Repetition: “Amanda!” (insistence/pressure).
- Rhyme scheme: Mostly free-verse feel; some internal rhyme/assonance; focus on voice contrast.
NCERT Questions — Original Wording + Hindi Meaning + Answers
- How old do you think Amanda is? How do you know this?
हिन्दी: अमांडा की उम्र का अनुमान?
Answer: Early teens (≈ 12–14). Hints: homework/room/shoes/acne and posture instructions—typical for a school-going adolescent. - Who do you think is speaking to her?
Answer: A parent/guardian (voice of authority at home). - Why are Stanzas 2, 4 and 6 given in parenthesis?
Answer: They mark Amanda’s inner fantasy/escape contrasting with outer scolding—an internal monologue. - Who is the speaker in Stanzas 2, 4 and 6? Do you think this speaker is listening to the speaker in Stanzas 1, 3, 5, and 7?
Answer: Amanda herself (imagination). She isn’t listening; she mentally switches to fantasy to avoid the nagging. - What could Amanda do if she were a mermaid?
Answer: Drift blissfully in a tranquil emerald sea—free, solitary, unbothered. - Is Amanda an orphan? Why does she say so?
Answer: No; it’s fantasy. She imagines being an orphan to feel absolute freedom from rules and noise. - Do you know the story of Rapunzel? Why does she want to be Rapunzel?
Answer: Yes; Rapunzel in a tower is safe/undisturbed. Amanda wants the isolation—“I’ll never let down my bright hair”—so no one can reach/control her. - What does the girl yearn for? What does this poem tell you about Amanda?
Answer: She yearns for freedom, silence, and space. She is imaginative, sensitive and overwhelmed by constant correction. - Read the last stanza. Do you think Amanda is sulking and is moody?
Answer: The adult fears she appears moody/sulking before others. In truth, she is retreating into imagination to cope—misread as moodiness.