From the diary of Anne Frank

Introduction:

This lesson is taken from “Diary of a Young Girl” also known as “The Diary of Anne Frank”. It is an autobiography that was first published in 1947. In this, Anne, a teenage girl expresses her thoughts in a diary. The diary was written in a hardbound book that was gifted to her on her thirteenth birthday. She names the diary “Kitty”. She considers Kitty as her only true friend. She mentions her childhood, her family, and several other things that she shared with no one else.

Summary:

Anne writes about being lonely. She says that she is having no one to share her feelings even though she is surrounded by her family. She has around 30 friends also. So, she starts writing her feelings in a diary. She says that it is unusual for her to write in a diary as she never wrote anything like this and nobody would be interested to read it. As she is really in need of a true friend, she names her diary “Kitty”.

she doesn’t want to write just facts in her diary as most people do. She starts her diary by giving some background information. She feels that it is easier to understand her diary better. She writes about her family and early childhood, their migration, her early schooling, the death of her grandmother.

Later, she comes to the present day. She describes the day on which results are announced. Everyone in the class is nervous about their result. Some of them are even making bets. Anne is quite sure about herself and her friends. Her relationship with all the teachers is good. Her mathematics teacher, Mr. Keesing is an exception. He is annoyed because of her talking habit. He gives her punishment to write essays on weird topics such as “Chatterbox”. She writes an essay explaining that talking is a quality that she inherited from her mother and talking is a trait of students. He goes on giving her essays until she writes a funny poem with the help of a friend.  After that third and last assignment, Mr. Keesing laughs it off and never minds her talking.

Meanings:

Musings- a period of reflection or thought

Listless- with no energy or interest

Brooding- engaged in or showing deep thought about something that makes one sad, angry, or worried.

Prompted- provoke

Confide- to tell personal things privately to a person that one trusts

Liable- likely (here)

Enhance- intensify, increase, or further improve the quality, value, or extent of.

Plunge- jump or dive quickly

Adorable- lovable, cute

Emigrated- leave one's own country in order to settle permanently in another.

Plunked- to put down

Farewell- an act of parting or of making someone’s departure

Intended- planned

Solemn- characterized by deep sincerity

Dedication- commitment

Quaking- shake or tremble

Stake- to bet, chanced (doing something despite the uncertain outcome)

Pleading- to make an emotional appeal

Glances- take a brief or hurried look

Outbursts- a sudden release of strong emotion

Dummies- an object designed to resemble and serve as a substitute for the real or usual one

Unpredictable- not able to be predicted; changeable

Not to lose heart- not be discouraged

Old fogey- an old fashioned person

Annoyed- slightly angry; irritated

Chatterbox- a person who likes to chatter; talkative

Jotted- write (something) quickly

Ramble- to talk or write at length in confused or inconsequential ways

Convincing- capable of causing someone to believe that something is true or real; powerful

Trait- quality

Inherited- derived genetically from one's parents or ancestors.

Proceeded- to begin a course of action

Incorrigible- not able to be changed

Mistress- a woman in a position of authority or control

Roared- laughed (here)

Exhausted- completely used up

Ingenuity- the quality of being clever, original and inventive

Verse- writing arranged with a metrical rhythm, typically having a rhyme

Ridiculous- deserving or inviting derision or mockery; absurd (derision means making fun, jeering)

Contrary- opposite in nature, direction, or meaning

 

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